Winter 2011 - Heading to the sun

On the day we left rain drenched Sydney in July, inexplicably, the sun came out. Of course. Still, our plan was to head north and so we headed north. The day was perfect for a leisurely drive up the New England Highway. Not too much traffic, a few big rigs/trucks and apart from the dreadful state of one of the nations most used highways, we had an uneventful run to.......

Burning Mountain Reserve, just north of Scone. We set up for the night with only one other caravanner in sight. Ah, serenity...... until about 7 pm when the truckies started their overnight shift. We had a cozy (read cool) night of 3 degrees celsius. More tomorrow - when we defrost.

Moving away from the coast

We left Mission Beach and headed inland to the Atherton Tablelands. We drove through sugarcane fields to Mena Creek and visited Paronella Park. This is an old concrete castle ruin built by a Spaniard immigrant for his bride in the 1930s. Very romantic although the night time walk was rather eerie.

The drive was very scenic and here are just a few photos to whet your tastebuds.

Ravenshoe

Up on the tablelands we visited a lovely old town named Ravenshoe. We 'free camped' at the railway station.................Have a look.

I did mention it was an old town didn't I?

Heading Home

As we head homeward we reflect on a wonderful adventure. This is such a big and varying country. The people we met were as diverse as the country through which we travelled. Aussies still have an exploring spirit - just like their ancestors.

We travelled on seventeen different highways in our 3 month trek. 17!!

They include

Pacific Hwy

New England Hwy

Kamilaroi Hwy

Canarvon Hwy

Matilda Hwy

Warrego Hwy

Landsborough Hwy

Kennedy Development Road

Flinders Highway

Gregory Development Road

Herveys Range Development Road

Bruce Hwy

Captain Cook Hwy

Kennedy Hwy

Palmerston Hwy

Pacific Motorway (Brisbane)

Bruxner Hwy

17! We have travelled about 7,500 km and saw the rugged outback of Queensland, tropical rainforests, the Great Barrier Reef and all the country in between. BUT we haven't seen it all and, yes, we will be back...............

Early in the new year we head to Tasmania and Victoria for a few months......... we will keep you posted.

Green Island

We are in the tropics and the main attraction up here is the Great Barrier Reef. We couldn't miss the opportunity of snorkelling so we boarded an island ferry and headed for Green Island.

The water was the perfect temperature and the tropical fish were truly abundant and as impressive as ever. Maureen and Richard were with us and we made a day of it. Words can't really describe what we were lucky enough to see. Simply memorable.

Paradise Found

We finally made it to the beautiful Far North Queensland coast at Townsville and continued northward to Mission Beach. We really don't need to go any further as you can see by the photos. Our caravan park is right on the beach.....the weather is superb and we are sharing our adventure with Maureen and Richard (my twin sister).

The island you see just off the beach is Dunk Island which has an upmarket resort and great walking trails. We spend time every day walking the beach with the dog (Tilly), swimming and just enjoying our good fortune. Rainforest prevails around this part of the world and we have done a fair bit of 'hiking' (really only walking) through the bush in our quest to sight the elusive Cassowary...... (large native bird, flightless, and close to extinction). We are assured that they are about but as of today we have failed in this endeavour. Fishing is a popular pastime here and a few of the other residents have boats and, judging by the size of their catches, are very successful fisherman. We are having fresh fish again tonight - courtesy of our neighbours. Mackeral, I believe, and Eric will be the masterchef at the bbq.

Roadside stalls have supplied our fresh bananas, avocados and pawpaws..... The avos are 6 for $1 and every one is perfect.. sounds like heaven doesn't it?

We will continue north next week but our route and itinerary is still undecided - ho hum life is tough.........

Outback Queensland

Here is a brief run down of where we we've been in outback Queensland. This top photo is at the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach. Note the Qantas tail in the background as this town is also known as the home of Qantas - this is where the airline originated....

We stayed at the caravan park in Ilfrracombe (30 km from Longreach). The village has all of 50 residents and is simply charming. They have the 'Mechanical Mile' which is a display along the highway of old farm machinery and each piece has a story attached. Very interesting. The pub here served the coldest beer around....

The street names in Longreach have no bearing on the local history but are named after birds - north/south streets after land birds and east/west streets after water birds.
This intersection caught our eye -

In Blackall we visited the site of the famous "Black Stump". Australians will know the importance of this landmark. It was a surveyors mark (truly was a tree stump) that all was measured from. In Oz the 'Black Stump' is synonymous with being a long way from anywhere so if, as in this photo, you are 'Beyond the Black Stump' you might as well fall of the face of the earth...... The alternative is to be on 'This Side of the Black Stump' (photo not included) which is still a long way from anywhere.

We stayed a couple of days in Barcaldine and saw the Tree of Knowledge which is the birthplace of the Australian union movement and Labor Party. This is the site of a notorious shearers strike in the 1800s. The town is very worker/union oriented and has a large display of the proud heritage and history of the Australian union movement...

Every town, of course, has it's pubs - never only one.......... The town of Ravenswood is no exception. This old gold mining town has seen better days and was once quite thriving but today is a collection of old shoppes, a courthouse, jail, police station, primary school and two pubs. The Imperial Hotel was one of many pubs but now shares its clientele with only one other hotel. We had a counter lunch here and loved the old charm of the pub and the town....