Ingham like Innisfail is very much a sugar-cane town, with the usual refinery emitting clouds of steam and a sickly sweet smell, but Ingham is mostly flat with wide streets whereas Innisfail seemed to be all up and down with narrow streets and parking problems. Also Ingham is some kilometres inland. Both have a number of old buildings as well as many new.

We were heading for Mungalla Station near Forrest Beach, a working property run by the Nywaigi people, who have occupied the lands for thousands of years. It has a proud history with both European and indigenous aspects.

The entrance to the property is marked by a grove of huge mango trees, then the road twists and turns alongside a waterway full of waterlilies, paddocks of horses, Droughtmaster cattle and geese, and finally to the homestead.

We were warmly welcomed and directed to camp anywhere alongside the  fence with views over the surrounding land all the way to the mountains. Curious cattle walked along the fence line several times. Below was a waterway but we were cautioned not to go fishing or swimming – crocodiles!

Mungalla has an interesting history. At one time it was one of the most famous in north Queensland, particularly for its thoroughbred horses bred by the Cassady family. There were formal gardens and tennis courts. James Cassady gave refuge to and actively tried to protect the Aboriginal and Islander people, allowed a number of camps on the property and actively campaigned for better  treatment for these people.

The property was bought by Mont Atkinson in 1944 and he relocated the house to the only spot which had remained above water in the great 1927 floods. The Atkinsons continued the Cassady tradition of breeding racehorses. They also established the famous Droughtmaster breed of cattle, a cross between British breeds and Brahman cattle which proved much more suited to the climate and tick problems of northern Australia.

I’m not sure how it became an Aboriginal property. “Today, the Mungalla Aboriginal Business Corporation and its parent body the Nywaigi Aboriginal Land Corporation which holds title to Mungalla Station have a  mandate to improve the economic and social position of our people.  We have chosen to achieve these aims by sharing the rich history and culture of Mungalla Station with you through our tours.”

Unfortunately we just missed one of these tours.

We went for a short drive to the coast, criss-crossing numerous sugar cane tramway tracks. They even go right through the town. Forrest Beach and Taylors Beach were pleasant places.

A river near Lucinda……

… .the port which has the longest sugar loading jetty in the world, 5.7 kms!

 We could see Hinchinbrook Island clearly despite the haze. Apparently the area is notorious for marine stingers, certainly this sign is the largest we have seen so far.

That’s the stinger net in the foreground.

Another day we visited the Tyto Wetlands which form part of the Ingham information Centre, with its extensive interactive displays. There were a number of walking tracks and boardwalks.

There is special emphasis on the local birds and Dave was able to pick up a very useful booklet so now we will be able to identify all the birds he photographs.

A rainbow bee-eater….

Masked lapwing…

Female and male crimson  finch.

We went for a drive up the range to the Wallaman Waterfall, taking our lunch as it was quite a way. There were a couple of traffic hazards – the cattle on this stretch are obvisouly used to cars and also used to getting their own way!

The road became very steep, narrow and winding and there were notices about not only straying stock but about wandering cassowaries.

We were astonished to encounter a large white Brahman-cross bull contentedly munching at the roadside grass. How on earth did he get up so far? It was at least 15 km to the nearest flattish ground, and the road was bordered on both sides by impenetrable bush.

 Half way up we stopped for lunch and to admire the view.  The first photo shows the straight stretch of road with cattle in the previous photo.

And so finally to the waterfall, the highest single drop waterfall in Australia- 268 metres. Quite impressive.

Returning on the narrow mountain road we passed the same white bull – and again I ddn’t have my camera ready. Bother bother!

The highway from Innisfail to Ingham goes inland to Tully then back to the coast at Cardwell, at the northernmost end of the Hinchinbrook Channel. Cardwell is a small quiet town.

A little further on we began noticing strange structures straddling the highway. they are overbridges for possums and gliders.

The highway started to climb. At the top there is a great new viewing platform slightly spoilt by intrusive power lines, and many informative signs. TWO World Heritage areas side by side.

We took lots of photos, then noticed a pathway ….

… which led to absolutely glorious non-powerline impeded views.

It was a hazy day so this is the best magnification I could get of the entrance passage. “Cornelius” came this way in 1980, heading north. There is only a narrow entrance channel which shifts constantly. Heart in mouth, Geoff steered the boat in according to the navigation signs on shore; we were in a relatively calm channel of water with waves breaking on either side. Half way in a huge wave appeared out of nowhere directly behind, overtook us and drenched the helmsman and half the boat. Geoff struggled to hold us straight on course not to mention upright as the boat veered madly; then we were into calmer waters and the worst was over. I have a photo of the event but of course it isn’t on this computer. Bother, bother.

Dave took some wonderful panoramic shots:

Then down again and on to Ingham and a bush camp we’d been hearing about, on a private cattle property now owned by Aborginals.

En route back to the coast from Undara, we turned off to investigate the Millsteam Falls near Ravenshoe, reputedly the widest single-drop falls in Australia. Not very large, but rather pretty.

The area around the Falls is notable for another reason, it was where a large Army camp was set up during WW2.  We did not walk the track but no doubt it was an interesting well-sign-posted site.

We stopped off in Ravenshoe for lunch and also a roadside stall selling fresh local produce. A whole bag of smallish avocadoes, about 15 and all absolutely perfect, were just $3!

After the usual downhill slalom drive we knew when we were approaching Innisfail, there were banana plantations everywhere. Also sugar cane.

We headed for a camp on Flying Fish Point, through the town of innisfail and then a stretch of bush where signs warned us to watch out for cassowaries. And indeed we did spot one, although it was a bit shy.

When I was living in Lismore in northern coastal NSW in the early 1960s , sugar-cane territory, I got used to the sickly sweet smell coming from the sugar refineries and also the frequent cane burn-offs. The defining smell is still the same but nowadays the cane is harvested green. The green tops and leaves are left on the ground to form a “trash blanket” which prevents weed growth, filters water, keeps the soil moist and increases soil carbon status.

I got this information at the Sugar Museum. They were very keen for us to accept several samples of raw sugar and jelly beans, and to promote sugar in general – a losing battle I think.

Here’s an example of an early IBM computer. Yes, I remember them. So does Dave.

After an indifferent lunch we headed for nearby Etty Beach, with more warning signs about cassowaries, which apparently use the beach nonchalantly and frequently.

We didn’t see any but we did enjoy watching the descent of a number of skydivers who all landed precisely on the beach in front of us, although one had to twist and descend very smartly and probably gave the joy-rider an extra possibly unwanted thrill.

The town of Innisfail is built on hilly ground beside a river, with some unusual old buildings and a statue of a cane-cutter.

The Innisfail harbour entrance is quite narrow.

An inventive name for a boat – “Purr-feck”.

Here are some more local ‘Signs’…..

… and a partridge in a pear tree (?!)

After two nights there we headed south for Ingham through more sugar cane country.

Before starting the long trek south, we decided to make one last visit to the Atherton Tableland and see a few things we missed earlier when we made the dash to Mareeba to get the jeep’s window fixed plus a few other things.

This time we climbed to the tableland via Gordonvale, quite a different experience to the Cairns-Karumba road. Initially we drove through the usual interminable sugar cane fields, inhaling the characteristic sickly-sweet smells coming from the Gordonvale sugar refinery. The mountains loomed ahead.  It is said there are 265 turns in the Gordonvale-Yungaburra road but I lost count.

Mostly the the country was more open and there were some splendid views of the coast. Near the top we turned off at Windy Hill to admire all the wind turbines. Yes it was quite windy!  There are 20 turbines altogether.

From tropical sugarcane lowland through rainforest to undulating green pastures – yet another startling contrast all within a few hours. We stopped at the Ravenshoe (pronounced -hoe not -shoe) i-Centre where an unusual tree stood guard – a Cadagi tree with two quite different types of leaves ‘due to some climatic abnormality’.

The local Aboriginals had a beautiful large display room. These finely woven cane baskets are made from lawyer vine.

Several aboriginal stories are told in detail with beautiful little illustrated panels. Here are the last two in the ‘Fire Story’.

Yungaburra was essentially a logging township. Together with the usual logging museum photos and instruments, there were a number of folders containing newspaper articles detailing the area’s opposition to new logging laws. Here  is a poignant reminder of how ‘for the greater good’ doesn’t always succeed as well as expected  …

We didn’t linger as we wanted to make Undara before nightfall.

≈

It has been good to relax for a while. Cairns is quite hot and humid so the coolness of shopping malls is welcome.  The town has certainly grown, sadly at the expense of many of the lovely old buildings. However, some remain.

As usual we were on the hunt for a few replacement bits and pieces for the caravan, this time it was the step which recently decided to crack on top. Dave had heard several horror stories of people getting their foot caught in the hard plastic as it collapsed so we decided to replace it with a sturdier two-step. We also bought me some new sandals, badly needed.

We spent one lovely day with a teacher from my old Sydney school. Now in her 80s, Stella is just the same from when I last saw her over 35 years ago.

She took us to lunch at an innovative little restaurant called Eato’s, where unemployed people are trained as cooks, waiters, etc and then found proper jobs. The food, though fairly basic, was wonderful and well presented. I had pork belly and it was a true melt-in-the-mouth experience. Then we went for a drive to her old stomping ground, Holloways Beach, where she and I once took her dog for a walk.

With so many attractions available we couldn’t decide what to do – go to Green Island or the Low Isles or Fitzroy, glass-bottomed boat and/or snorkelling extra, or just a sail. Or just do the Kuranda Train and Skyrail?  The helpful guy at the i-Centre gave us some ideas about the latter so in the end it was decided – join the train at Freshwater Station (close to Lake Placid), train up, Skyrail down, coach from the Skyrail terminal back to Freshwater to collect the jeep.

Pioneer women, from a photo in the Freshwater station museum. Haunting faces.

At first the train went through sugar cane fields, then started to climb.

The Lake Placid caravan park was just visible. Our caravan is in front and just to the right of the three in a row at the centre back.

Stony  Creek Falls as seen from the train as it went over this bridge.

The same falls seen later that day from the SkyTrain.

The railway was constructed between 1882 and 1891 “…. and even today is considered an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude”. Heritage wooden carriages take one 328 metres above sea level, through 15 hand-made tunnels and  over 37 bridges through World Heritage-listed rainforest. Here are two scale models to give an idea (the waterfall and bridge in the last photo are visible top right in the first model).

Kuranda has certainly changed from the little township I saw many years ago. The railway station however is still much the same, a sort of elongated fernery.

Emerging from the station we were welcomed by a didgeridoo player. He didn’t pause for breath just gave Dave a thumbs-up when he dropped a donation in the tin.

The town is like one huge market with stalls ranging from the gypsy-tatty to the expensive gold-pearls-and-opal with haughty well-dressed salespersons. Also what seemed like hundreds of food stalls. There were far more Asian faces than anything else. Ah, Tourism with a T (!).

There are several special attractions in the town. We chose BirdWorld. We were warned to remove all jewellery etc which would include Dave’s cochlear implants, but he needed them so a quick search around the nearby stalls and we found a great bandana … doesn’t he look piratical! The Raja Shelducks loved him.

( Dave: All I needed was a Hardly-Drivable to complete the image!)

Alexandrine Parrot from India and SE Asia

Possibly cassowary chicks – not sure.

Correction: Bush stone-curlew. Endemic to Australia. Has an unusual courtship dance.

Black cockatoo

Dave’s bird photos. Not all are Australian.

It was a humid cloudy day so our photos of the Skyrail are not the best. There are actually three sections and you get out at each one and transfer to another carriage.

At each stop there are short boardwalks to scenic views and sometimes other stuff like an early flying fox, the mechanical people-carrying sort (they probably DID eat mangoes too).

The Barron Falls  as seen from the other side, and the views looking north and south.

Approaching the coast. I badly wanted to stay on board and go up again!

That evening we made a quick trip to Lake Placid just down the road from the camp. Not very large. Signs say it is fine to swim in the lake but the usual crocodile warning signs were at one end where the  lake is joined by a river.

Next day Dave went off to the Military Museum and did not come back until well after lunchtime.

I stayed ‘home’ and tried to understand the results of my mtDNA test which arrived recently. A whole new world to investigate…!

I had hoped to post this blog just before we left Cairns but the website would not co-operate. We are now back on the tableland at Undarra near Mt. Surprise.

Back to Mareeba the long way with a coffee stop at Mt. Molloy. There are several cafes there so we were lucky not to miss the last one.

Along the way, sugar cane and mango plantations started to appear in ever increasing numbers – sometimes side by side.

Approaching the town we decided to stop off at a Mango Winery (??) and were so glad we did!

http://www.goldendrop.com.au.  As the only visitors we received full attention from a charming lady wearing an amazing deep orange-coloured T-shirt complimented by orange toenail polish. She knew the products well, spoke entertainingly and after we’d tried about 5 wines and ports we ended up buying two bottles of the medium wine, which we hadn’t intended (!) and also a delicious 22% liqueur (‘Cello’) which we’ve already sampled over ice-cream.

A family-owned business, it was originally a tobacco farm which diversified into mangoes, then in 1992 they started researching mango wine-making (which most people deemed impossible) and launched their products in 1999. (Photo from website). 

They have a huge orchard of 17,500 trees (said to be one of the largest plantations in Australia)  where they grow their own variety of Kensington Red mangoes, derived from Kensington Pride which I knew well from Bowen days and another red-skinned one. I was intrigued to learn they use underripe, ripe and overripe mangoes to produce three different types of wine.

There’s an informative page on their website about mangoes, at http://www.goldendrop.com.au/mangoes.html/  and also some very interesting recipes at http://www.goldendrop.com.au/recipes.html/

We just missed the Mareeba Stockmen’s challenge too, arriving late on Saturday and not noticing the early – and final – Sunday morning activities. At least they had considerably better weather than at Cloncurry.

On the drive from Endeavour River we managed to lose some essential knob from the awning, so we hung around in Mareeba till Monday morning as Dave knew he could get a replacement there. We had lunch at the Coffee/Chocolate House and bought some absolutely delicious Lemon Myrtle dark chocolate – YUM. I was quite sorry to leave Mareeba.

After collecting the essential caravan awning thing, we set off for Cairns but veered off the highway  to visit Kuranda and the Barron Falls. There did not seem to be any provision for caravan parking at the Falls and wisely we did not venture down the last part of the narrow steep road, but parked near the top. It was then a steep walk down to the start of the rainforest walk, which meant another 1 km or so but on a lovely wide well surfaced and gently sloping track which took us from well-defined rainforest to open woodland and so to the main viewing point near the Kuranda railway staton.

The Barron River near the highway had looked quite large but the falls were definitely not. Last time I saw them about 1982 the water was thundering down full bore.

The dam at the top- there used to be a power station at the bottom, but it has since been moved to a more downstream location.

The designated caravan parking in Kuranda, close to a supermarket, was full of cars towing nothing at all, so we gave up hoping for a coffee and the headed back for the highway. A little further on we came to the ‘Rainforest Station Nature Park’ which I vaguely remembered looked “interesting” in a brochure which was not then to hand. So we stopped and headed for what looked like the only restaurant rather than what was labelled the Information and booking centre. It turned out the place is a major coach stop and the restaurant could only offer a buffet or sandwiches. It was chock full of Japanese tourists, their plates laden with fresh fruit. I wandered over to the info Centre only to be confronted by a corridor at the end of which I could see a number of booking booths, no sign of any brochures etc so after a reasonable sandwich we left. Later I found the missing brochure and realised there were two other restaurants and a range of walks ….. however it did look like it was very regimented and tourist-oriented and I doubt we missed anything.

We are now in the Lake Placid caravan park and will stay here for a few days. I can hardly believe I have caught up with the blog at long last!!

The weather wasn’t too bad, a morning drizzle with a promise to clear up, so we decided to leave Westy in the camp and drive south to Bloomfield Waterfall and then to Cape Tribulation along the Bloomfield Track through the Daintree.

We had to head SW first as far as the intriguing Black Mountain then swing south, pass through the Cedar Bay National Park and some tiny little townships (eg Ayton named for Cook’s birthplace, and Wujal Wujal “so nice you want to say it twice”) mostly on aboriginal land….

….. and so almost to Bloomfield.

We turned off at the Black Cockatoo art gallery and cafe to fortify us for what we knew would be a bumpy track ahead. So far it had all been narrow surfaced road.

The Black Cockatoo is basically a private residence set in bushland just off the road, and featured some good bird artwork with strong environmental messages against pesticides, plastics etc and some delicate (watercolour?) paintings of fish and birds. The main doors were a feast of leadlight. With help of some reference books and the friendly owner Dave was able identify some of the birds he has photographed in the last month, particularly the sooty reef heron at Camooweal Lagoon.

The owner also told us the best place to see crocodiles in the Bloomfield River … and we did catch a big one sun baking on our return trip. There were wonderful views of the wide meandering river from that point.

On to Bloomfield, the waterfall to be visited on our return trip. The tar soon gave way to very bumpy hardened dirt, with occasional stretches of ribbed concrete where the going was extremely steep and twisty.

Numerous small water crossings did not give any trouble but then we came to a the much wider, swiftly flowing Emmagen Creek which turned out to be no trouble, less than a foot deep in fact. While we were hesitating a cortege of very dusty outback campers arrived and simply ploughed through.

The Daintree was the scene of much environmentalist activity in the eighties. The then Premier of Qld Joh Bjelke Petersen was all for reducing huge swathes to woodchip, but the Prime Minister Bob Hawke pushed through a proposal for World Heritage Status. Protests against a road through the pristine rainforest were long and personal but eventually the protesters lost. But it is still just a track really. Beautiful ferns, lianas and huge trees crowd the roadsides, there is an occasional fallen log or overhead obstruction, and at times we were driving through a tunnel of green. Dave called it “an interesting drive”, he’d love to do it when wet but not with Grandy’s townie tyres!

Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook with some feeling as it was near there that the “Endeavour” struck a reef, was a disappointment really, overrun by tourists including coaches from Cairns, and as far as we could see there was just a beach with no indication which headland was THE one. However, we do intend to revisit from the Cairns direction later; our focus was to have lunch then head back before any more rain came!

What Captain Cook probably saw (minus the intrusive tourists)

As it  turned out, no rain, but something else. More than halfway back, up a rise and round a corner, we came upon a group of three camper-vans all looking with interest at our underside, then signalling us to stop. They said they could hear a curious flap-flap-flap but we couldn’t through all  the jolting and jerking. By great good fortune there was plenty of room beside the track and even a convenient dip into which Dave could squirm while he removed the damaged protective cover over our gearbox! (Just to reassure, the latter is fine.) One of the campers was very kind in lending not only a tarp to lie on but a full set of wrenches. Normally and particularly in NZ we never travel without a full toolbox but with our current setup the only tools we have are kept in Westy, and we seldom travel without it in tow. Dave reckons he can bash the cover back in to shape and reattach.

We made another stop at the Black Cockatoo and this time were rewarded with seeing the two tame wallabies, reared since babies, which are quite free to roam but persist in following the owner round, even hopping up the steps or ramp to the house.

Back to Bloomfield township and a small detour to see the Falls.

Then back on the narrow tarmac to Cooktown, and a quick view to Quarantine Beach nearby. It was by then late afternoon and low tide with interesting patterns in the sand. The crabs however did not seem bothered by any demarkation.

I felt exhausted that evening from all the shaking; after a shower an early bed beckoned. Grandy would have to wait another day for a wash.

Next day it was back to Mareeba for two nights and lunch at the Coffee/Chocolate house then down the ‘hill’ to Cairns.

Cooktown is markedly changed from when I first saw it on the MGTF tour in 1971 and again on “Cornelius” in 1980. I wish I had the relevant old photos with me. This hotel is where we had fish and chips in 1980. It was almost the only eating place then.

The Endeavour River on the edge of the town.

Two beautiful trees nearby, one with unripe mangoes and the other  festooned with tropical plants.

We drove to the top of Grassy Hill overlooking the town, the wind was blowing very strongly and it was hard to take good photos; we obtained better ones on a later visit when the tide was out.

The Captain Cook Museum, now housed in an old restored convent, was wonderful.

Only the nuns were allowed to use the grand staircase, the students used the other much narrower an d steeper one(their dormitory was upstairs).

An original cannon and anchor from the “Endeavour’ were on display, having been recovered in the 1970s and carefully restored. The (new) stock on the anchor had to be made by hand as the hardwood used, similar to the original stock, was too hard for modern power tools.

It took ages to read all the extracts from Cook’s and Banks’ journals (not shown in photos)  but sitting there not far from the place it all actually happened made it all more enthralling. An interesting facet of the display were stories handed down to their descendants by the aboriginals who first encountered Cook and his crew, the first white people they’d ever seen.

The old Convent had many other historical displays ….  this lady crocheted enough curtains to line a hall! She kept a book full of newspaper crochet patterns.

There is an important Chinese section… the shoes were worn by the mother in this photo.

A piano with a history. Very difficult to take photos – apologies for the poor quality but it is such an interesting story!

We made it! Cooktown, the most northerly place we hoped to reach on this six month tour of eastern Australia.

Here’s an enlarged piece of the map from the last blog.

The white ‘road’ (Burke Developmental Road) from Karumba to Cairns via Dunbar (take note Nic’n’Mick! – it’s at the highest point) and Chillagoe tempted us but it is not all surfaced and there is no diesel available en route. We are sadly not equipped for that sort of outback adventure. It goes close to Mount Mulgrave station where Evelyn Mansell lived in 1912-1918, so graphically described in the wonderful book “S’Pose I Die” by Hector Holthouse. Highly recommended reading.

The road from Mareeba to Cooktown, the Mulligan Highway (shown in purple), took us nor’west from the relatively dry savannah grasslands of the Atherton tableland, through the old mining townships of Mt. Molloy (copper and timber) and Mr. Carbine (wolframite; the town was named after the Melbourne Cup winner), and then finally north east to the coast. Along the way we stopped at the Palmer River Roadhouse where Dave ordered the Mighty Palmer River Steak Sandwich which for $15 boasted of containing “steak, bacon, egg, pineapple, onion, cheese, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, tomato and carrot”. Not the best steak sandwich Dave has ever had. My order was much more modest.

To my surprise there was a little local museum in the roadhouse and it held a genealogist’s unexpected treasure, a rate collector’s record of everyone in the township in 1880. Historical records of many of the families named have been collected and displayed.

We came to the Byerstown Range, a steep climb with an amazing but too-misty-to-be-fully-appreciated view of the land to the northeast….

….. and looking back south.

Grandy and Westie looked so nice and shiny, a state which was not to last much longer.

A sign reminded me just how vast the country is ….

Downhill again, then while still 28 km from Cooktown we came to an astonishing sight – what looked like huge mountains of black mine tailings or rubble, very curious after many kilometres of well-wooded savannah land. It was indeed a special place, which the signs told us marked the northern end of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

it was like that on both sides of the road.

People, horses, whole mobs of cattle have disappeared ….

The nearer we drew to the coast the more tropical the scenery became. There were more creeks and rivers to cross.

And so to Cooktown. The Endeavour River, where Captain Cook beached the “Endeavour” and made repairs, goes through Cooktown and meanders north. We were camped on a private property, the ‘Endeavour River Escape’ on the banks of the river about 5 km out of town. It is an environmentally certified working farm breeding Clydesdales and growing Red Panama Passionfruit, with good amenities including hot showers, the water being heated by a fire and/or solar. There was no WiFi, no TV reception, not even mobile reception.

A few minutes’ walk from our campsite took us to the river. We’d been warned not to go beyond the barrier … crocodile country!

Yes it did rain .. it’s a wet rainforest area (!). Green ants were everywhere but did not give any trouble. This is not a green ant but a cute little bug which tried to hitch a ride on the car. Dave also spotted a few spiders.

More about Cooktown in the next blog. I’m trying to keep the blogs shorter I can post them more quickly.