Savanna Way

The Savannah Way is a collection of roads and highways that run from Cairns on the east coast to Broome on the west coast. It is a very popular northern east west route. The landscape changes from the coastal lush grasslands and rainforest of the coastal regions to the arid semi dessert of central north west QLD. 

We left Cairns early on the 10/08, and by 1330 we had only managed 91km. The first 50km was up over the Great Divide then there was a dairy to look at, lunch at a waterfall and Chantelle had a swim (planned on this occasion) and Bianca almost had a swim (bathers on and just in to her knees). After lunch we drove to Naranda Tea Plantation for a look. Naranda Tea is a long way off the main road, further than we expected. We didn't do the tour because they weren't in production. We did purchase some prepared iced tea to try a little later. Will probably go nice while at Normanton, we heard it will be 32 there today, very nice. 

A regular scheduled swim, Chantelle is the spec in the middle. 

Naranda tea plantation just like Srilanka but closer!

Angela had found another biodynamic dairy and 'Out of the Whey' tea rooms. We stopped for Devonshire Tea with real Jersey cream, highly rated by all. The farm chooks knew exactly that people eating outside meant dropped crumbs and would happily jump up on the table in search of a tasty morsel. On the way back to the main road there was a waterfall loop. The loop was about 15km through rainforest and dairy country to visit Ellinjaa, Zillie and Millaa Millaa Falls (and no we didn't just make those names up). The Millaa Millaa falls were a popular stop on the bus tours and when we arrived was full of our English friends swimming in a huge hole. All three falls were huge dropping some 20m or more either into a big pool or on to massive boulders. 

Ellinjaa Falls

Zillie Falls

Millaa Millaa Falls, there are English tourists swimming under the falls. 

As the time was against us we left the lush coastal lands behind and in less than 100km the country became drier and very rocky, we were back in the arid heartland again. We motored on toward Mount Surprise, and it became quite obvious that we were not going to arrive until quite late. The next town we arrived at we called ahead and booked in at Bedrock Village. We finally arrived at 6:30pm and had a quick setup before the last of the light disappeared. This park rated very highly in Angela's view because the camp kitchen included an oven. Yes, it is the simple things in life (yes Andrew C that's why Angela married Nicholas). No sooner were the children fed, showered and put to bed, and Angela was on the Internet looking for shortbread recipes that would work with the ingredients she had. As normal Angela made some yummy shortbread. 

Sunday morning after pack up the girls had a game of mini golf before the drive to Croydon. No, we are not coming home; there is a Croydon in QLD also. On the way to Croydon was passed the Cumberland processing site. All that is left is a huge chimney, and no information plaque. We were only able to determine it was Cumberland because it was mentioned at Croydon. 

Cumberland chimney. Some ore was sent from Croydon to here for processing in the 1860s some 80km. 

We arrived at Croydon in time to have a late lunch and because it was Sunday none of the tourist spots were open but the caravan park had a swimming pool and it was hot enough for a swim after a setup. Croydon is a great little town and the council owned caravan park is run by a 30-something bloke on his own! Not an easy job particularly when we turn up early afternoon to check in and interrupt his afternoon ale. Poor bloke every time he started doing something another carload would turn up to check in. Sunday night was movie night for the GNs in the park. Out came the data projector, screen and DVD player and on went Quartette, at 6:30 so it would finish in time for the GNs to get a good night sleep. We put on Alvin and the Chipmunks in our trailer for the girls. It was a really nice night and I am sure that the relative royalties were surrendered. 

Monday morning after a packup we went on a tour of the town. For such a small town the history was done really well by the council and all for no charge. The original Sergeant's quarters had a lot of history about the area from when gold was discovered and brought an influx of people to the area to make Croydon the forth largest town in QLD. The Chinese came in great numbers and the mines ran continually until WWI when most of the labor force left for war and adventure! The mines never recovered and eventually all were closed. The last remnant mine is at the front of the caravan park with a windmill to remove water from the shaft. 

With the Sergeant's house is the original cells, courthouse, and town hall. The courthouse has the original furniture and a recording of an original trial from the 1860s (not the actual recording but a new recording from the original transcripts). We sat and listened to the defendant be sentenced to two months for use of offensive language. They even had a QR code to stream the recording from the Internet (can you find it?). The town hall still had a film projector at the back and a couple of cans of film. 

Croydon courthouse. 

After court someone must go to gaol. Yes we were tempted. 

The tourist information centre also had a great display and a short film where some original residents explained what life was like. Outside were some of the original houses of the 1860s. Very well done. If you are ever up this way stop in for an afternoon.

After Croydon we continued on the Savannah Way to Normanton. In contrast, Normanton didn't do their rich history very well. The biggest claim Normanton had was the World Record crocodile that was shot near here in the 1950s. They have a fibreglass model of the 8.6m long monster, it was truly a scary size, with a head large enough to fit any of the kids inside. The original Burns Phillp store building is still standing in town and is massive for the size of the town, easily the same floor area as most Coles or Woolworths supermarkets in Melbourne. Out the back was a strong room that once held gold from Croydon about 250km away. Once the town ran out of 2 & 5£ notes so Burns Phillp co printed their own currency so they could continue to trade. 

Life size model of Krys the Croc. 

The park we stayed at in Normanton had a huge 25m swimming pool which was great for a swim and some laps. Unfortunately the park was next to a building site which started pouring concrete at 6:30am. 

After Normanton we left the Savannah Way for Cloncurry. 

Cairns 05-10/08

Cairns

05- 10/08/2013

After our stay at Cooktown we stayed on the coast again in Cairns (though not a cairn to be seen let alone multiple). We have been spoilt with two very children friendly towns. We stayed at Lake Placid (nothing like the movie) which was quite large with very small and close sites, seemingly surrounded by rainforest not suburbia. Surprisingly though the park was quiet, shady, clean and orderly. Angela did get an unwelcome present when emptying the waste bucket when a drowned rat popped to the surface. The poor rat was more like the native kind than the European Black Plague type. Our camper was over shadowed one night when a bus towing a Toyota Prado and boat pulled in next door, so close our camper was almost under their wheel. 

The Cairns esplanade offers so many activities for the whole family. At one end there is a huge swimming lagoon which the girls loved for a swim. The lagoon was patrolled by life guards, had expansive grassed areas, decks on one side and a sandy beach on another. Although it was a workday morning there were lots of people already around the lagoon, later we realised that these were international campervaners possibly down there for a wash after sleeping in their van on the esplanade overnight. Along the esplanade is a long boardwalk for people to enjoy the view as well bike paths and memorials. At the opposite end of the esplanade was Muddy's playground specially designed for children. Muddy's playground quickly became a favourite with the kids even with much closed for maintenance. There were water fountains to run through that periodically turned off and on and some amazing playground equipment. If you have looked at the 'playground hall of fame' Muddy's features. We spent a fantastic day at the esplanade with a picnic and the coffee from across the road was pretty good. 

Water play at Muddy's

Wednesday we booked a ride up to Kuranda on sky rail and the return on the Kuranda Tourist railway. Sky rail stops at two stations on the way to the final stop at Kuranda. The first stop is at a rainforest boardwalk which we were timed well to pickup a free ranger guided informative tour. Although the ranger was European he knew a lot about  the rainforest environment. He pointed out the elk and basket ferns, explained about the wait-a-while palm from which we harvest rattan for cane furniture. The wait-a-while palm has spines all over it which it uses to climb other plants to reach the sunlight, if it catches you, you wait-a-while to loosen yourself. He also pointed out some of the rainforest trees in particular a 400-500 year old Kauri Pine that must have had a girth of 10 or more metres. The Kauri Pine trees continually shed their bark so parasitic plants continually fall off the tree. 

All aboard the gondola 

Checking out the view from 60m up!

The second stop on Sky Rail had a loop walk to take in the views of the waterfall below Barron Dam that supplies water to Barron hydroelectric power station with a 68MW capacity. There is a guided tour at this station also by a member of the local tribe, but this is a paid tour and runs spasmodically through the day. We skipped this tour. 

Barron Falls

At the final station there is a bus to take us all to the middle of town, we took the bus but the ride only took a couple of minutes. We walked back. The markets at Kuranda are very tourist focused, whilst we are tourists we are not interested in that type of junk. After lunch, we went to the Butterfly Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was a little more than the butterfly house at Melbourne zoo. We could wander through the flight aviary, then go to the hatching room where the butterflies emerge from their cocoon. On the wall was a button which when pressed played the sound of 4000 caterpillars munching through 15kg of food each day. The employees collect eggs each day and hatch and raise the caterpillars in a sterile environment to improve success rate from less than 5% in the wild to almost 90%. We spent so long in the aviary that we needed to walk quite quickly to get back to the train on time. 

The butterflies landed on the pretty flowers. 

The train down from Kuranda is an experience! An old Gulf Liner train and carriages down one of the steepest railways in the world. The track passes through 15 tunnels and was built by a Melbourne Engineer in the 1880s. The building of the line gave birth to the town of Redlynch, named after the foreman. The completion of the railway guaranteed supply of food and goods to the tablelands which were often cut off from Cairns by flood and impassable roads. Read more at http://www.ksr.com.au/History/Pages/Construction.aspx. Not long into the journey the smell of hot brakes was  obvious and testament to the steep gradient. 

 

Bridge over a deep ravine. 

Yes more food!

Thursday we took a drive up the coast to Daintree, Mossman and Port Douglas. This is a drive that Angela and Nicholas took in June 2000 and little has changed. Daintree is still a very sleepy little town with a forgettable playground. We took a walk around town, didn't take long, and saw where in 1980 a man swam across the Daintree river to beat the ferry, the result is still disputed and the crocodile warning signs are still on the river bank. One of Angela's favourite things to do when travelling is to purchase fruit and veggies from roadside stalls. At Daintree we found a stall selling paw paw (from dog dogs) and pumpkin, yummy. 

On the way back from Daintree we called in at Mossman and Mossman Gorge. Mossman is still the same, Mossman is so called because the locals move so slowly that the rainforest moss grows all over them. When last we were at Mossman Gorge there was a suspension bridge over the gorge and was quite picturesque. The bridge is still there but they have built a Discovery Centre 2km from the gorge and now charge each person to ride the 'Eco' bus to the start of the walking track. There is nothing to discover at the discovery centre other than over priced aboriginal pictures and the like. The gorge is still beautiful and there were plenty of people in swimming. Our girls found it a bit cold for more than a paddle, but someone still took an unscheduled swim!

On the suspension bridge. It bounced and swayed something shocking!

Mossman Gorge swimming holes. 

Friday was another day for driving around looking at stuff. We drove up to Trinity beach and took a stroll along the white sand. The sea was so calm there was barely a wave beyond the shore break. We had been hearing on the radio about the white humpback whale that was visiting off Cairns. Couldn't see it from the beach. A truly perfect morning for a walk along the beach. The Cairns Botanic Gardens was our next stop. The CBG are not like Melbourne that showcase many exotic plants, the CBG shows off the natural environs that existed pre-settlement. We easily spent a couple of hours walking the trails and picking out the plants we had seen previous. The next stop was Rusty's Market, a smaller version of the Dandenong market back home. Lots of fruit stalls, some clothes and the odd trinket, but no nuts or dried fruit. The girls took full advantage of the samples offered by stall holders. Samples of paw paw, orange, apple, pineapple and banana aplenty. We restocked on fruit and vege, now we need to work out how to get it into the fridge. Rusty's market is just around the corner from the esplanade, convenient?.? The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming and playing and expending the last of the girls energy. 

On a rock at Trinity Beach. 

Girl Guide graffiti in Cairns. 

Tomorrow is a packup and move on the Savannah Way. 

Playground Hall Of Fame

This is the leaderboard of the best playgrounds on this trip. 

1st - Muddies playground Cairns

2nd - Mount Isa Family Fun Park

3rd - Musical boat and playground Cooktown

4th - Victoria Park Dubbo

Then daylight the rest.

Worst was Daintree with just one swing nothing else!

Cape York Part 2 QLD

Cape York Part 2 QLD

30/07 - 03/08/2013

It was only a short drive from Eliot Falls to the Jardine River ferry. The road was a little worse to the ferry but still good enough not to need low range or to slow too much. We have taken both the OTT bypass roads, it is not worth risking a break out here. Incidently the telegraph line was maintained and used until 1987!       The ferry is operated by the local council, and because the council is nearly bankrupt, have this year jacked up the prices for tourists. Now it is $145 for a car and trailer return for the 4 minutes on the ferry. Locals pay $50 each way. Last year the ferry broke down and some people tried the old river crossing. Those that sunk their 4x4 had to pay $3000 to have it recovered from the crocodiles. No such problem for us and happy to pay to get across in one piece.

We found a very quiet tourist park right on the beach at Umagico and we were offered a site just right on the beach with a covered picnic table beside. It is an amazing view out across the clear water, white sandy beach and islands dotted just off shore. Any where else and this might be prime real estate, but here...? Bianca was horrified to learn that the beach is not safe for swimming, in her words, "that's so unfair"! There is still the odd stinger in the water, stone fish around and crocodiles use this stretch of coast as a highway from Jardine River to breaking grounds. 

Our site with a view. Notice the rocks on the roof care of local delinquents. 

Sunset on the beach, red sky at night ...

After lunch and a setup we all took a stroll along the beach. No sun baking crocodiles but lovely water to look at, shells to collect and rainforest that comes down the hills and right to the beach. The rainforest is so thick you couldn't attempt to walk through it. Thick vines wrap around trees and loop back down to the ground and trees with massive canopies almost fully blot out the sun from the forest floor. 

Late in the day another family, Mark and his daughter Renee (12) and son Lachlan (9), setup close to us. It wasn't until the following morning when the children broke the ice. The five children had a great play on the beach Wednesday morning. 

Wednesday morning our family made the drive and short walk to 'the tip' (Pajinka). On the way in we passed Pajinka Wilderness Lodge, which was abandoned several years back. The owner walked away leaving all plant and equipment behind. Not much left there now though. As normal when we arrived there were cars everywhere and not long after alighting the vehicle most people disappeared! Cannot think what it is that causes that. It is only a short walk to the tip over a couple of large rocky hills with a number of stone cairns to mark nothing significant, just because. We didn't construct one, but we will say we did, because who would know!

Yes we did make it to 'the tip'. 

View from 'the tip' walking track. 

That's what Google says it looks like. 

We got the mandatory set of family photos under the well placed head height steel sign, Angela has a commemorative lump from it. We didn't do the hand written signs to our loyal followers, sorry, nor did we all wear the same tacky tourist t-shirts, nor did we get photos in every possible configuration of person, there were other parties wanting photos. 

Nicholas thought it would be good to drive around to the Jardine's graves. It seems more pressing up here to erect AQIS signage warning against the evil invasion of pest and disease then to put up an information plaque about one of the most important families of the early era up here. The graves didn't even have names or dates. So alow me to tell the story, Frank and Sana Jardine established Sumerset homestead in 1864 as a haven for shipwrecked sailors and established the Cape's first cattle property. Remember the Jardine River Ferry from earlier?

Nicholas' next sojourn was to visit two WWII plane wrecks. This was much more successful. A fence has been erected along with a plaque to preserve the sites. No AQIS signs here yet. The first was a Bristol Beaufort Mark VIII twin engined torpedo bomber and the second was a DC3 that crashed on 05/05/1945 enroute to New Guinea killing all six on board. The DC3 had obvious damage on the wings where they hit trees. Along the roads there were huge numbers of rusted out 44 gallon drums possibly remnant of WWII also. The local communities were very active during WWII with about 80% of eligible people enlisting. Mark works with ADF training and recruiting from these communities for the ADF. Most of the recruits go to ADF at most with grade 6 equivalent, despite being passed to year 10, and are trained and awarded roles in ADF. 

Crashed plane. 

Crashed plane. 

Thursday is our lazy, rest and recharge day before the drive back toward Cooktown. We ventured in to Seisia to the jetty just as the supply ship was unloading. This is a fairly major logistic undertaking of leapfrog and checkers. One forklift brings the pallets to the ship deck, two 4wd fork trucks bring the pallets off the ship and to a staging area (much of the public car park), where a fleet of forklifts move the pallets to various trucks for delivery. Talking to the gent in charge, it is not the freight that brings about the exorbitant prices. One of the shops purchased dog food on sale from Big-W at $18/bag and paid $10/bag shipping then sold them at $55/bag. The fuel is landed by ship at $1.35/l and sold at $2.35/l, the servos back home can only dream of that sort of markup. Preparation is the key to avoiding the prices up here.  

This is the small supply boat, the one that comes Mondays will close the wharf. 

If you are ever up this way do not stay at Coen! We drove from the tip to Coen and it was time to setup camp and feed some hungry girls. Last time we stayed at Coen it was the 21st birthday. Being the last Friday of the week we thought town might be a bit raucous so we stayed just out of town at a free camp beside a river. Our timing was impeccable as we pulled up and claimed the last remaining campable ground moments ahead of another party of three cars. After a quick setup and dinner was well under way a ute load of locals arrived. They obviously came to enjoy the serenity of camping beside a running stream and watch the Friday Night NRL game on TV, yes TV. Now I am not convinced why they could not enjoy this activity at their own home, maybe it was the hooting and laughing, maybe they are not allowed fires in their living room, or maybe other members of their household don't appreciate the strange smell of their cigarettes? Which ever it was we didn't appreciate two of them. Oh and the girls were very hungry in the morning. 

The river beside which we camped. 

Saturday (03/08), we drove on to Cooktown via Laura and Lakeland NP. We stopped at Lakeland NP for lunch at the old Laura Homestead. The 'town' has been moved to the main road now. Old Laura was the original homestead that was once the farm that is now Lakeland NP. The homestead and outbuilding are still there but NP have removed the fruit trees. Old Laura was once a thriving self sufficient community. There is camping at Old Laura, but these need to be booked via Internet or phone and since neither of these technologies are operational out here we moved on. 

The road from Old Laura to Cooktown is a lie according to Hema Maps which indicated the road was mainly sealed. Yes the road was sealed with loose gravel over the top and no tar to hold it together. It got a little hairy in one section when we came around a corner and the road then dropped sharply down to a creek crossing. Signage, apparently, is not necessary to warn drivers of this and the Landy doesn't have radar. Car and trailer slid down the road to the water crossing but still hit the water faster than Nicholas would have liked. The other creek crossings had more effective signage. 

The caravan park at Cooktown was pretty empty, especially as it was show weekend. There was probably only six sites in use while we were there. A really green shady park with lots of space, just a pit too far out of town for most GMs. After a quick setup we headed into Cooktown for a look see. Cooktown is a really nice town lots of history that predates the first fleet. Cooktown is where Cook beached the Endeavour, after running into the Great Barrier Reef, to make good repairs. 

This is the place Cook repaired the Endeavour. 

The tree Cook tied the Endeaviour to. The girls touched it because next time they see it the lump will be behind glass. 

Sunday (04/08) we were back in to Cooktown to the old convent which is now the Cook museum. This is one of the better museums we have come across in small towns. There were lots of extracts of Cook's and Banks' journals which highlighted just how desperate their predicament was. After the crew had repaired the Endeavour it took several days to successfully refloat the ship! Even with the ship floating there was no certainty that they could navigate through the reefs back to the open sea. Oh and to lighten the ship all six canons had been heaved overboard so they had no defences. 

Speaking of defences the town of Cooktown asked the QLD premier in 1885 for weapons and soldiers to defend against possible Russian attack. The state send to Cooktown a canon, built almost 100 years earlier, with three canon balls, two rifles and a lieutenant. Hardly a strong defensive position! 

We climbed up Grassy Hill, following Cook's footsteps again. Cook climbed the hill to try and chart a course that would see the ship back to open water and free. A very tall hill with spectacular views across the hills and over the ocean. 

Fish 'n' chips beside the water. 

Locals recommended a Fish 'n' Chip shop that we tried for lunch. It was very good. We ate our Fish 'n' Chips in a park near the musical boat. The girls loved the musical boat and received lots of applause from GNs for their musical mastery. 

The musical ship. Each night the council removes the beaters to stop the 'over refreshed' from disturbing the residents. 

Being nice sisters. 

Locals also recommended the Botanic Gardens. The Botanic Gardens have mostly plants indigenous to Cooktown and surrounds. We had a quick look around the gardens before heading back to camp for dinner.

Monday we head to Cairns for a restock and visit, but not before we stop back in Cooktown for another play on the musical ship.

The Science Experiment

The Strybosch's gave Angela a herb garden to take with her. This has become a science experiment as we move about. The plants pack quite securely in the back of the camper. In the warm weather we can notice a change in the morning and afternoon. 

The seeds are planted at Longreach and cable tied in place. 

Starting to sprout at Eliot Falls

Two days later, at the tip of Cape York. 

03-08-2013 Disaster! Maybe it was 350km of corrugated dirt road, but the dirt turned to pebbles and rolled up some of the smallest seedlings. The basil (we think that's what it is) is still going strong. 

08-08-2013 the remaining seeds are still growing and liking the sun in Cairns. 

13-08-2013 disaster averted. We have worked out what the seeds are now (writing on each pot might have helped). From top down oregano, coriander and basil. The oregano has recovered well from the rough roads but still slow growing. The coriander is getting some mature leaves but the basil is out of control! Will be plenty of basil for pesto in no time. 

The next challenge is quarantine going into NT. How strict will they be?

03/09/2013 Darwin

The basil is great, we have used it in salads and on pizza. The coriander is still growing and there are some useful leaves, almost. The oregano has failed us! We have resown with leftover seeds in hope that we will produce more than a desert. 

Cape York Part 1 QLD

Cape York QLD

27 - 28/07/2013

We stayed overnight at Mt Molloy in a free camping area just out of town. It was well populated already when we arrived and we found a patch that gave at least one Grey Nomad kittens as to how they would leave in the morning! Clearly he had no concept of reversing such a long caravan and the space behind our camper was a 'tight squeeze' for him (could have got a road train through there sideways). 

We were told about these burgers at Mt Molloy that were rather large. They were massive! One burger fed all five of us. Apparently though happiness of having some custom was not enough to erase the grumpiness of the deep frier not working. After the burger some dessert was required, so we all headed to the Bistro at the pub next door. Dessert came with a side of live music in the form of the Hillbilly Goats. The kids thought they were brilliant. They played US hillbilly style songs and a wide variety of instruments (guitars, banjo, mouth organ, fiddle, tin whistle, wash board, and drums). After seeing them do some tap dancing to songs we all walked back to our camp. 

The small burger that was rather good eating.

 

Saturday morning we packed up and followed the Grey Nomads north. They mostly turned off to Cooktown and we headed still north. Nicholas made a phone call to QLD gov to book a site at Eliot Falls. Now that is 16 minutes we won't be getting back. All camping has to be booked centrally and in advance for National Parks. QLD has implemented this very well. The booking system doesn't work on iPhone or iPad (despite what Tourist Info might say) and to make a booking one requires phone reception which most National Parks don't have. The lady in Brisbane couldn't tell Nicholas which sites were large enough to accommodate our camper, so we just guessed and took pot luck. 

We setup at Coen for the night of little sleep. There was a 21st birthday in town and it went all night and was still going when we left Sunday morning!

The bull wandered through the camp ground, stopped an our bullbar waiting for service. 

Sunday we started driving with the view to stay at Bramwell Homestead before going to Eliot falls. The road was still very good, mostly dirt with a bit of blacktop along they way. We made Morton Telegraph Station for lunch and were able to alter our Eliot Falls booking forward one day and make it to Eliot Falls by mid afternoon. 

Eliot Falls is several km along the Old Telegraph Track and through one deep creek crossing. The consensus of the group was it is worth coming this far just to stop at this spot! Sure the allocated site was not big enough for a full setup but we made the best of it. 

Swimming at Twin Falls straight after a setup. Warm clean water and all to ourselves. 

Day two at the falls we headed back down for a swim at the saucepan until lunch then drove several kilometers to Fruit Bat Falls. The rivers are just wonderful for swimming and the water is very deep under the falls. 

Swimming at the saucepan. 

The Saucepan. 

Swimming at Fruit Bat Falls. 

After another pack up we all headed back to the saucepan for another swim (bath) before the final push to the top. The road this far has been quite good certainly no worse than we have encountered elsewhere. Some sections of road have been randomly selected to be bitumen for short stretches, these are welcome respite.