SOUTHWARD BOUND

We are now back on the East Coast and heading south towards Brisbane and looking forward to having time with Nicola, Adrian, Brodie and Kaley in October before we head back to New Zealand. We have lots of places to visit before then though. Our stay in Port Douglas was really lovely. The weather, most of the time, was kind to us and I was determined to have a swim in the ocean, crocs or no crocs! The beach at Port Douglas stretches for miles with lovely golden sands, blue seas and islands in the distance and the sea was so warm. It was lovely. Port Douglas is showing signs of the economic downturn with lots of empty shops; signs of re-development sitting idle and even one of the Quicksilver Reef Catamarans not going out to the Barrier Reef every day. The caravan parks were all full though and we have had to start booking ahead again to guarantee a site. It was very windy while we were in Port Douglas, in fact we have had winds nearly every day since we hit the east coast. The locals say it is most unusual. We visited the local markets on the Sunday we were in Port Douglas and what an interesting array of goods they had. The vegetables and fruit were all so lovely and fresh and lots of tropical fruits that we just never see in New Zealand.

Out next stop just down the road was on the beach at Ellis Beach. This is quite a small camp but it is on a prime site with the beach at its doorstep. It may be due to be closed in the next year or so and the land used for re-development. Ellis Beach is about 30 kms. north of Cairns. The camp was full all the time we were there, mostly with people from NSW and Victoria. They all come up north for the winter and stay for 3 to 4 months in the same spot. We have noticed that since we left the outback there isn't the same friendliness among the campers in the van parks on the east coast as there was up the middle. They have all come to the same park for years and all know each other so meet for drinks, coffee etc. among themselves. We certainly miss the the camaraderie of having a drink before dinner and telling everyone about our travels and listening to their stories.

Kurramine Beach was our next destination. This little beach town has three caravan parks in it and reminded us of Foxton Beach with similar beach houses and shops. The weather really packed it in there and we didn't even manage more than a quick walk to the beach to have a look at it and that was that. We spent a day in Innisfail which suffered the horror of a hurricane a couple of years ago. The lady at the Information Centre said she thought the town looks better after it as it got rid of so much rubbish. This is the art deco capital of Queensland and there are lots of old buildings that have been renovated and look great. The town isn't a patch on Napier though. It is the middle of the sugar cutting season now and the roads are full of huge trucks carrying the cane to the mills. The main highway between Cairns and Brisbane, the Bruce Highway, is criss crossed with little railway lines that ferry the cane to the trucks in wire wagons towed by railway engines specially built for this task. The railway lines are narrower than ordinary lines but they are everywhere and you have to watch out for the trains crossing the main highway at this time of the year. This part of the country is also great for growing bananas and there are paddock after paddock of banana plants with multi coloured plastic bags hanging from them covering the bananas. There are moves afoot to import bananas from Philippines and in shop windows; on road hoardings and even on t shirts there are signs saying “No to Banana Imports. Keep the Jobs for the Australians”

We are now in Cardwell on the coast just beside Hinchinbrook Island which is Australia's largest national park. We drove through here in 1997 and are amazed at the growth in this area since then. The town has built a huge marina with resorts, canals, restaurants around it. It is a very pretty town with the hills covered in dense rain forests and leading right down into the sea. There are loads of walking tracks which we hope to cover while we are here. We have already walked up to the look out which we both found quite strenuous as it is a while since we have much climbing. This area has the highest rainfall in Australia so everything is very green and the hills are usually covered in mist.

We had a day in Mission Beach where the beach is covered in golden sand and goes for miles. It is just like a tropical island. It is my favourite beach in Australia and it was just as I remembered it from 1997 and 2004. This area is popular for viewing the cassowary which is a large flightless bird similar to the emu or ostrich but larger. It has lethal dagger like claws which it uses if cornered. We were starting to wonder if this bird was a figment of someone's imagination as we had never encountered one on our travels. We were thrilled to be proved wrong this time. We saw one feeding in the scrub on the side of the road. Jim rushed out with the camera while I watched in fear and trepidation unless he was attacked. These birds are not renowned for their good tempers!! We got some good photos while the bird grazed quite contentedly.

The Prado and caravan have performed perfectly during the past 4 months but we did have a bit of excitement, if you could call it that, while we were on our way to Cooktown. We were travelling from Port Douglas over the Great Dividing Range via Julatten, towing the caravan and it was a very steep climb on a hot day. The vehicle's automatic gearbox oil starting overheating and the warning light came on. There was nowhere to stop as it was a very narrow road and nowhere to pull over. We carried on very slowly and luckily eventually came to a lookout where we stopped and let the engine cool down a bit. We had climbed bigger hills without any problems but it must have been the combination of the steep hill and the heat.

My photos this time show our friendly cassowary; the lovely beach at Mission Beach and the view from the Lookout overlooking Cardwell and Hinchinbrook Island

Our next stops will be in the Whitsundays and island resorts where we hope to have a week at Airlie Beach for a bit of R & R and that will probably be where my next blog will come from.