Back to the coast
It’s been three weeks since we drove away from Paradise Point and pointed the Pajero west, and one week since we completed our westerly travels and started heading north…now, here we are, a few thousand kilometres driven along outback country roads and going back towards the sea!
On Wednesday 24th June we left the lovely Pyramid Campground at Porcupine Gorge, rejoined the Flinders Highway and followed it through Prairie, Torrens Creek and Pentland. We stopped briefly at Charters Towers for fuel and lunch, then continued on for very few kilometres to the Burdekin River, where there is a nice, free camp between the river, the railway bridge and the highway. Judging by number of vans there already, plus those who came in after us, it’s a popular and well known spot!
After a quiet night, we were off again by 9am on Thursday for the 100km drive to Townsville, where we got some shopping on the way through then headed to the Black River Over 50s caravan park - we fitted right in ;-) According to the owner, the park has a lot of permanent residents, people who have had difficulties finding affordable rentals. There were certainly plenty of people living there and they had a great communal area for everyone to socialise. But we were only there for a short time - in order to be close to the caravan repair centre, where we headed briefly the next morning. A couple of small jobs later and we continued north, stopping for morning tea at Ingham and driving along the Hinchinbrook Way, past the island channel and beaches we have seen so often from our boat. It’s a lovely part of the coast, but the weather was drizzly so the view was indistinguishable.
We stopped in Cardwell and visited the bakery before turning off the Highway, past many sugar cane fields and into the lush tropical rainforest, following the valley of the Murray River into Girramay National Park.
Our destination was Murray Falls campground, a beautiful, remote location deep in the forest. We had visited before, in 2021, and loved the location, with its thundering waterfall and rushing river, lovely walking tracks and swimming holes, surrounded by mountains of thick forest and steep cliffs. There is no internet, no power and not too many tourists. It was bliss! On the Friday it was quite overcast and drizzly, so we made the most of the opportunity to do not much except read books and relax.
Saturday was a fine day so we did the walks - to the base of the falls, where the water rushes along over huge boulders and onwards down the river, then tackling the Girramay walking track to the lookouts at the top of the falls, climbing up the many steps, tracing the routes taken by the Girramay people, reading about the way they lived their lives, fashioning boomerangs and spears out of local trees, catching wildlife for dinner, choosing local leaves, bark, berries and nuts for food or medicine. We learned about dreaming stories of the mountains, rocks and the waterfall. It was all fascinating!
And the views were spectacular, in particular the torrent of water coming over the rocks at the top.
That afternoon, Martin was inspired to have a swim at the waterhole below the campsites, but the temperature did not inspire Sue to join him - she watched as he enjoyed his swim with and against the current, happy to stay warm and dry. That night we cooked up a three-course feast, satisfied that we'd had an active and fulfilling day.
Sunday was drizzly again, but the sun came out for long enough that we enjoyed another walk to the base of the falls. Then we packed up the van and drove out of the campground, past all the sugar cane plantations, rejoining the highway again. We stopped briefly at Tully to check out the shops and have a coffee at the local bakery; Tully lived up to its reputation as the wettest town in Queensland so we weren't sorry to get back in the car and keep driving! We didn't have a big trip today - in less than an hour we were turning onto Murdering Point Road and heading for Kurrimine Beach. Another lovely gem we have visited before, this sleepy little place appears to be off the main tourist route, retaining its charm as an old fashioned beachside holiday location. We were welcomed into the Kings Reef holiday resort, where we set up the caravan and then headed to the pub for a nice lunch. That afternoon, as the rain continued, we had a lazy one, enjoying pizzas and an early night.
It rained for most of the night and into Monday morning, but we needed to do some washing, so we organised our selves early, put the larger items in the dryer, strung up lines under the annex and made do. When the dryer finished we hit the road again, leaving the other washing drying in the breeze (hopefully!) while we went to check out some of the local "hotspots". We headed south towards Mission Beach, following a winding road between the rainforest and the sea, driving into Bingil Beach just as the sun broke through. We followed the shoreline as far as the road went, continuing to South Mission Beach, slowing to let a Cassowary cross the road in front of us. 
Returning to Mission Beach we enjoyed coffee in a beachside cafe, looking across at Dunk Island and reminiscing about anchoring there in Manookatoo and Liberty. Turning west, we crossed the highway to El Arish, originally a WW1 soldiers' settlement, so named after the village in the Middle East where the Australian Light Horse soldiers saw action during the war. There is lots of great historical information in the old railway station so we spent some time reading all about it. We continued driving to Silkwood, where we bought some meat at the local butchers and enjoyed a drink at the local pub before returning to our caravan in time for lunch. The sunshine lasted through lunch but soon after that the clouds came over and the drizzle returned. The "dry season" is not living up to its name!
We were on the move again on Tuesday afternoon for another short hop - this time it was to the tiny beachside hamlet of Etty Bay. The road in, just before Innisfail, also leads to Mourilyan Harbour, a lovely safe anchorage we have utilised in boats several times. We turned left, meandered past many fields of sugar cane, up over a hill and down a winding road passing signs warning of wandering Cassowaries, before we came out right by the ocean, where there is a tiny beach and a small caravan park. Another hidden gem that we heard about quite by chance, it was as lovely as we remembered it from 2021. A small trawler cruised slowly by, reminding us that good seafood is available in Innisfail and we must get some! We set up camp, put out the camping chairs and relaxed for the afternoon; Martin had a dip in the ocean but I demurred - it wasn’t sunny enough to tempt me in…
On Wednesday morning, after doing the washing, we set off to make our purchases in Innisfail, particularly some local fish and prawns! We took a detour to Flying Fish Point, at the mouth of the Johnson River, where we enjoyed a coffee overlooking the ocean. Returning to Innisfail, we walked up the Main Street admiring the Art Deco architecture of the large rural town, then took advantage of the fact there’s a Woolworths there to restock the pantry with a few essentials. Then we headed back to our caravan to enjoy prawn rolls looking out on the ocean - there is nothing better! Another swim was on Martin’s afternoon agenda…
Our neighbours packed up quite early on Thursday; they’re heading towards Karumba on a 4wd track so have a lot of driving ahead of them in the next few days. We, meanwhile, had a half hour journey through backroads lined with sugar cane farms and rainforest to our next destination, Bramston Beach. This is another secluded coastal destination, with many holiday homes, a few permanent residents (mainly retirees) and kilometres of unspoiled beach. We were offered an unpowered site fronting the beach and we were so glad we took it. The waves crashed in front of us, the breeze kept us cool and the view out to Russell Island and others was just spectacular. And the sun finally came out!
We had four days at Bramston Beach, enjoying the secluded beachfront but also visiting a few local attractions. Babinda, with the beautiful Boulders nearby, is somewhere we have visited before but we couldn’t resist another visit, with walks along the scenic track, past many signs warning of the dangers of swimming in unsafe locations and illustrations of how easily at least 21 people (most of them young males) have drowned there. One indigenous story explains how a young girl, rejected by her partner, took her own life there and lures other young men to their deaths. Quite gruesome stuff!
We had lunch at the Babinda State Hotel, a huge establishment built by the government in the early 1920s to stop the proliferation of sly grog shops which had sprung up to service the local cane cutters. It’s a beautiful building, the street facade is freshly painted and very attractive but much of the rest of it is gradually falling into genteel decay, which is a great pity - but the upkeep would be tremendously expensive.
Another morning we ventured to Eubenangee Swamp, a bird lovers paradise with beautiful lakes filled with lily pads and views across to Mounts Bartle Frere and Belingen Ker. A sugar cane train trundled along one of the many rail lines crossing the road - they carry many tons of sugar cane from the fields to the sugar mill at South Johnston (near Innisfail) during the harvesting season.
And on a day with many passing showers we drove to the beautiful Josephine Falls, where we walked through dense rainforest to admire the spectacular waterfall and marvel at swimmers enjoying the rock pools and sliding down the boulders. This is another place where many lives have been lost in adverse conditions - there is even a warning system here which is triggered when the water levels are dangerously high, telling people to leave the water immediately. We didn’t fancy taking our chances, particularly when the weather was so inclement. From there we drove to Golden Hole, an attractive waterhole on a crystal clear river - with signs warning that crocodiles live there. Nowhere is safe for swimming around here!!
Great read and I trust you’ll continue to write and end up with a my travel book!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue, last time I wrote a book about our travel I was in hotel quarantine 🤣😂
Delete