The Boulders, Bramston Beach and Birds on a roof
Still raining here but we've had a delightful day. First we drove to The Boulders, a camp and picnic site 5.3 kms from the pretty town of Babinda, north of Innisfail. This is a beautiful spot, with a creek flowing fast through huge boulders- it must be awe-inspiring in the wet! There are whirlpools created in the rocks, and little waterfalls.
I may have mentioned dense rainforests previously, but this one's a proper jungle, although with an easy, tarred walking track. Really wonderful to see huge examples of plants we grow in a pot such as umbrella plants many metres tall.
Then to Bramston Beach, a nice enough beach with Joyce Creek entering at the end. But you start to wonder why people bother building houses in these places, with nary a shop for miles, and although the beach is nice enough, you still can't swim there because of crocs and stingers. (We still haven't seen a croc, but we've seen a photo of a monster, 4.5 metres long and very fat, photographed at Tully Head the week prior to our visit- he might very well still be there under the water.)
The big surprise at Bramston Beach was a pair of jabiru sitting on a roof! These are very big birds, actually the correct name is Australasian stork- you don't expect to see them on a roof (having said that, storks in Europe nest on chimneys by preference).
Jabiru on a roof
Then to Innisfail for lunch, and a leisurely stroll around the town admiring the art deco buildings. Innisfail had a bad cyclone in 2006 (Larry) and many buildings were damaged so the paintwork in most cases has been freshly done.
Innisfail Courthouse
Innisfail Water Tower, the first thing you see coming into town
Catholic Church
Innisfail Shire Chambers
On the way back to Mission Beach, we stopped at Lacey Creek for another rainforest walk. This is the prime spot for cassowaries, but we didn't see one, not surprising because the gravel path is very noisy and there's no chance of sneaking up on wildlife. No doubt the birds were well aware of us. We did see some nice fish in a very deep but clear pool.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM CHANGING TO ANOTHER BLOG AFTER FRIDAY AS THIS ONE HAS TOO MUCH CONTENT. THE NEW ADDRESS WILL BE chrisandvaltothursdayisland
We've just come from a delicious tasting of rare tropical fruit at the Information Centre next door. We stumbled upon it yesterday when we went in looking for maps, and decided to attend today. They run it only on Mondays and Tuesdays, from 1 to 2, at a cost of $4 each. If you want to go, be early, because there were about 50 people there in the end. We were lucky with front row seats.
The manager, a very interesting speaker, showed us the fruit before cutting, talked about its uses and how to tell when it's ready, etc, before her helpers passed around the various fruit. Some of them were absolutely delicious- sapote, for instance, or abiu, or some of the others we tried, 13 in all. She also showed us the amazing way a banana flower works. I've noticed these dark red things hanging off the banana trees so I was pleased to have it explained. Each petal unfolds to reveal a tiny hand of baby bananas, each of which will grow to maturity, given the chance. Did you know banana is not actually a fruit, but a herb?
This is a banana flower. Each dark red petal when peeled off reveals the tiny pinkish fruit beneath, which will grow into a hand of delicious green, then ripen to yellow, bananas
This weird object is known as a Buddha's hand. We didn't get to taste it because it's going to be a show exhibit- I assume it's a good example.
My favourite, Amazonian Custard Apple
- tastes exactly like lemon meringue!
We've had a few drizzly days so not doing much. We have movies and books (or kindle) to amuse us so we're happy.
Yesterday John and Marg moved on to the Atherton Tablelands - they'll meet up with us in Cairns on Friday. Sunday we leave on our Thursday Island tour. Friday and Saturday we hope to catch up with my sister, who's currently visiting her daughter in Cairns.
Still at Mission Beach, we're booked in for the rest of this week and will go to Cairns on Friday. Sunday we leave on our Thursday Island trip. We're just having a quiet day, have done the washing (though it's starting to drizzle a bit now). We've spent quite a bit of time on computer this morning trying to iron out a bug, successfully, thank goodness. The problem was with a cord we were using and we have a replacement.
Yesterday we did a lovely rainforest walk from the caravan park to the jetty, about 2km away. The growth is amazing, each tree seems to have its own network of vines hanging from it. No cassowaries, which is good- one doesn't want to meet them on a walk as they can do you an injury.
It's good to just sit back and relax sometimes but we might get a bit tired of it by Friday.
First I must apologise to Ruby, she was not the dog who was barking yesterday. A young couple who like loud music in their tent also like to go away and leave their dog tied up from time to time.
This area is called Cassowary Coast so we were pleased to see a couple of the birds yesterday, first a male, then a female. The female is larger and more colourful, which is unusual for birds. They can run 50kph through dense rainforest, and they can swim. They can be quite aggressive so it's safer to stay in the car.
Female cassowary seen near Etta Bay, Nth Qld.
We drove to some of the northern beaches- not impressed with the caravan park at Kurramine, which is right on the beach but with very tight sites. Etta Bay is absolutely lovely- we didn't stop because no dogs are allowed.
At Mourilyan Harbour we saw a truck unloading molasses into holding bins ready for export. As we'd toured the sugar mill the previous day, it was interesting to see the next step in the molasses process, and we were also able to see how the sugar itself gets loaded onto ships, in a similar process to the coal loaders at home. While we were there we saw a pretty little bird, obviously a kingfisher. His wings were actually greener than they appear in the photo.
Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfisher
We briefly visited Innisfail, quite a large town with many interesting Art Deco buildings. On the way back we detoured through South Johnstone and Mena Creek, where we visited the Paronella Park campsite and decided it was strictly for small vehicles. We had been thinking of visiting Paronella Park properly but it's $35 per head (seniors)- this includes a night's campsite but it seems a lot if you don't want to stay there. We could see some of it from the little park on the other side of the creek and were able to see the waterfall- we decided not to bother this trip, perhaps some other time.
Mena Creek Falls and Paronella Park
In Tully the other day, we climbed the big boot, which is 7.9 metres tall- it represents the rainfall they had in one year.
Val and Marg in big rubber boot, Tully, Qld.
It's a bit drizzly here today but we're not complaining, as we've been so lucky with the weather. It's quite warm, last night I had just a sheet for most of the night, no blanket. That's the warmest night we've had yet.
At last we've seen a real cassowary (we were thinking of photographing the statue outside the information centre). This one was just standing by the roadside, watching the traffic pass by. We'd seen them in the zoo at Rockhampton but this was much better.
At the time we were on our way back from a tour of the sugar mill in Tully, which proved to be quite interesting. We had to wear hard hats and goggles , trudge up and down stairs, but it was worth it. This mill is very eco-friendly, almost all of the emissions are steam, everything's recycled and all the sugar is exported to Japan and the US. The byproduct molasses is 70% exported (someone said it's used in licorice, don't know about that) and 30% used locally for stock feed.
Chris and I did the tour in the morning, meeting up with John and Marg at lunchtime for dog handover so they could do the afternoon tour. We took Ruby back with us and she soon learned not to bark. We were sitting around reading when another dog started carrying on and howling, Ruby looked at me as if to say "May I?" but I pointed at her and she didn't make a sound. She's not stupid, just spoilt, she knows when she's with us she's not allowed to bark, so she just doesn't. She sat quietly near us and didn't even bark when the others returned, though she was certainly aware of them, waiting eagerly for them to come and talk to her, but still no barking. It will be a different story tomorrow, though.
We drove around South Mission Beach and another beach with an odd name, Wongalily or some such- they are pleasant areas with some really nice houses but some have sustained storm damage, shown by tarps still on roofs. It's 16 months since Yasi, perhaps they have insurance problems. We saw quite a few tarps in Tully, too.
You can see where the cyclone ripped through the bush in many places. Large plots of advanced pine plantations, probably 20 years old, have had their tops completely stripped, leaving just a bare trunk- others have toppled. You can imagine how the sugarcane and banana plantations fared, if big trees can be felled or killed by the cyclone.
We had a shower of rain this morning but in view of the high rainfall here, we've been lucky and the sun came out later. Here's a sunrise photo.
Taken this morning in the caravan park.
We've decided to stay here longer, perhaps for a week. We don't have to be in Cairns till next Friday and it's only 130 kilometres away. This place is cheaper than anywhere else around, and the Qld school hols start tomorrow so places will be in short supply so staying here makes a lot of sense. It's not the most salubrious place we've stayed, but it's OK at the price- we have our own amenities anyway, we don't have to use theirs if we don't want to.
Ruby is barking as I type.Should I go and point my finger at her?
Change of plans- straight to Mission Beach instead of going to Forrest Beach. Drove up the Bruce Hwy through Cardwell- they call it Cardwell by the sea, and they are not kidding! One side of the main street is ocean. Not much of a town, really just a strip development across from the beach, and island views.
Cardwell Beach, Hinchinbrook Island in the distance.
On through Tully, reputedly one of the wettest towns in Australia, where they measure rainfall in metres. Average annual rainfall is between 4 and 5 metres, but one year they recorded 7.9 metres, and there's a giant gumboot in the main street to prove it!
Mission Beach is off the highway, and although it's quite a nice town, apparently it's not doing well since Cyclone Yasi destroyed two offshore islands, Dunk and Bedarra. Because no tourists are visiting these islands, the stores are feeling the pinch. We grey nomads fill two caravan parks and we are doing our best, but we don't tend to spend like the backpackers! We're in the council caravan park, which is pretty ordinary, but only $20 per night- the one over the road is more than twice that. And although ours is ordinary in terms of amenities, it's the most picturesque setting we've had yet.
Kite board at low tide, Mission Beach
The beach stretches for miles in either direction, almost dead flat with clean sand and blue water, and like all the beaches up here, the tide goes out for miles. There was a brisk wind blowing yesterday, which meant fun for the board riders, which use the wind more than the water- and there was even a little bit of surf.
Today we've been for a drive to Tully Gorge, luckily arriving when a group of tourists were going white water rafting. It was quite interesting to see them being trained prior to setting out, and watching them bounce through the first of the rapids.
Tourists about to get an adrenalin rush, Tully river.
The road to the gorge runs through kilometres of banana plantations, the first we've seen on this trip. After a while it runs beside the beautiful Tully River, which has crocodile warning signs all around, though I doubt if they go as far as the white water rafting area.
We next visited Tully Heads and Hull Heads, which are only 2 kilometres apart, though they are related to two different river systems. If you're thinking, as I did, of Sydney Heads, cliffs, headlands etc, forget it- here the term "heads" simply means the river estuary. Tully Heads was quite disappointing, with brown water (but many islands in view). We were surprised about the colour because the river's not muddy, far from it. In the end we decided the colour comes from the sandy bottom, which is a browny yellow shade- it's actually reasonably clean.
Hull Heads was more attractive and there's a cheap campsite there, $13 per night. We're told that the fishing's great but again there are crocodile signs.
Murray Falls in the dry season
Our next stop was Murray Falls and we all had to thank Chris for this- we were a bit tired and I think John and Marg, and certainly myself, would really have preferred to return to the vans, but we were glad we didn't. Murray Falls is stupendous- not tall like Wallaman Falls, but a huge volume of water coming down- imagine what it must be like in the wet season!
Wallaman Falls, 50 km west of Ingham, is the longest single drop falls in Australia. Oh, yeah, ahum, I hear you saying, but when you see them it will blow your mind.
The roads around Ingham, as in so much of Queensland, are dead flat, mostly dead straight. The last 10 or 15 kms of the trip, the road suddenly leaps upward, with a hairier road than Paluma- this is the other end of the same range. Hairpin bends, narrow road, looking at the tops of trees, and as you rise the dry tropics are replaced by the wet tropics, with dense rainforest growth, lots of palms of many varieties, many broad-leafed plants we couldn't identify but one looked very much like monstero delicioso- imagine it as a tree! Signs warned of cassowaries on the road, but we haven't yet seen one in the wild.
Finally we reached the falls carpark. We'd checked with a local before this trip and knew that the carpark was right next to the falls. So we walked up a slight incline to the fence and WOOOOOOOW!
Wallaman Falls, 268 metre sheer drop, 20 metre deep pool below.
The most impressive falls I've ever seen, and the photo doesn't do it justice.. Just the sound alone is impressive, with constant booming and spray rising a long way into the air. The surrounding sheer rock walls are breathtaking, even without the falls. Yet none of us had heard of them before, why not?
We walked down another path to view the massive gorge carved out by this Stony creek., which is a tributary of the Herbert River. This huge volume of water is simply a creek! The gorge lookout gives views of the creek winding through the dense greenery far below.
Wallaman Gorge
On the return trip we stopped to watch some sugar cane being harvested. In the photo you can see the feathery seed heads of the cane. The yellow thing on the extreme left cuts off the heads and spews them out of the black funnel so that it goes over the top of the bin and out onto the ground beyond. At the same time, an augur at the front of the yellow harvester cuts the cane and clears the leaves- it goes through some sort of chopper and is spat out into the bin already cut into small sections about six inches long.The bin is pulled by a tractor which travels at the same speed as the harvester (quite fast) along the length of the field. At the end of the run, this tractor tows the full bin off to load it into a rail wagon, and is immediately replaced by an identical outfit which has been waiting in place for a minute or so. The whole process is very efficient and we were astounded to think that in the old days, many men would have taken days to harvest the same amount of cane. This process, using three drivers and three machines, does the work in a fraction of the time.
On the way out to the falls this morning, we discovered that in our previous exploration of Ingham, we'd somehow missed the main street! It's a lot bigger than we thought. Chris found someone to cut his hair, I finally found an optometrist to replace the screw in my specs, and we all found a hole in the wall. Most towns have ATMs, but lack the other services. There are actually three supermarkets, not two, and Target Country.
This morning we've moved about 70kms north to the outskirts of Ingham, to a pleasant caravan park, The Palms or some such name, which appears to be very well set up and maintained. First order of the day was to get the washing done, then sit and watch it flapping in the breeze while enjoying a cuppa. It's a lovely sunny day again, as it's been for the last week or two- probably a bit warmer today, maybe 26 degrees. We still haven't had much rain, only about 3 days in 11 weeks, so we're not complaining. Chris and I have done over 8,000 kilometres so far- the van hasn't done as many kms because we leave it behind while we go exploring.
We ended up staying at Toomulla for 4 days- it was a pleasant spot (though suffering a plague of mosquitoes) and the people were very friendly.
We'll stay here a few days, visiting several waterfalls in the area including the longest sheer drop in Australia. We'll do a few "town" things like pharmacy, optometrist (just for a screw in my spare glasses), barber, and ATM. Then we'll look at some free camps in the general area- we're getting close to famous places like Mission Beach, Hinchinbrook Island and Cardwell, so we'll have a good look around.
An afternoon drive into Ingham showed it's a fairly big country town, sporting lovely parks, two supermarkets, and the usual services. Smaller than Bowen, bigger than St George. The houses are modest but the gardens are neat and attractive, even the road edges beside sugarcane fields have been very recently mowed.
We drove out to Forrest Beach, which is a very long sandy stretch with the extremely large Hinchinbrook Island in the distance. Intrigued by a caravan park sign which said there was one at the hotel, we followed the signs to the hotel, which is oddly located in a back street, but right next to the beach. We enquired about rates at the caravan park, $30 per night, the same as we are paying here, so we decided to spend a few days there exploring the coast after we leave here tomorrow. It looked very pleasant, and we'll be able to have our happy hour on the beach if we wish.
Hinchinbrook Island from Forrest Beach.
A raptor landed in a nearby tree while we were looking at the beach, so we were able to get a good look at him. We think he's a juvenile peregrine falcon. Lovely to see at such close range.
Juvenile peregrine falcon
Driving south to a turnoff we'd passed on the way to Ingham, we tried to go to Jourama Falls, but were thwarted by lack of information, which is very annoying. All the tourist maps show the falls and other points of interest without ever saying how far they are from the town, or how far you have to walk when you get there- this was a 3 km walk from the carpark, and we were in a national park so Ruby had to stay in the car, and John did not like to leave Marg with her for that long. He suggested they both stay behind but we couldn't let them do that so we left. Shame, because it's probably quite lovely- the creek we crossed several times was certainly pretty.
Creek near Jourama Falls.
At last, an internet connection, weak as it is!
We stayed two nights at Bluewater Creek, a freebie 25 kms north of Townsville, a pleasant place with lovely park, children's playground, a short walk in the bush withactivity equipment included for bigger kids. It's right next to Bluewater Creek, which is actually blue, we believe because of the leaves of a particular tree falling in and decomposing. There are a couple of other creeks in the area of similar shade. The campsites are level but the area is very popular so you have to get there in the morning to grab a site when someone else moves out. No power but water available.
Chris tries out the climbing equipment
Toomulla Lagoon. The beach is beyond the sand in the distance.
From there we moved to Toomulla Beach, another pleasant freebie a little further north. There are four of these council run parks, each with 48 maximum stay, and they are a credit to the council. This one is next to the beach and the only downside is the number of mosquitoes, with mangroves nearby there's not much you can do about it.
Yesterday we drove up the mountain, the most tortuous access to the Great Dividing Range that we've come across- 17 km of winding narrow road, to reach Paluma, at nearly 3000 ft above sea level. The views over the sea and the islands are simply magnificent. I'd been there with my sister 10 years ago, and remembered a pleasant lunch in the area, Unfortunately the only food establishment in the village, though it sported a sign saying it was open from Monday to Sunday, was closed, so we had to go back down the mountain and return to the vans for lunch, as we hadn't taken much food with us.
In the afternoon Chris, Marg and I returned to north Townsville to do some grocery shopping - we also picked up a part for John at Bunings and some wine for Mick and Eve, a nice Adelaide couple we'd met here. There are no shops to speak of between Ingham and Townsville, although there are small towns in between- the inhabitants have to go to Townsville, too.
We had a fabulous time on Maggie Island. Perfect weather, with calm, sparkling blue seas for the ferry crossing, and exploring the island by local bus, the cheap way to go- and not at all disappointing. I'd been there, done that, some years ago, but it was drought time then, so it was good to see the lush vegetation revived from the dusty, thirsty growth I saw previously. There have been a lot of changes, including shifting the ferry terminal from Picnic Bay to Nelly Bay (devastating for the businesses in Picnic Bay as hardly anyone goes there anymore). They built a new marina and ferry terminal at Nelly Bay, which is more sheltered.
Low tide, Picnic Bay
The bus took us to Picnic Bay, where we wandered for an hour or so before catching the next bus to Horseshoe Bay, on the other side of the island. On the way we passed several other bays, all of them beautiful, with plenty of sand and blue, blue water-the waves are just little ripples. Horseshoe Bay is the ultimate destination, with more touristy things like cafes and bistros, but still low-key. No buildings more than 3 storeys high, and a nice park along the foreshore with shady trees and picnic tables. You can hire jetskis (they don't seem to be as noisy nowadays, thank goodness) or paddle boats.
Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island
Back at Nelly Bay while waiting for the ferry, we went for a stroll and discovered rock wallabies on the breakwater, how amazingly these little guys leap around the rocks. Why? I can't imagine there'd be anything for them to eat.
Rock wallaby on the breakwater, Nelly Bay, Magnetic Island
Birdlife is prolific and we saw some new ones, including some yellow beaked kingfishers. These are a little south of their range, according to our birdbook, but they are unmistakeable, with the typical kingfisher/kookaburra build, bronze-green wings, a yellowish chest, and reddish head- quite startling. Also saw an osprey flying really low over the ferry terminal, chasing a raven away from a fish head on the jetty and grabbing the fish head for itself, to cheers from the crowd on the ferry who were watching it.
Today we've driven up the coast to check out likely free camps for the rest of the week. We will go to Bluewater, not very far away, for a couple of days, then to Rollingstone, which is a large attractive area, currently quite full, but it's a long weekend and we expect many people to leave tomorrow. Bluewater is on the banks of a creek which really does have very blue water, and we still can't explain why, although we asked the local shopkeeper, a friendly young guy who recently took over a previously closed business, and who deserves to do well.
Bluewater Creek near Townsville.
Arrived at Coral Coast caravan park this morning, a pleasant park with the tightest spot we've ever had to reverse into, but Chris managed well. It's quite close to the airport which can be a bit of a nuisance at times- aviation fuel smell as well as occasional noise. Good amenities, library and TV room, pool, camp kitchen. And concrete slabs, the first for ages- we're so tired of tramping grass into the van (no matter how hard you wipe your feet, some always seems to get in).
First sightseeing stop had to be Castle Hill. We've both been here before, I about 10 years ago, Chris 52 years ago. Both of us noticed the changes!
Townsville CBD from Castle HIll
The weather was perfect, the view magnificent, even the tide was in (North Qld has big tides so low tide is not pretty to see). It was going out as we watched, noticeably so. There are a number of little walks up the top to different viewpoints so we were probably there for over half an hour. I almost stood on this little guy as I walked back along one path- I think it's a baby eastern brown snake- very venomous when he grows up. He was only about six inches long and not as thick as my little finger.
Baby snake (eastern brown?) on Castle Hill, Townsville
Castle Hill is another of those rocky outcrops I've mentioned, popping up close to the CBD in an otherwise flat landscape. It's very high, missing out on being a mountain by only a few metres. Its sheer cliffside faces the bay and forms a backdrop to the city and The Strand area.
Townsville seems to have more than its fair share of mad people. There we were, driving almost 3 kilometres up a very steep road, and having to avoid at least 30 people, men and women, who were either walking or RUNNING up it! One guy we saw, having reached the carpark near the top, continued punishing himself by running up and down the steep steps to the very summit not once, but 10 times! Other people make it harder by going up the Goat Track rather than the easier (!) route by road. And this was at 3 o'clock on a Thursday, why aren't all these people at work???
Castle Hill from The Strand
The Strand is a delightful park foreshore area with pleasant sandy beaches and children's playgrounds, lots of shade, cafes etc- everything you could ask for, including stingers in the water and possibly even crocs. There is a pool for those who value their lives.
This is a large, spread-out town with lots of shopping malls, and a diversity of industry. After seeing so many towns dependent on mining, it's refreshing to see large industries like a copper refinery, a port, and a huge military establishment.
Having arrived on a Thursday and discovered that there are free tours of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (some 50kms south) on Fridays, we jumped at the chance. It proved to be a bit disappointing, as we didn't see what we expected to see- instead we learned a lot about coral (including seeing a core sample which dates back to before Magellan sailed round the world), saw the workshops where they make all their equipment inhouse (eg waterproof covers for the cameras), and we saw the tanks where they are trying to breed rock lobsters. Then we went to the wharf where we watched fish swarming to feed on the bread the volunteer guide was throwing them. We also saw a huge coral trout grab a smaller fish for lunch- he wasn't interested in bread! The men were all wishing they'd brought their fishing gear but apparently these fish are almost pets. The photo was taken from the wharf above them.
Fish feeding at Bowling Green Bay, near Townsville.
A nine kilometre drive up Mt Stuart gave us a different perspective on the whole area, fantastic views of bays and islands as far north as Hinchinbrook. Magnetic Island is just across the bay here- we will visit it tomorrow. We could also see Palm Island, site of the infamous court case a few years ago when an aboriginal died after being beaten up by police.
Tomorrow, Magnetic Island. The forecast is for sunny weather though it is cool for rTownsville, only about 21 degrees so the locals are all wearing jumpers. It gets cool overnight, but not nearly as bad as it was a few days ago in Charters Towers and Ravenswood, it's always double figures here.
We've had a pleasant couple of days in Ravenswood, a heritage listed town between Townsville and Charters Towers (on the way to Burdekin Dam). We're parked on the sunny side of the showground and have enjoyed sitting soaking up the sun outside our van. Although sunny, there's a chilly wind which is stronger over the other side where John and Marg are- we're so glad we decided to up stumps and move across the showground. It also meant that we have TV reception (so we've been watching the Diamond Jubilee celebrations- the Brits sure know how to throw a party!)
Yesterday we drove out on the road to Ayr to look at the sights. We could have saved a lot of kms by driving here directly from Ayr rather than going further north, up to the highway, but we're so glad we didn't use this road, especially in the heavy rain that was prevailing at the time. It's mostly gravel and very steep in places, and would have been very slippery towing the vans. There are some lovely valley views and from what we saw of it the road would be OK as long as it was dry.
One unusual feature is a big quartz mound called White Blow- I'm blowed if I know where it got that name. Quite amazing to see, and great views from the top.
White Blow, entirely composed of quartz
Little tree tryiing to grow in the quartz
This morning was the coldest we've had, 6.5 degrees in the van, but the temp got into the mid 20s (tempered by that chilly wind). Today we've been looking around this little town, a remnant of its former self- there were over 30 pubs here at one time. There are still 2 pubs, both attractive structures, and the one where we ate lunch today, the Imperial, has interesting interiors as well as facade. The former Catholic Church on the hill has now become non-sectarian since the other churches were demolished or removed. Apparently it's very popular for weddings, people from Townsville come here because it's much cheaper than getting married there. They're expecting 150 people (same as the town's population) this weekend, so the hotels are totally booked out. There's also a motorhome convention, with 6 buses/motorhomes here already and many more expected for the long weekend.
The town's obviously benefited from the gold mine which is still operating, with many fly in-fly out workers housed in dongas. There are a number of reasonably new, though modest, homes, and we saw an ad for a house to rent for $220 a week. Remember this town is over 80 kms from either Townsville or Charters Towers, and there's only a PO cum fuel stop cum tiny grocery store here- some mine workers go to the pubs for lunch.
Railway Hotel, Ravenswood
Imperial Hotel
Catholic Church. The rear section, the original church, has exposed exterior framework popular in this area in the early 1900s.
We will move on to Townsville tomorrow: John and Marg will stay here a bit longer and meet up with us north of Townsville next week.
Yesterday we moved on to Ravenswood showground, about 40kms SE of Charters Towers, where John and Marg have been while we were at The Towers. Once we set up in this rather pleasant place (plenty of room, good amenities and only $14 per night- less if you stay a week), we all drove to Burdekin Falls and Dam, another 87 kms. On the way you cross many creeks, most with sandy bottoms, quite pretty really. You also pass many, many roos/wallabies- we must have seen more than 100, on the road in and actually at the dam. There were at least 3 distinct species, different sizes and colours. The most common were a light grey shade which we hadn't come across previously, but great camouflage in the prevailing yellowy grass. Several times when we were looking at one, we would be surprised to find there were several others which we didn't see till they moved. We only managed one photo, taken from a distance and enlarged so not too clear.
Roos in Burdekin Dam park
At first glance, the dam was quite disappointing- there's a huge long earthen wall stretching for more than a kilometre. You continue driving up a hill to the lookout, even more disappointing- you can see some of the lake, but not a lot, and nothing of the dam itself. We didn't bother taking photos at this point, but driving some distance further we came to the boat ramp, where there are toilets and a nice park. From here we could see where the spillway was, and were surprised to see a warning sign.
How could there be crocs above the dam? We discussed this at length. They'd have to be freshwater crocs, which are not dangerous. Wouldn't they? (Apparently not. We were later told that they are salties, the dangerous kind- heaven knows how they managed to get across the rocks - see below- but they do exist in the lake, which also explains why there was a warning sign near Macrossan Park, further up the Burdekin River.)
The guys set their redclaw traps from the bank of the lake, which is called Lake Dalrymple. It holds 4 times the volume of Sydney Harbour, apparently.
Baiting the red claw traps at Lake Dalrymple
Continuing along the road, we finally reached the dam itself, and wondered where the falls were, but all was explained when we walked out on the suspended viewing platform. The Falls are below the spillway. This is a mighty river, and it must have been even more so before the dam. We've crossed it several times, each time on an extremely long bridge, because the river banks are widely separated. It must hold a huge volume when it's in flood.
Burdekin Dam spillway
Burdekin Falls, just below the spillway
The road below the dam was closed due to water over the road, a pity- it would have been interesting the see the falls from a closer position. There's a very nice picnic area near the viewing platform and a camping area on top of the hill, currently being refurbished so there are few sites available. There's a swimming pool and BBQ area- $15 per night to stay there.
Ravenswood, where we are located, is a heritage town which looks interesting, though we haven't explored it yet. Gold was discovered here prior to Charters Towers' discovery, and there is still a goldmine operating.
We didn't go to Ravenswood after all (though John and Margaret did). We'd run into rain on the road to the west, which was coming down harder and harder the further we went. John commented that the showground, our destination, was likely to be boggy, and when Chris and I thought about this, we decided it would be better to head for Charters Towers, where there were proper caravan parks, and if it did keep raining, at least we could go to a museum or something instead of sitting in the van all day. John and Marg thought they'd rather stay in the van all day, so they elected to turn down to Ravenswood where we'll catch up with them later.
On the way to Charters Towers we crossed the wide Burdekin River (which we'd crossed near the mouth, at Home Hill earlier in the day). You climb a steep hill from the bridge, and the flood signs climb with you- the last one measure 7 metres above the bridge! They must get a lot of water through there.
We continued on to Charters Towers and, having booked into a caravan park in the rain, drove up to the lookout which is a big hill called Tower Hill. Once there, we could see for quite a distance despite the rain. The landscape is mostly flat, but with many conical extuberances- it reminds me of a case of acne with pimples popping out all around. It was late afternoon, and we were delighted to see 5 or 6 rock wallabies, very shy but we could approach as long as we were quiet. The arrival of a carload of excited little kids put a stop to that!
Rock wallaby- look at her long tail!
The town is delightful, with many wide, bullock wagon U turn streets, and many trees. The main street has been preserved with its historical facades, even McDonalds have been required to keep the old look, which results in a homogenous look. Some of the buildings would be able to hold up their heads (roofs?) anywhere, particularly the Stock exchange building and the Post Office.
Town Hall
Stock Exchange Arcade interior
Post Office building
To attest to the rain they get around here, take a look at the gutters! The only others I've seen to equal these were in Singapore, where we know they get a lot of rain.
Street gutter- they're expecting a lot of rain!
There are a number of lovely parks in the area.
This was a thriving gold town at the time of Federation, boasting 65 hotels, among other things. There are still quite a few pubs, this being thirsty country, but many of the old ones have become residential properties. There are still gold mines operating in the area, open cuts instead of underground mines these days.
This morning the rain had stopped and the sun actually came out by lunchtime, so we returned to Tower Hill to really appreciate the scenery. You can literally see for miles. Several open cut mines are visible in the distance, as well as distant mountains. The wallabies were snoozing but we did spy a couple, and as we were leaving we saw a big old man wallaby on the road.
We visited the Venus Battery, one of the many places where miners could have their rocks broken down and the gold extracted. It was quite interesting- the process is incredibly complicated. Not a matter of picking up a nugget and turning it into an ingot!
If the weather stays clear, we'll head for Ravenswood tomorrow, as we feel we've "done" Charters Towers. Nice town, not much to do. We even stopped in at the horse sales which were going on (with a big crowd, and many horse trailers in evidence)- long enough to hear one brood mare going for $2,500. No idea if that's a good price or not.
We finally drove to Collinsville yesterday, and what a letdown! John's been talking about it ever since Lake Elphinstone- apparently he'd seen some photos of it which made him keen to see it. We couldn't find the places where the photos were taken, or they've changed in the meantime- never mind, at least it filled in some time on a miserable day.
We'd woken to really strong winds again, and we were tired of them so a drive inland seemed like a good idea. Sure enough, the wind dropped as we went inland, but the rain started instead. Wipers were going for nearly the whole time we were away, but luckily it eased off when we were having morning tea in a nice little park in Collinsville, and later when we returned for lunch, as we'd not found anywhere better. There are several small parks in the area, but this one had some shelter as well (just in case).
We were visited by a very inquisitive bird, who turned out to be a juvenile pied butcherbird, still in brown rather than the black and white he will sport when he grows up.
Juvenile pied butcher bird
Collinsville is strictly a mining town, but on a slightly different model from the others we've seen. Instead of dongas housing a hundred or so people (mostly men), they have a number of smaller, house-sized, buildings scattered through the residential areas, each with 5 or 6 rooms, communal kitchen and laundry. We don't know how the locals feel about having these people in their street- certainly the people of Moranbah, shown on 4 Corners last week, don't like it. And we did notice a disproportionate number of VERY BIG dogs amongst the normal houses.
The argument given in the program was that all these single men are living in residential streets (where the husbands may very well be away for 10 days at a time working) and nobody knows them. They are there themselves only to work, they have homes elsewhere, so they don't participate in the town's activities, etc. It's not like having normal neighbours. There's no incentive to do anything except drink, and the crime rate, especially rape, has skyrocketed. The husband being interviewed said his solution was, guess what, a very big dog.
We tried to find the Collinsville weir, but it was inaccessible; We did see a number of open cut mines, including a new one just being started up, and we were approached by a road-train driver for directions- fancy asking us! We didn't even have a map but we thought he was on the right road to Nebo, which turned out to be correct.
Back through the rain to Bowen, which was still windy but bone dry- the first drizzle was starting as we arrived there. Kim had invited us in to the motel for dinner, which was very pleasant, and we were joined by a motel guest who hailed from the Central Coast. He's the owner of Aurora Tours, which does tours for Seniors-they pick up from their home and take them to the airport, then they are met at the other end. He's investigating tours in this area. He said they have one client who's 94 and has done several tours.
We've had to change our plans on hearing Burdekin Dam is currently being upgraded and really doesn't have vacancies at the moment. We've decided to stay at Ravenswood instead, and do a day trip to Burdekin. From there we'll go to Charters Towers for a few days before heading to Townsville. No internet connection at Ravenswood, as mobile coverage is poor.
Kim's given us the use of a canoe, which should make the red claw fishing more interesting for the guys.
John's vehicle with canoe aboard
