2^nd August

So much has happened since my last blog, a month ago, I hardly know where to begin. I might as well start with Cairns. I arrived to a week of wet weather so it gave me time to catch up on house keeping, repairs and relaxing while waiting for my friend Sue to arrive from Perth.

We left Cairns on Monday 4^th July and headed towards Kuranda. For those who have visited there you’ll know that it’s a delightful little mountain village which attracts visitors for souvenir shopping and artists’ galleries, not to mention the walking trails, wildlife and river cruises, if you’re so inclined. We resisted the temptation to buy anything other than an icecream at the markets.

From there it was a short drive to Mareeba to shop for some essentials before heading out to Granite Gorge, our stay for the next 2 nights. It is not well advertised because it is privately owned. Once there, we fell in love with the place as it is quite remote and the facilities basic.

With the early morning light in the sky just after 6.30am, we went for our morning walk and were justly rewarded with a lovely sunrise. We ventured further out to the rocks and were greeted with a dozen or more hungry little rock wallabies waiting for their breakfast. We lost no time feeding them from the packet of food we’d been given by the campsite attendant the night before. They were so tame and no doubt used to being around visitors. Granite Gorge proved to be a photographer’s dream as we spent a lot more time exploring the rock pools and taking several photos before returning to camp for a well earned cuppa with our breakfast.

Back in Mareeba we sampled the coffee and the liqueurs and the chocolates at the Coffee Works before returning to the gorge. Then it was time to visit the wallabies again just before dusk and we found them to be not quite as hungry as before, probably due to the fact that there were several other visitors who had been feeding them.

Our next two nights were at Lake Tinaroo camping in the National Park. We almost had the campsite to ourselves and we certainly took advantage of the views and the sunsets, practising different shots with our cameras. We even put our culinary skills to the test cooking damper and casserole in the camp oven. Talk about clever little girl guides.

We then moved around to the other side of the lake at Yungaburra and again had a beautiful lakeside campsite for another three nights. This gave us the opportunity to go out each day to visit other parts of the Atherton Tableland including many beautiful waterfalls, villages, the historical town of Herberton, lakes and marvelling at the hilly and picturesque countryside. But the highlight for both of us was viewing the platypus feeding at Yungaburra.

On returning to Cairns we spent a couple of days packing and preparing for our Cape York adventure, and what an adventure it was.  Having left the motor home in the capable hands of the caravan park owners, we were picked up at 6.45am along with a dozen or so other campers and delivered to a place just outside Cairns, where we joined the rest of the group (we numbered 19 in all). We boarded our 4x4wheel drive truck, which would be our means of transport for the next 12 days. It didn’t take long to get to know the rest of them and we were soon on our way to Cooktown via Mossman Gorge and the Bloomfield Track. The road proved to be pretty rough in places and the creek crossings quite steep and narrow. We had time next day to explore the historic port before arriving at Lakefield National Park via cattle stations, and the old coach road.

Then it was on to Musgrave, the old telegraph station and Coen to Archer River. We crossed the Wenlock and Pascoe Rivers before entering Iron Range National Park for 2 nights.

We visited significant historical sites and Portland roads which was once a vital seaport for miners and the wartime airfields. Chilli Beach is wide and long and fringed with palms and we decided well named, as it was quite windy the 2 nights we stayed there. We learnt about the airfield at Iron Range and where there were major military installations during WW2.

Then it was north west to Weipa on the Gulf of Carpentaria, where some were able to do a tour of the Weipa Mine. From there it was on to Moreton Telegraph Station passing firstly through cattle runs and the Wenlock River again. We encountered some fast flowing streams and rugged 4WD tracks to reach Twin Falls which we all thought were beautiful as we splashed in the cool waters.

Day 9 and we crossed the Jardine River by barge and had a brief visit to Bamarga before arriving at Punsand Bay. This was to be our camp for the last 3 nights. The highlight of Day 10 was a cruise through the Straits to Thursday and Horn Islands.

Our last official day of touring would see us standing at the very tip of our continent at Cape York. Monday 25^th and we were transferred to Bamaga Airport for the flight back to Cairns. Some of the group were returning via barge so we said our goodbyes at the airport. It had been a great experience.  

Some of the memorable events include: the cooking, the joke telling, swimming in the Falls, collecting firewood for the evening, photographing the sunsets, putting up the tents, sleeping on 2inch mattresses, the occasional encounters with snakes, using the “drop” dunnies, night walks to search out wildlife including cus-cus and tree frogs, wading through the creek crossing to get a good shot of the truck coming across, corrugated roads and our “Awards Night”. Hopefully you’ll see some of these in the photos.

It was great to be back in Cairns where we enjoyed the luxury of big comfortable beds and our own facilities for the next 2 nights. For anyone thinking about the next holiday, why not consider a trip to Cape York with Oztours.