Cooktown & Places In Between

The Last Post

2011-08-08T17:02:00.003+10:00

When we last did a post we were in Winton and planning on visiting Lark Quarry. There is a photo above of Lark Quarry and it is such an interesting place - along yet another corrugated road of about 80 k's, but again well worth the drive.

Lark Quarry was the scene of a dinosaur stampede millions of years ago. The footprints of the stampede were buried, fossilised and only discovered about 30 years ago by an opal prospector. There are foot prints of several different types of dinosaurs, big and small. The area is now well preserved under cover in an enormous shed. When Jurassic Park was being made the film makers actually came to Lark Quarry to determine how dinosaurs ran.

From Winton we headed south to Longreach and we had a terrific time there. We visited the Qantas Museum and spent hours and hours there. The whole history of Qantas is there in all sorts of memorabillia. The best part though was a tour that we did. Firstly they have their first ever 707 there. It was sold off years ago to an airline and has been traded a few times, ending up with some Saudi prince who decorated it out in lavish style. It is still in the arab style, not in the Qantas style of yesteryear. Then we did a tour of a 747. Wow, what an experience - the photo above is of some of the things we did. We sat in the cockpit, got down into the cargo hold, posed in the engine and did a wing walk. Great fun and well worth the $$$.

Later we visited the Aust. Stockmans Hall of Fame, which is a terrific museum of the early days of Australian pioneers, not just stockmen.

One evening we also did a sunset cruise down the Thomson River in a paddle steamer, then later enjoyed a stew and damper in a bush camp whilst an old codger recited various bush ballads and told a few yarns. Very touristy but fun. (We are tourists afterall).

After leaving Longreach we ended up in a little one horse town called Tambo for the night.

We are now in Charleville. We have had a great time here as well. Charleville is home to a large observatory and today we actually managed to look at the sun!! Now don't try that at home. Tonight we go back again and will see the moon, Saturn and a few other things too. Should be fun.

In 1942 Charleville was occupied by the US Air Force, they took over the airport and converted it over to a safe site for their bombers fighting in the Pacific. Some of the buildings they erected are still here today and we did a tour of them earlier. It was most interesting and I for one had no idea the yanks were here in outback Australia.

As we have now done the U turn we are heading south well and truly. The days are getting cooler and the nights are getting really cold - last night it was 2 C. The next two days will be long drives for us. We head to Burke tomorrow, then Trangie for the next night and finally home.

So thats it from us.

Karumba, Gregory Downs, Adels Grove, Cloncurry, Winton

2011-08-02T17:24:00.002+10:00

So there we were this morning, driving into Winton, the petrol warning bleeper was bleeping away letting us know there was only 10 k's of fuel left and we had 13 k's to go. So when the car started to make funny noises and juddering it seemed we were going to run out of fuel. But not so - as per the kodak moment at the top of the page. Seems we got a puncture and the tyre was shredded and the wheel was stuffed to put it mildly. The mud flap on the trailer was ripped off and there are some other minor things done to the trailer. But being the hero Mike is - the wheel was replaced, we made it into Winton with 5 litres of fuel to spare. What a day.

But back to our adventure. When last I did an update we were going to go out the next day fishing for barra at Karumba. No, we didn't catch a barra, but we did catch 6 milk sharks, which were thrown back, and 2 good sized mackerel, which ended up on the barbie that night - we made little pigs of ourselves and ate every morsel. Yummy.

Our intended destination the next day was Adels Grove, but it is a long hike, mainly over gravel roads so we bush camped at Gregory Downs and next morning headed into Adels Grove the next morning. If any of you have been there you will agree that it is a little slice of heaven there and if you have not been there - well you should.

There are some fantastic bush walks through the beautiful canyons, up some cliff faces and along the riverside. The water of the river is a beautiful emerald green colour, contrasted against the red cliffs and blue, blue sky it is just magic. The photo above is from a look out looking down on the falls.

Adels Grove does not have power nor does it have any form of telecommunications so at night after dinner we sat and star gazed. Just bliss.

After leaving Adels Grove we headed into Cloncurry for a one night stop over and now we are in Winton. We will be here for two nights as tomorrow we are heading out to Larks Quarry to look at the dinosaur stampede footprint. It is about 110 k's down the road (almost the next suburb when you talk distances out here) so we will be gone for the better part of the day.

When we have 'done' this place we will go down the road to Longreach for a couple of nights, so we can see the Stockmans Hall of Fame and visit the Qantas setup.

The weather continues to be beautiful during the day - 30 plus most of the time, but the nights are getting cool as afterall we are now heading south and back towards home.

Chillagoe to Karumba

2011-07-27T15:44:00.001+10:00

It has been a few days without an update as for a couple of days we were at Cobbold Gorge and there is no mobile or broadband coverage there.

So to update the story...

After leaving Chillagoe we hedaded to Georgetown and did a little touring from there. We did a big loop that took us out to Forsayth and Einsleigh, both little old mining towns way back when. Now they have nothing much else than a post office and a pub.

Einsleigh has one notable feature - the Coppefield Gorge. The gorge was once a lava tube many millions of years ago but the continued action of a river flowing through it collapsed the roof of the tube so it is now an open gorge (picture above).

After Georgetown we moved to Cobbold Gorge (picture above) which is found along a 60 klm corrugated road, but well worth the bumpy ride, it is quite a spectacular place. We did a couple of bush walks but the highlight was a boat trip into the gorge. It is very, very narrow in places (about 4 feet) and the boat has to gently squeeze its way along. The cliffs have been worn smooth by the water that blasts through the gorge in the wet season and the cliffs have formed some wonderful curves. There is a little life in the gorge, namely freshwater crocs, birds and various fish.

Cobbold Gorge is a small corner of a working cattle station that covers approx 500 square miles - the gorge itself was not found until the 1980's so that gives you some idea of the size of the station.

From Cobbold Gorge we moved on to Normanton, which is the main centre for the small towns up in the gulf. Yesterday we took a 3 hour ride on the Gulflander (picture above). The Gulflander is a rail motor - it is just like a bus, it has gears, but it runs on rails. It is called the train to nowhere as it is not, and has never been connected to any other rial system and has just celebrated its 120th birthday. It runs between Normanton and Croydon once a week a distance of about 70 klms and drops mail off at various cattle stations along the way. On other days it ferries tourists out on short trips of 20 klms to a place called Critter Camp, so named because the track workers were always attacked by insects at that spot. We stopped for about 45 minues beside a billabong and enjoyed lunch while watching the bird life.

This morning we packed up and move to Karumba only 70 klm down the road. Karumba is on the gulf and is one of the great fishing spots in Australia. Never in my life have I seen so many boat trailers in one place - there are hundreds of them.

The temperature here is a delightful 30 degrees, a gently breeze is blowing, we have just eaten a kilo of prawns, fresh off the trawlers, which cost the princely sum of $15.00 per kilo. Eat ya hearts out!!!

Tomorrow we are heading out to do a little barra fishing - stay tuned for that adventure and stores of the one that got away.

Cairns & Chillagoe

2011-07-19T17:08:00.002+10:00

After a few days in Mossman at Newells Beach we headed down the road to Cairns where we stayed for 3 nights in a park at the base of the Barron Mountains. The park was called Lake Placid, but it was anything but that, people jammed in like sardines and the noise of caravaners leaving early in the morning was a little jarring to the nerves, but it is peak season so that sort of thing is to be expected in big cities.

Cairns is as always though a great place to visit. We did the obligatory visit to Kuranda to buy some more honey and of course a visit to the Barron Falls, we visited the Barron Gorge and anything else that had that name as well!! We also had a day of total rest when we just stayed in the city and goofed off all day.

Back on the road again we finally made it to Chillagoe, all roads being sealed from the direction we approached it. We are staying in a great little park outside the town, we are camped beside a little running stream and at sunset kangaroos come hopping by on their way to goodness knows where. The bird life is also amazing. Today we have had visits from maggies, butcher birds, blue faced honeyeaters, shrike thrush to name but a few. The only down side of this park is a $%^%$% rooster that wakes you up at 4.30am then crows about every 15 minutes till you finally get out of bed - then he shuts up. I'm surprised he has lived as long as he has, one day someone will take a shot at him for sure.

Anyway we have had a great time here. Chillagoe is famous for a couple of things - the first being its fantastic limestone outcrops and the caves that are underneath the rocks. We visited Donna Cave yesterday, which is a vertical limestone cave with a fair bit of upwards walking but it was quite beautiful and some of the formations have to be seen to be believed.

In the afternoon we visited the Royal Arch Cave which is about 3 k's long and a horizontal cave. We didn't go the 3 k's mind you as most of it is off limits, but instead we went through a series of chambers and wiggled through skinny openings. Some of the chambers opened to the sky above and they were quite spectacular, the different colours of the weathering of the caves is quite beautiful.

Today we visited the second thing Chillagoe is famous for - the smelters. Way back at the end of the 19th century Chillagoe was a thriving town servicing the mining industry around this area. A large copper smelter was built here in Chillagoe to service that industry, but the copper did not last all that long and the smelter was abandoned in 1943. All that survives today are the chimneys, some of the furnaces and a slag heap that stands about 60 feet high and is a couple of hundred feed wide. Its quite a fascinating place, but there are warning signs everywhere pointing out the dangers, saying that the area is contaminated with various poisons and asbestos.

The best deal we have had though was at the local pub today where we got a rib eye steak with salad for $7. No not a missprint $7. It was beautiful.

The place we are staying at is also an eco lodge and they have a big telescope out the back, hopefully if the skies stay clear tonight we will go and have a peek at the heavens. Saturn is supposedly showing well.

Tomorrow we head off further towards the gulf, aiming for Georgetown. Oh and by the way, the days are beautifully warm, about 30, just a nice dry heat.

Anyway, its beer o'clock, so must go.

In The Daintree

2011-07-14T17:09:00.002+10:00

We escaped the unbelievable winds of Cooktown and headed south to the Daintree. We ended up at a little place called Newells Beach which is about 5 k's from Mossman.

Our first night ended up being an unexpectedly great experience. This is the time of year when the cane growers set fire to their crops and as luck would have it the cane field about 10 metres from our camp site was torched that night and we had ring side seats. Well actually I was standing and ready to run in case some big, legless creatures decided to escape the flames in the direction where I was standing.

Anyway, a guy came along on a motor bike, torched the cane and up it went - very spectacular. It burned for an hour or so and that was it. The next morning the cane was still standing but only the earth and low grass was burnt.

We visited the Mossman Gorge one day and spent a few very pleasant hours there. It has changed since the last time I was there. Now there are some great board walks and terrific trails through the gorge and I think we managed to explore all the options.

Having travelled the Bloomfield Track from Cooktown to Wujal Wujal we decided to complete the famous track, but this time from the Daintree end. We certainly picked a great day to do it as it did not present any great dramas for us, though it was a little corrugated in parts. It took only an hour or so to get to Wujal Wujal again.

We stopped off at Cape Tribulation along the way and also visited the village of Daintree.

So now we are in Cairns. We hope to get up to Kuranda tomorrow to see the falls, then the next day spend a little time goofing off in Cairns city, then it will be back on the road again for a third attempt to get to Chillagoe.

Cooktown

2011-07-08T18:19:00.002+10:00

We did it, we made it in to Cooktown, arriving on Tuesday afternoon. This is a great little town, but ever so windy. We found a great little caravan park right in the centre of town so we can walk everywhere we like.

On Wednesday we went out with a guy in his tinny up the north arm of the Endeavour River to spot crocodiles. Well we spotted about 4 of the BIG ones and Mark (the driver of the boat) would almost park the tinny on the bank beside the monsters. But the most delightful thing was seeing the baby crocs. We saw a few, just resting on floating branches and they would not have been more than about a foot long. When they saw us they would talk fright and slide into the water only to resurface a few feet away.

On Thursday we went out to near Laura via the back roads, some were very corrugated - but it is like Pitt Street out there it seemed at times. Out of the dust would appear yet another 4 wheel drive loaded up to the hilt and driving like there is no tomorrow - thank heaven school holidays end up here this weekend.

Later in the afternoon we met up with an aboriginal elder, Willie, and he took us and another 4 people, into the bush to show us some rock art and to tell us stories from his tribe, from the dreamtime and also his beliefs and philosophies. He was a wonderful story teller and we thoroughly enjoyed the couple of hours spent in his company.

Today we drove down the Bloomfield Track to Wujal Wujal Falls on the Bloomfield River. The falls were flowing very nicely (as above photo). The famous Bloomfield Track from here to the river is in far better condition than my driveway!!! For the most part it is sealed and the dirt sections are pretty good. It is the section from the Daintree to Bloomfield that is a bit dickie so when we leave we will head back the long way on the sealed road.

Tomorrow we plan to stay in town to visit a few places we have yet to see here and, would you believe, the replica Endeavour arrived here this afternoon and will be here tomorrow as well, so we plan to check it out. Of course you all remember don't you that Capt Cook beached the Endeavour here for repairs all those years ago. Yep, I knew you remembered.

Sunday we are out of here and will base ourselves in Mossman for a few days.

The Undara Experience

2011-07-03T18:04:00.003+10:00

The drive from Charters Towers to Undara was very exciting for us when Tom Tom-Tom told us that in 350 k's we were to make one left hand turn on what was otherwise a very straight road. How exciting is that??

Our first full day at Undara was spend doing the 12 k walk around through the park. Lots of up hills and rock hopping etc. It was a pleasantly warm day, not too hot and even though our muscles were hurting at the end of the day we were not dying of thirst.

Did you know that Undara is the largest area of volcanic activity anywhere on the planet?

We took the full day tour of the lava tubes the next day. We started off with a brisk 3 k walk around the crater of a small volcano, then headed for the lava tubes. The first we visited was Road Tube (photo above) it was open at either end, so was well lit and only small in length - about 100 metres.

The next was Wind Tunnel. It was shaped like an elbow and we needed our torches for that one. The tubes can be quite difficult to access so rock scrambling is something you try to master. Our next lava tube was Barkers. Hated that one. It went for about 800 metres and there was only one entrance. It was like entering the gates of hell. There is a problem with oxygen down there and everyone found it very difficult to breath. We only went down about 400 metres - it is impassable further along because of water and the danger of lack of oxygen.

Our last tunnels were Stephensons and Arch (photo above). These were quite lovely, both water filled at the moment so some of the group went for a little swim off into the tunnel.

All in all a great time at Undara.

Today we set off with the intention to follow a dirt road for about 100 k's to Chillagoe. The gods were not smiling on us. At the first turnoff the road was closed, the next turn off the road was a slippery muddy mess. We decided not to take it as it is a mega road for road trains and we did not fancy encountering them on such an awful road. The next attempt was partially successful. We turned off, drove about 40 k's and came to a creek crossing. Mike paced it through but felt the bottom was far too soft, and as we did not have a winch and there was nil traffic on the road we then had to turn around and retrace our steps. So we have given up on Chillagoe for now and we are in Atherton, at the back of Cairns. Today we have driven about 350 k's to arrive at a place that should have been about 200 k's from where we started!!

So we will be here for 2 nights before heading off to Cooktown. Tomorrow the Atherton Show is on so we plan to pay it a visit. Somehow or other I don't think it will be like the Royal Easter Show.

Charters Towers

2011-06-29T17:00:00.002+10:00

Another long drive brought us to Charters Towers. The weather was a wee bit gloomy but it was just as well because we had run out of clean undies and it forced us to do some housekeeping.

The weather today has been overcast but no rain so far. We were out bright and early this morning, first stop the Venus Battery. We were given a 2 hour tour and talk of the old gold rush days and the workings of the battery. We were the only ones to turn up so it was quite the private little tour and we enjoyed it enormously. So if you are ever in Charters Towers go and pay them a visit, it is well worth the princely sum of $11.00 charged for admission.

Next we wandered up to Towers Hill to admire the view of Charters Towers. But this being Queensland - you know - beautiful one day, perfect the next. Well we froze in a cold wind so our visit lasted seconds.

We spent some hours wandering the streets of Charters Towers, a lovely old town with many of its mid 1800's buildings restored. We have done our big shop at Woolworths (yes they are all over the place) and are now prepared for our trip to Undara for the lava tubes. We will be there for 3 nights and are unsure if there is internet or not.

We are still having fun.

Clermont

2011-06-27T17:49:00.001+10:00

There is a great internet connection here - the mobile tower is about 500 metres away. We are now in a paddock in the blackblocks of Clermont which is about 300 k's south of Charters Towers and about 100 k's north of Emerald. We had hoped to be in Charters Towers tonight but someone who shall remain nameless (Mike) forgot to look at the distance from Carnarvon Gorge to Charters Towers!!!

Anyway to backtrack to Carnarvon Gorge...

On our first afternoon we did a little walk to Rock Pool and then wandered along the creek for a few k's. Next morning we were out on the creek walk to Art Gallery. It is about 6 or 7 k's in but a lovely walk along the creek with many little crossings. The Art Gallery was fantastic with lots of Aboriginal stencils mainly of hands and boomerangs, all in excellent condition.

Next we wandered to Wards Canyon - a beautiful canyon very narrow, with a little stream running through it. In one little corner grow King Palms, one of the only sites in Central Queensland where they can be found.

Then it was on to Ampitheatre. Wow, that place was extraordinary. After climbing up a series of ladders you then enter a long chasm and at the end it opens out to a circular cavern (without a roof). Just mind blowing.

After the Ampitheatre we headed in to the Moss Garden. It was a bit of a hike uphill, but worth the walk. The walls in this small chasm were covered in moss, there was a stream leading into a little rock pool. Just delightful.

Then after all those wonders we then had to stagger, and I mean stagger, back to the car about 3 k's away, The walk was about 14 + k's and every muscle was aching.

Next morning after a good night rest we decided to go kindly on the legs and do a short walk. We wandered into Mickeys Creek Gorge (nice), then deviated off to another gorge which does not feature on in the guide books. It ended up being the highlight. We wandered into a chasm that was about 10 feet wide with a stream running through it, so we did lots of rock hopping, The chasm went on and on, as did we, until the chasm got narrower, darker, the water got deeper and so, deciding that we did not want to have to risk our cameras any further we rock hopped out.

Which brings us up to today. Just another drive in central Queensland. Tomorrow we will definitely be in Charters Towers for a few nights then on to Undara for the lava tubes for another 3 nights.

Takarakka - Carnarvon Gorge

2011-06-26T18:15:00.002+10:00

With less than 6 minutes of internet time this will be brief. In to shorts and tee shirts at last. We managed the 14+ kilometer walk to Art Gallery, Wards Canyon, Ampitheatre, Moss Garden - all brilliant. Today, with a few aching muscles we did a short walk to Mickeys Creek Gorge and another place that escapes the brain, which ended up being an absolute highlight.

We head off tomorrow to Charters Towers when hopefully we will have internet.

Roma

2011-06-23T17:49:00.002+10:00

A boring day on the road today. No road train cowboys, no nothing, just a variety of road kill - the result of the road train cowboys perhaps? Maybe an exciting moment was when I hit a galah that was basking in the sun in the middle of the road.

Arrived in Roma at about 1.30pm, have walked the town and are just about to do beer o'clock.

The answer to yesterdays trivia question was Moree and todays question is in what town would you find the Big Rig? And no using Google this time Ms Barb.

Tomorrow we are off to Takarakka at Carnarvon Gorge for 3 days of bush walking and other bits of excitement. Can't guarantee there will be internet though.

Moree NSW

2011-06-22T17:53:00.003+10:00

We left home at 7am and arrived Moree at about 4pm. No probs along the way until about 50k's out of Moree when we got caught up in an army convoy and some truckie cowboys driving road trains (see below).

We are in Mehi Caravan Park but will be out of here in the morning when we head off to Roma in Queensland for another overnighter before getting to Carnarvon Gorge where we plan to stay 3 nights.

Todays trivia question - if Nambour is the home of the Big Pineapple and Coffs the home of the Big Banana and Goulburn the home of the Big Merino, what is Moree the home of?

The Map

2011-06-20T12:30:00.000+10:00

Figured it out - just need to sleep on it (the idea) for a while. Now all we need to do is get on the road and that happens early Wednesday morning. We hope to make it to Moree but it will probably end up being Narrabri.

Setting up the blog

2011-06-19T21:30:00.000+10:00

This has taken hours, but I think I'm ready to go live.Next I want to figure out how I can put a map in here of our planned route. Back to the drawing board, this thing won't beat me. Well I found out how to put a map of where I currently am, that was easy, perhaps I can do that each time I write to the blog? Still want a map of where we are going though.