Mareeba, Queensland

Wednesday morning we completed our pack up and had a final swim before hitting the road again. Stopped for a quick break and morning tea in Innisfail before continuing North towards Cairns. The traffic was a bit busier than what we had been used to but the road was good with lots of overtaking sections. We took a bypass route at Cairns that took us through Redlynch before turning West on the Kennedy Highway. The first 14 Km to Kuranda was very steep and winding. Gave the Jeep a good test but survived with no incidents. Kuranda to Mareeba was a much easier trip.

We arrived at the Mareeba Rodeo Grounds (Kerribee Campground) just after lunch. We met some people that had camped beside us one night at Charters Towers as we were checking in. Got a spot next to them and proceeded to get setup. We got a really large site with water and power which costs $18/night. There are about a dozen vans here now but can have upwards of 300 vans here during the peak winter months. The people we knew were spending their second winter here. Lovely big area but don't think I would enjoy it so much with 300 vans.

We enjoyed a late lunch and Sandra got caught up with some laundry. Enjoyed an early happy hour with 3 other couples.

Thursday morning we did some grocery shopping before visiting the local Visitor Centre. A very nice Visitor Centre that houses a Heritage Museum. Very well done and only a gold coin donation if you like. Spent a good hour going through the history of Mareeba which includes mining, Tobacco, military, etc. Thursday afternoon we planned out our activities for the next few days.

Friday morning we ventured out to Emerald Falls which is back towards Kuranda. Had about 10 Km of corrugated dirt road to reach the Falls. We completed a short 2 Km return walk up to the Falls. Quite a steep climb with lots of natural stone steps. Glad we completed early in the day as was fairly exposed to the sun. Got a good look at the falls and a view across the valley. On the return trip we lowered the tyre pressure as per my Brother in Law Gary's recommendation. Made for a noticeably smoother trip back to the pavement. Topped up the air pressure again to continue our trip. Will definitely use this technique for future excursions on gravel/corrugation.

Our next stop was Davies Creek National Park. Again we had a bit of gravel road to reach our destination. It wasn't as corrugated as the Emerald Falls road but the final 2 Km from the camping area to the Falls was narrow and winding.  We then took a short (850m) walk to a couple of lookouts and along the creek to a swimming/picnic area. Really beautiful views and nice cool clear water to refresh yourself in. Would highly recommend to fellow travelers. Not as well publicized as the Emerald Falls but both of us thought was a superior view and falls. The walk along the creek was wonderful as well.

We returned to our caravan around lunch time for a quick shower and a change of clothing before heading out for lunch. We retraced our steps East of Mareeba to Jacques Coffee Plantation. Had a lovely lunch there on their deck overlooking lovely gardens. Food was very nice with a couple of Gluten Free options and priced reasonably. After lunch we took part in a brief tour of the Plantation. Involved a short film about the family history and the coffee making process. The Jacques family is certainly resilient as they were wiped out twice financially before succeeding on their third try. Well worth a visit for a meal and the tour. Finished off with a coffee/tea and liquor tasting. Returned to the caravan where we enjoyed Happy Hour with our neighbors. Enjoyed a nice Prawn Salad to top off our Good Friday.

Saturday morning we decided to head towards Atherton for some exploration. Our original plan was to attend the Yungaburra Markets and then complete a drive around Lake Tinaroo. When we arrived at Yungaburra we decided to change our plans. Thousands of people (Sandra thinks hundreds but hey I write the Blog) must have had the same idea as we did and being Easter Weekend it was packed. There were cars parked everywhere and traffic was mostly at a halt. Knowing how I am around crowds, Sandra graciously agreed to foregoing the markets. We eventually got our vehicle clear of the traffic and headed East towards Gordonvale. We turned North on the Danbulla Forest Road to travel around Lake Tinaroo. The plan was to explore the many free/low cost campgrounds around the lake for possible destinations on future trips. We first stopped at the Cathedral Fig Tree which we had seen before. Still very impressive although a bit of construction would appear to be in progress.

As we continued from the Fig Tree the road was signed as unsuitable for caravans which was unexpected given what we have read in our Camps book and a couple of caravan magazines. However after several kilometres of winding very narrow, rough road I would certainly agree with the signs. The road was very dense dark rain forest with limited pull off areas. We stopped at Lake Euramoo which was created from twin craters.

When we reached the turnoff for Fongon Bay the road was closed because of bridge construction to complete the loop around the Lake. Very poorly marked and very inconvenient. We took a drive into

Fongon Bay where there were numerous campers. A lovely area but really only suitable for campers and tents given the road. There were a few caravans and lots of boats which would have been interesting trips into the campground. We confirmed that the road around the Lake was indeed closed before retracing our steps back the way we had come.

We took the Tinaroo Falls Dam Road into Tinaroo from the Atherton side of the Lake. Good road into Tinaroo from there and a lovely Day Use area on the Lake. We enjoyed some sunshine and a nice picnic lunch while watching everyone enjoy water activities. Sandra counted about 17 boats/jet skis in the one bay we were in. Lovely area and a very nice looking Caravan park just across from the beach area.

We then decided to explore around the Lake as far as we could from this side to see if the campgrounds were more accessible. As we proceeded past the Dam site we once again were greeted with a sign saying the road was unsuitable for caravans. The road was paved for a few kilometres before returning to gravel. Very deep corrugations and narrow, winding road for most of the rest. We stopped at a pullout and walked down to a section of the lake that was full of tree stumps from when it was flooded by the dam. Very peaceful and we were joined by a little duck family.

Stopped at Platypus Rock Campground and walked to Platypus Rock?? Not sure why it is called this as just appeared to be a big rock that you could climb to the top. Couldn't see anything from the top as overgrown rain forest in all directions. Campground was again only suitable for tents and campers from our perspective.

From there we continued as far as Kauri Creek campground where the road was again closed. This was a slow trip as got in a line of about 8 very slow moving vehicles. Was some lovely sites near the lake front there but don't know how/why you would take your caravan on the road into it. Retraced our steps slowly back to Tinaroo before heading into Atherton. We grabbed a few things from Woolworths there before heading back towards Mareeba. We stopped at Humpy Nut World at Tolga on the return journey where we got some fresh vegetables and potatoes.

Arrived home late afternoon tired and somewhat disappointed in our days adventures. While Lake Tinaroo is beautiful I would not take our caravan into any of the campgrounds other than the Lake Tinaroo Holiday Park.  We topped the day off with a nice baked Chicken dinner with fresh corn on the Cob. Was definitely the highlight of the day!

Sunday morning sees us taking it easy and doing some domestic activity. Sandra has got some laundry on the line and I'm doing some Blog catch up. We see our future travelling partners, the Ransleys have hit the road early this morning. They plan to catch up with us at Mount Surprise by the end of this week. Spent the early afternoon relaxing while catching up with both Mum and Justine on Skype which was nice!

Our caravan neighbours own the same vintage white Jeep Grand Cherokee that has unfortunately been putting ours to shame in the cleanliness department! As such we gave ours a bit of a cleanup with some buckets of water and elbow grease. Once the car was somewhat respectable again, we enjoyed a nice happy hour with our neighbours, Tony and Erica from South Australia. We ended up getting a little bit wet, but then got to enjoy a lovely Double Rainbow that stretched to the ground on both ends. Beautiful!

Monday morning we got an early wake up call as we heard a few vehicles tearing around the field. Turns out they were the ground support teams for some Hot Air Balloons. Got a great show as two of them landed in the caravan park. One flew right over all of the caravans and landed in the back corner, and the second landed right behind where our caravan was located. Apparently this is a fairly regular event during the winter months at the Park. Great to see!

We had breakfast after the Balloon show before heading down the road to the Mareeba Golf Course. Sandra and I enjoyed (?) a round of golf with a golf cart. The course was quite green but a bit disjointed. We had to return to the club house after our first couple of holes to grab a map. It went a bit better with the map! There were lots of kangaroos on the course and they didn't seem very afraid of the golfers. I had an average round while Sandra struggled early but improved significantly towards the end of the round.

We returned to the caravan for a nice cold shower and some lunch. Then off to IGA and Coles for some grocery shopping. Will likely be the last Coles we see for several  weeks. Goodbye civilization!

Enjoyed another nice Happy Hour with a our Mareeba friends before saying our goodbyes! We enjoyed Mareeba and would definitely recommend the Rodeo Ground as a place to stay.

On the road again in the morning to Mount Surprise where we will meet up with the Ransleys.

Cardwell, Queensland

Took the road north from Ravenswood on Monday morning. We had been contemplating retracing our steps to Charters Towers and heading North towards Greenvale. On the way back to the highway I asked Sandra "East or West?". So as a last minute decision we headed East towards Townsville with a final intended destination of Cardwell. Had an uneventful trip to Townsville and via the new ring road to the Bruce Highway heading North. We stopped for an early lunch/break at Bluewater Reserve just North of Townsville. Was a lovely place where you can stay 48 hours along a creek. Had drinking water and toilet/shower amenities. We will keep it in mind for our next trip this way.

We continued up through Ingham before arriving in Cardwell about 2PM. Checked into the Beachcomber Tourist Park where we had stayed 4 years ago. A bit on the expensive side at $38/night before the Top Tourist discount but lovely. Lots of shade and a lovely pool area. We got settled in and enjoyed the swimming pool as was very hot/humid. The amenities are quite good but could be cleaner. I'll give them a 3 Star rating. The park itself would be at least a 4 Star. We did a roast beef dinner on the BBQ in the evening which was great!

We (mostly Sandra) gave the caravan a clean with a bucket and soap in the afternoon. Quite a mess of red dirt and probably some cow patties from Carnarvon. The van finished off looking a lot better!

Tuesday morning we enjoyed a bit of an easy morning with a late breakfast. Had a nice morning swim to keep cool before going for a drive back towards Ingham. During our last visit in 2012 we had done the same trip with the Ransleys to the Wallaman Falls via Ingham. Unfortunately we had been thwarted by low cloud/rain on that occasion and could only hear the falls. The sun was out with a nice blue sky so we decided to try again. The drive from Ingham is quite winding and slow with many parts only allowing 20-40Km/Hr on tight corners. We had to laugh because they had 80 & 100 Km signs up in a few areas. You would have had a death wish to do those speeds! We arrived at the Wallaman Falls lookout about 11:30 and luck was on our side. Got a beautiful look at the falls this time and they really are quite spectacular. They have a drop of 268 M with a 20 M deep pool at the bottom. Definitely worth the return visit.

We met a bit more traffic on our trip back down the mountain and some of them were driving a bit faster than I would recommend. Luckily we avoided contact with all of them and made it safely back to Ingham by 12:30. In another Deja Vue moment we revisited the same Chinese restaurant the four of us had gone to 4 years ago. They still did Gluten Free dishes and Sandra was able to enjoy all but 3 of the smorgasbord dishes. Even included a chow mien noodle dish and some rice rolls.

Topped up the Jeep with diesel before returning to Cardwell mid afternoon. I gave the car a bit of a clean to get rid of some dirt/cow that we had collected on the drive, while Sandra gave the caravan a vacuum/floor wash. Cooled off again in the pool before a quiet night with leftovers. On the road again tomorrow to Mareeba where we plan on riding out the Easter Weekend.

When we were here in 2012 the area was still recovering from Hurricane Yasi with a lot of damage done in Cardwell. The area now looks wonderful again with a beautiful walkway all along the coast with memorials/picnic areas, benches, exercise equipment. Beautiful views out towards Hinchinbrook Island as well. Unfortunately being Northern Queensland you can't use the beach because of Crocodiles and Box Jelly fish amongst other deadly creatures.

Ravenswood, Queensland

Sunday saw us leave Charters Towers and head to Ravenswood for a few days. Was only a short drive so we enjoyed a bit of a sleep in and relaxed pack up. Was very hot so we may stick to doing the majority of pack up the evening before or an early start. The road to Ravenswood was good and not very busy. Very green again and some lovely hills in the distance. Saw some cattle and emus on the road but not dangerously close!

We arrived at the Showgrounds at Ravenswood mid morning. Lots of space with quite a bit of shade. Unfortunately, most of the shade trees were housing "Bats"! We found a less shaded site with no bats! Was quite uneven but eventually we got the caravan leveled off. Lots of ants as well so I was pressing all of Sandra's "hot buttons"! The Showground is very reasonable at $15/night including power and water. Showers and toilets were very basic and not very clean. Two stars only! We had planned to stay for 3 or 4 nights but quickly re-evaluated.

We did a bit of a tour around Ravenswood after lunch. They have a fairly large open pit gold mine which we got a good view of from the lookout. Ravenswood is also an historic gold mining centre that was discovered just prior to Charters Towers. We have a few pictures of the old mine fields and miner's huts.

There was also a number of historic old buildings which date from the late 1800s. The Imperial Hotel, Railway Hotel, and Post Office were features. Sadly not as ornate or as well preserved as some of the ones in Charters Towers. The people we met in a few of them didn't seem too interested in tourists either which is strange as wouldn't be much else happening in Ravenswood!

We took a short drive out to "White Blow" which is a giant mass of quartz that has been pushed up from deep within the earth at some point. Was literally just sitting by itself in the middle of nowhere. Interesting!

Returned to the Showground for a quiet night mostly spent in the caravan with the air conditioning on. Thankfully the bats didn't end up over our caravan and the smell lessened throughout the day. There were a number of lightning storms in the distance but we only got a few sprinkles. Sandra got some nice pictures of storm clouds and the sunset colours.

We decided we would make our decision about another day in the morning. Was a very hot night but thankfully no more Bats.

Monday morning we decided to forego the day trip we had planned to Burdekin Falls Dam, and move on. Was a very hot pack up and we were battling with thousands of ants that decided to make a trail under the tow hitch and our awning! Not the best of experiences and we wouldn't recommend Ravenswood to fellow travelers. Charters Towers is superior in every way from our personal perspective!

Charters Towers, Queensland

Wednesday morning we were up at 5:30 to hit the road early on our way to Charters Towers. All packed up and on the road by 6:30. Passed through Capella which looks nice and might be worth a stop next trip. Topped up with diesel at Clermont before taking the Gregory Development Road North towards Charters Towers. Fellow travelers might be interested that the Caltex just off of the highway was about $.15/litre cheaper for diesel than the BP truck stop on the main road.

The road north to Beylando Crossing was good but quite bumpy. Definitely a two handed driving experience when towing a caravan. Another fuel tip that we received was that Beylando Crossing is significantly more expensive than Clermont. We didn't check but as it is the only service station in 400 Km I wouldn't doubt that they are taking advantage. We stopped for a quick stretch at a rest stop in Beylando Crossing  before having lunch at another about 100 Km South of Charters Towers. There was some very light rain for the last 100 Km and the countryside became very green. There was even some water in the creek beds and on the side of the road. We also hit a few large quantities of butterflies crossing the road. Hundreds at a time in some spots and I'm afraid there were a number of casualties.

We pulled into Dalrymple Tourist Park on the north side of Charters Towers about 1:30. $33/night but was lovely and green with a huge shaded drive through site. The rain got a bit heavier throughout the afternoon and evening. We were hoping for a bit heavier as both the car and van are filthy with red dust. You can see from the pictures how green the area is from the recent rain. We thought it might be a regular event but were advised by a number of locals that this was the exception. The park owners who have been there only 18 months said they hadn't seen any rain for the first 14 months they were there. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the caravan catching up on some communication.

Headed to the Visitor Centre on Thursday morning to plan our agenda for the next few days. Beautiful old buildings are located all throughout the downtown of Charters Towers. One of the prettiest towns/cities we have seen in a while. The staff at the Visitor Centre were very helpful and we were even able to book a number of the tours through them.

We took a drive up to Towers Hill which is where Gold was first discovered and provides a great view of the area. Rain was heading towards us so we retreated to the grocery store to stock up before returning to the caravan. Sandra did some cleaning and laundry while I got caught up on a weeks worth of Blog updates. The rain continued into the evening when it let off.

Friday morning was a lovely, sunny morning. We had a tour of the Venus Battery booked for 9 AM just out of town. Only Sandra and I with our tour guide Malcom, until a film crew showed up, which was quite the surprise for all three of us. Sandra had ventured out makeup free, and I was wearing a very colourful throw together outfit (maroon surfer shirt, blue stripe shorts, brown shoes, grey socks, and my beige Tilley hat). They setup and took a few shots of us on the tour before disappearing to their next location. Hopefully they edit out most of our scenes! The tour itself was very informative and Malcom explained in some detail how Gold was extracted from the ore that was brought to the Gold Mill/Battery.

We took part in a local golf competition on Friday afternoon. Sandra and I were partnered with a 10 year old boy named Beau and his mother, Ange. Beau is already a 26 handicap and plays off the men's tees which are fairly long. Wow! We may see him on TV some day. His Mum played off a handicap of 20 and consistently out drove me through the 9 hole competition. I had an average round and Sandra struggled a bit, but we both had fun and were looking forward to a cold drink in the clubhouse. The course was in good shape with mostly grass covered fairways. Apparently they were mainly dirt fairways until the recent rain. We enjoyed an easy dinner and early night. Unfortunately it was a very hot night and neither of us slept very well. Could have been reliving having out butt's kicked by a 10 Year old??

We drove downtown early in the morning to do a self guided walk around some of the historic buildings. There were about 10 buildings on the brochure but would be hundreds of other buildings that would be features in most other towns. Most of the buildings are still being used for various organizations or businesses which keeps the area vibrant. Apparently this is becoming more of a struggle as the cost of maintaining these heritage buildings increase. Hopefully they can find a way to keep them viable as would be a great loss for Charters Towers and Australian history if they were lost. The downtown area is very busy with a significant number of unique/niche/independent businesses. Such a pleasant change from the same old/same old series of chain stores we see in most urban centres/shopping centres. I'm sorry that there are a lot of pictures but they were all worth seeing!

We took the car for a bath/wash before a quick trip to the grocery store on the way home. Spent some time getting bugs off of the front of the Jeep before an easy afternoon relaxing in the pool at the caravan park. We packed a prawn salad dinner for another trip up Towers Hill. Enjoyed a glass of wine and the prawns while watching the sunset over Charters Towers. We also were there for the Ghost of Gold presentation, which funnily enough was also hosted by Malcom! Very informative about the Gold Rush and War History of Charters Towers. Lovely evening with a few nice photo opportunities.

Charters Towers is a very interesting place to visit and we would highly recommend it for at least a 3 day stop. We would definitely consider a return visit. The people we met were wonderful as well, including the Caravan Park we stayed at. Amenity rating would be 3.5 Stars as were fairly basic but clean.