Lawn Hill Gorge

(Magyar összefoglaló a végén)

Monday, 21 May - In the morning we went to the Normanton Railway Station, to witness the departure of the "Gulflander", a passenger train from Normanton to Croydon. It had an important function in the past, now it is a joy ride for tourists only. The train and the station is a nice relic from the past, there is also a little museum about the history of the service.

Leichardt Falls

Then we packed up, managed to seal the air vent on the door with a piece of cardboard and packing tape, another attempt to keep the dust out. We left Normanton and continued our trip Westward along the Savannay Way. About 15 km-s after Normanton we reached the end of the bitumen. Big clouds of dust followed our car. The gravel road was well maintained and the river crossings were easy. We met only a few cars coming in the opposite direction. We had a quick stop at the 119. Camp of Bourke and Wills, and checked the glazed trees around the camp. Our lunch stop was at the Leichardt River, a very wide rocky river bed, mostly dry. We walked across to see the Falls, an interesting experience. 
When we opened the van for lunch, we realised that the air vent must not have been the main or only source of the dust, because the sealing on the door was intact, but the van inside was full of dust again - a big disappointment. It took a half an hour to clean at least the most visible part so that we can sit down for lunch. It seems this will be part of our life now, we'll have to get used to it.


In the afternoon we drove to Bourketown, and after some hesitation we decided to go on a side-trip to visit Lawn Hill (Boodjamulla) National Park, a 220 km detour each way on mostly gravel roads. We reached Gregory Downs by sunset, about 120 km from Bourketown, where we stopped for the night at a free camp site. 


Tuesday, 22 May - Our campsite turned out not the best choice. There was an aboriginal family camping close-by, in the evening they made a fire and someone sang and played the guitar, which was not too bad, but later an argument broke out and then a man and 3 women shouted at each other until about 2 am. We did not have much sleep.

Peter in Lawn Hill Creek

After another 90 km drive on very dusty dirt road we got to Adel's Grove and booked into a campsite at the National park. We set up the van and cleaned it. The campsite is very neat and well organised, with only basic facilities but beautiful surroundings along the Lawn Hill Creek, which was so inviting I had to jump in right away. Clean, fresh and quite warm water, hard to get out.

Indarri Falls

In the afternoon we went on one of the walks around the Gorge, up to Indarri Falls, an idyllic spot, like a movie setting. After another plunge in the water and a rest we went on to the Indarri Lookout and then to Duwadarri lookout, with fantastic views of the gorge and surrounding areas. It was a beautiful day and we are looking forward to a much better night than yesterday.

Kayaking in Lawn Hill Gorge

Wednesday, 23 May - The night was good, and the day was even better. In the morning we hired a kayak and paddled through the Gorge up to Indarri Falls and back. The dark-red vertical rock walls were even more impressive from the water than from above. Back at the camp, we had a good swim in the creek, even Kati could not resist to jump in. 

The flood plain

After lunch and a long rest - it was a very hot day again, 34 degrees in the van - we went on another short walk, to visit an aboriginal cultural place called Wild Dog Dreaming, with ancient rock art and stone engravings in another section of the Gorge walls. The walk led through the flood-plains of the creek with interesting vegetation and tufa formations, like some scary movie setting with giants and monsters. We were not allowed to take photos of the rock art, but the whole environment was very impressive. We finished the day with another refreshing swim in the creek.


Thursday, 24 May - Our plan for the day was to go for another walk in the morning, then pack up and drive back to Bourketown, for a night stop with a bit of shopping, refuelling before continuing on the Savannah Way towards Borroloola. It did not happen that way...

Peter checking the road conditions beside the truck

It started to rain lightly a few times during the night, then more solid, continuous rain came down at 6 am, and did not stop almost all day. So we did not go walking, but packed up and left the campground around 10 am. As soon as we reached the road, we realised that this won't be such an easy drive as the way in. That few hours of rain has turned the dirt road into a pool of slippery mud. Still I thought that our powerful Land Rover and off-road caravan must be able to cope with these conditions and persisted. After a few km's we were bogged down, but using all available machinery (low gear, mud-ruts terrain response system) I managed to get going again. But the road just got even worse, and after a few more km's we met a big road train in the opposite direction standing in the middle of the road, also bogged down. The driver said he will stay there and wait until the road dries out. At this point we gave up and turned around, which was also quite a difficult manoever. 


We drove back to Adel's Grove, a private resort and caravan park near the National Park. As I was driving in to find a suitable spot for our van, I managed to get bogged down again in the middle of the road. It was a bit of a slope and so slippery that the car and the van started to slide off when I tried to move on. Finally we had to set up the van right there, in the middle of the road. Fortunately not many other campers wanted acces to this part of the park.


We spent the rest of the day reading, playing Scrabble and hoping for a turn of the weather. The rain has stopped by the evening and the forecast is promising for the next few days.

Adel's Grove

Friday, 25 May, Adel's Grove - There was no rain during the night. In the morning the sky was overcast, but there was a bit of wind and it started to clear out gradually by lunchtime. Still we were advised to stay and wait another day. We did a bit of cleaning around the car and the van, then went on a short walk up to "Lookout Hill" where mobile reception can be found. We could send an SMS to our children, then went on down to the Gorge, another similar scenery to what we saw in the national park.
We have another good rest in the afternoon. The weather is promising, we hope to be able to leave tomorrow. But after yesterday's experience we may have to reconsider our planned route to NT...



Saturday, 26 May, Terry Smith Lookout - A clear, sunny, but very cold morning, 8 degrees in the van! After breakfast and a bit of hesitation we packed up and left Adel's Grove. The road to Gregory Downs has mostly dried out, but there were a few sections of black soil with deep slippery mud ruts. It was very scary, but using all the available technology in the car we managed to get through. We reached Gregory Downs by lunchtime, we stopped for lunch, then decided to change our planned itinerary. There were roumors of road closures towards Bourketown and further to the West, and another rainy patch coming in a few days time. So we chose the alternate sealed route through Bourke and Wills Roadhouse, Cloncurry and Mount Isa then on to the Northern Territory. 

Our campsite at Terry Smith Lookout

After a refuelling stop at the Bourke and Wills Roadhouse, we stopped for the night at the Terry Smith Lookout, a popular free camp site 80 km North from Cloncurry. There were about a dozen other campers around, but we did not disturb each other much. A beautiful sunset, even without the sea but nice views around, and another very cold night.












Sunday, 27 May, Mount Isa - We left the campsite quite early and by 10 am we were in Cloncurry, enjoying the easy drive on good quality sealed road. The only disappointment was the large number of kangaroo/wallaby carcasses on the road, about 6-8 on that 80 km stretch. In Cloncurry we stopped at the information centre to pick up some brochures then drove around the centre but did not find anything interesting. After refuelling and filling up the van with water, we continued Westward.

The landscape was quite interesting with undulating hills, nice views. There were several big road trains passing by opposite even on Sunday. We reached Mount Isa by midday, and booked into a caravan park - in the third one as the first two we tried were full; it seems the tourist season has started, we need to be more careful from now on. I managed to wash down most of the dirt from the caravan on arrival. In the afternoon we went out for a little tour of the town, but everything is closed here on Sunday. 

We found an automatic car wash where we could clean our car, too, that was very much needed. We also found one supermarket open where we could buy something for dinner. It was good to return to a bit of "civilisation", after a week without mobile reception, even without radio stations in the area. 

Mount Isa town centre and the open-cut mine

We will stay here for a few days to restock our caravan, and look around this place.


Our itinerary can be seen at the following Google Map:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8 
(Note that to see the route after Bowen, you need to move down to the bottom of the right panel, and select the following pages!)











Sok érdekes történt az elmúlt héten, szép is meg izgalmas is, és a terveinket is meg kellett változtatni egy kicsit.
Hétfõn reggel indultunk Normantonból, gyönyörû idõben, jó minõségû de nagyon poros földutakon, több rövid megállással Bourketown-on keresztül estére eljutottunk Gregory Downs-ig, itt egy szabad kempinghelyen töltöttük az éjszakát, ami nem lett volna rossz, de sajnos egy aboriginal család táborozott a közelünkben, akik este tábortûznél egész kellemesen énekeltek meg gitároztak egy ideig, de aztán valamin összevesztek, és éjjel kettõig hallgattuk egy férfi és két nõ folyamatos ordibálását. Más baj nem volt, de nem sokat aludtunk. 
Kedden folytattuk az utat, és elég hamar eljutottunk a célunkhoz: a Lawn Hill (Boodjamulla) nemzeti parkba, itt töltöttük a következõ két napot (terv szrint, meg még kettõt mert muszáj volt...) Itt is van egy gyönyörû "gorge", egy szûk szikla-szurdok, a Lawn Hill folyócskával. Fantasztikus táj, nekem eddig ez volt a legnagyobb élmény az úton. Elsõ délután felmásztunk a sziklagerincen vezetõ gyalogútra, több kilátó-ponthoz, meg lementünk az Indarri vízeséshez, ami nem valami magas, de az egész környék olyan vadregényes, mint egy romantikus film helyszín. A folyó vize teljesen tiszta, és kellemes langyos, nagyon jókat fürödtünk benne, még Katit is rá tudtam venni, pedig az nem könnyû. Másnap délelõtt béreltünk egy kajakot, és felhajtottunk a folyón, keresztül a szurdokon megint az Indarri Falls-ig és vissza. Nagyon szép volt ez is. Délután sokat fürödtünk, nagyon meleg volt, és tettünk még egy rövid sétát egy aboriginal szent helyhez, primitív sziklarajzok és vésetek a függõleges sziklafalban, állítólag többezer évesek. Érdekes és nagyon szép nap volt.
Csütörtök reggel terveztünk tovább indulni. Amire nem számítottunk az hogy éjszaka elkezdett esni az esõ, és reggel még erõsebben folytatta, szinte egész nap esett. Mi azért tíz felé összepakoltunk és elindultunk, de hamar kiderült, hogy ezt nem kellett volna. A poros földutat a pár órás esõ mély, csúszós sártengerré változtatta. Én egy darabig még bíztam benne, hogy a szuper terepjárónk és terepre tervezett lakókocsink meg tud birkózni ezzel is. Elõször kb 5 km után ragadtunk be a sárba, de akkor még sikerült egy kis elõre-hátra tologatás után továbbmenni. Újabb pár km után egy hatalmas "road train" (nyerges vontató két pótkocsival) állt az út közepén, az is beragadt és elfoglalta az út legnagyobb részét. A vezetõ azt mondta, hogy õ onnan nem tud kijönni, megvárja amíg eláll az esõ és kicsit kiszárad az út. De bíztatott, hogy el tudnék menni mellette és aztán már nem olyan rossz az út. Én megnéztem, és úgy gondoltam, hogy jobb ha visszafordulunk. Az sem volt könnyû, de sikerült, és 2-3 órás kínlódás után visszaértünk a nemzeti park bejáratánál levõ caravan parkba, Adel's Grove-ba. Itt töltöttük a következõ két napot, várva hogy megjavuljon az idõ és újra járható legyen az út. 


Péntekre elállt az esõ, és délutánra a nap is kisütött egy kicsit, de nagyon hideg volt, éjszaka a lakókocsiban kb 8 fok volt. Jól fel tudtunk öltözni, de így sem volt kellemes. Nem sokat csináltunk, csak egy kis séta, meg pihenés. Sajnos a készleteink fogytán voltak, de azért még volt mit enni.


Szombat reggel ragyogó napsütés és még mindig szokatlanul hideg. De már nem akartunk tovább várni, többen elindultak már, és a road train is megérkezett, így mi is összepakoltunk és nekivágtunk. Az út nagy része tényleg elég jól felszáradt, de azért volt egy két nehéz szakasz, különösen ahol a kamion beragadt. Izgalmas volt, de sikerült átjutni, és délre visszaértünk Gregory Downs-ba. Ott aztán elhatároztuk, hogy meg kell változtatni az utitervet. A hírek szerint Bourketown környékén és tovább nyugatra is lezárták az utakat az esõ miatt, nem akartuk kockáztatni egy újabb beragadást, így kelet-délnek fordultunk, hogy nagy kerülõvel, de burkolt úton mehessünk nyugat felé. Estig még haladtunk pár száz km-t, és egy szabad kempinghelyen, Terry Smith Lookout-nál töltöttük az éjszakát. Jó hely volt, vagy egy tucat másik lakókocsi is volt ott, de nem volt semmi probléma. 


Vasárnap reggel korán indultunk, tízre már Cloncurry-ban voltunk. Itt csak röviden körülnéztünk, tankoltunk és mentünk tovább, délre már Mount Isa-ba értünk. Itt letáboroztunk egy caravan parkban - nem volt könnyû, csak a harmadikban kaptunk helyet, úgy látszik megkezdõdött a turista-szezon, ezentúl erre is kell gondolni. Délután sikerült végre lemosni az autót és a lakókocsit, megszabadultunk az egyhetes vastag sárrétegtõl, és tudtunk valami keveset vásárolni is vacsorára, mert a készleteink teljesen kifogytak, és itt vasárnap minden zárva van, megáll az élet. Most ittmaradunk pár napig, fel kell tölteni a készleteinket, mosni, esetleg az autót szervizelni ha sikerül, aztán indulunk tovább.


Az útvonalunk a következo Google Map-on látható:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(A Bowen utáni szakaszokhoz le kell menni a jobboldali panel aljára, és a következo oldalakra kattintani!!)

The Savannah Way, Queensland

(Magyar összefoglaló a végén)


We left Cairns and climbed through the Atherton Tablelands to Ravenshoe, and from then on, we reached the Savannah Way. The climate and the vegetation changed quickly. Up on the Tableland the air cooled down to around 18-20 degrees, the sky was cloudy and threatening. Then from Ravenshoe the clouds started to thin out and gradually disappeared, and the thick rainforest was replaced by more open eucalyptus forest and grassland - the savannah. 


We reached Undara resort by the first evening (15 May), and stayed there for the night. There was an open communal fireplace where people gathered after dinner with a "cuppa" and a local guide gave a talk about the fauna of the region: camels, dingoes, bats, birds, etc... It was interesting but quite cold, no more than 15-16 degrees after sunset - a big change after the warm evenings along the coast.

Undara - The Arch Lava Tube

Next morning (16 May) we went on a 2-hour tour of the Undara lava tubes, a fantastic experience. These are unique geological formations indeed, and the surrounding scenery is just as beautiful. We visited 3 different lava tube sections, and listened to the very enjoyable commentary of a local guide. On the way in and out to the tubes we saw many wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos jumping around near the road. I never heard of wallaroos before, but our guide said it is a sub-species of kangaroos, she said "they are like kangaroos on steroids" - although she was not a biologist, I believe her... (Note that you can double-click the small pictures to see them in full size).

View from the rim of Kalkani Crater

After leaving Undara, we made a side-trip to the Kalkani crater, a few km-s on a dirt road. It is a 600 m circular crater of an old volcano. We left the car and van at the picnic area, and climbed up to and walked around the rim of the crater. Beautiful views inside and out, to several other old volcanic peaks in the area. After lunch we continued Westward to Georgetown, where we turned South to Forsayth, our stop for the night. 

The road to Goergetown was variable quality, all sealed but some sections only one lane wide, others two-lane. 

We met the first few road trains, quite scary, but we'll have to get used to them I guess. From Georgetown down to Forsayth we met the first sections of gravel road.

Cattle country

On Thursday 17 May, we left the van at the park in Forsayth, and visited Cobbold Gorge with an organised tour. It's a 45 km drive each way on gravel road, there is also a campsite there, but it was much easier without the van. 

The Cobbold Gorge tour included a walk around the gorge up to the escarpment with wonderful views down and around, and a boat tour along a 500 m section of the gorge, the only navigable section as the rest is too narrow even for these small electric boats. It was a unique environment indeed. 

Cobbold Gorge

We also saw several freshwater crocs in the gorge. 

By the time we got back to Forsayth, had lunch and packed up, not much time left from the day. We drove back to Georgetown, stopped to send a few messages as this was the first place with mobile coverage in the last two days. Then we continued Westward for another 20 km, and made up camp at the free campsite at Cumberland Chimney and Dam. The chimney is a relic from a crushing plant built by Cornish miners, and the lagoon is full of waterlilies and birds, ducks, herons, etc... A very nice spot for the night.

The lagoon at Cumberland Chimney

It seems we are becoming too confident in hitching up the van, and often forget something from the long to-do list. Our biggest blunder so far was to drive about 20 km's with the van's handbrake left on. I did not notice any difference while driving, we only realised that it was on at the next stop. I am not sure what it means, whether my car is soo powerful, or the handbrake is not soo powerful...:)) In any case, it was a good reminder to be more careful.


Now that we started to drive longer distances on gravel road, we also noticed a problem with our van: the air vent at the bottom of the door lets all the dust in as we drive. Not sure what we could do to avoid it. We tried to cover it with a plastic bag fixed with tape, but it did not work, the wind is stronger than the tape. We'll have to find some other solution to keep the inside reasonably dust-free...

In the Courthouse, Croydon

On Friday 18 May we woke up to a beautiful sunrise, the lagoon looked idyllic in the early light with all the birds and lilies. After breakfast we drove to Croydon. It is another of the late gold rush towns, which once were big and full of life, but now with only about 200 people remaining. Still, it is a very well maintained little town, proud of its history. We walked around and visited the old historic buildings that are open to the public. In the old courthouse we could even listen to a re-enactment of a typical court case from the hayday of the town. In the public library we also had free internet access thanks to a local government program, broadband for people over 50...


After lunch we drove another 130 km and stopped for the night at the Leichardt Lagoons. It is a very popular campsite, lots of people, very few facilities and no power, which meant that instead of a quiet evening close to nature we had to enjoy the noise and smell of the generators of the campers around us. Not the best choice but too late to go elsewhere. 

Saturday, 19 May - We drove into Normanton, only 20 km away. Another spacious, quiet, small and sleepy township that lost its early importance as a port and supply centre long time ago. Its most famous feature now is "Krys the Croc", a real size replica of the largest ever (8.63 m long, more than 2 tonnes) crocodile shot in 1957 by Krystina Pawlowski a famous female crocodile hunter. 

Normanton

There are a few old historical buildings and stores, extremely wide streets and very few people around. 

We booked into a small tourist park, which turned out to be much better than it looked from the outside. It has a nice big 25 m long swimming pool and spa (the "Normanton Riviera"), supplied by artesial hot water. We had a good swim in the pool, very refreshing in the hottest day so far, 32-34 degrees. 

In the afternoon we went out to Karumba, a small village at the mouth of the Norman river, looking over the Gulf of Carpentaria. The village itself is not interesting, but its setting and surroundings are remarkable. Following the advice from our park owners, we stayed until sunset at the terrace of the aptly named Sunset Tavern, with a glass of champagne watching the sun going down into the sea - an unforgettable sight. 








Sunday, 20 May - We decided to stay in Normanton for another day, as this is a nice place with good mobile reception, and we have some housekeeping to do (washing, cleaning, cooking, shopping, etc). Also, we need a bit of rest before starting the next, more difficult part of the trip. Until now we were travelling on sealed roads, apart from the side-trips to Undara and Cobbold Gorge, mostly very good quality with some sections narrowing to one lane only. From now on it is gravel and dirt, only navigable with high clearance 4WD. So we will spend the day with preparations, including another attempt to seal the air vent on the door...


Our itinerary can be seen at the following Google Map:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8 
(Note that to see the route after Bowen, you need to move down to the bottom of the right panel, and click next page!)

(Ha esetleg nem jöttél volna rá, katints a kis képekre ha nagyobban akarod látni!)
Cairns után nyugat felé fordultunk az ún. Savannah Way úton, ami Cairns-tõl keresztül szeli az egész országot Broome-ig. Nagyjából ezen az útvonalon fogunk haladni a következõ hetekben. Az eddigi szakasz volt a könnyebb része, végig burkolt út, általában jó minõségû, de idõnként csak egy sáv burkolat, kétoldalt széles padkával. Kicsi a forgalom, csak ritkán fordul elõ, hogy szembejön egy autó, akkor le kell húzódni a padkára, fõleg amikor egy ún. "road train" jön, nagy nyerges-vontató három pótkocsival, vagy 50 m hosszú, és megy mint az õrült, az nem áll félre senkinek. Találkoztunk már egy párral, de nem volt semmi baj. 


Két igazi érdekességet láttunk az eddigi szakaszon. Az elsõ az Undara láva alagut volt. Ez egy vulkáni képzõdmény, az Undara nevû vulkán 190 ezer évvel ezelõtti kitörésekor rengeteg láva folyt ki több irányban, ami sokáig tartott, a láva-folyó külsõ kérge lehûlt és megkeményedett, a belsejében tovább folyt a forró láva. A külsõ kéreg megmaradt, a belseje üres, így alakult ki ez a többszáz km hosszú láva-alagút rendszer. Nagy része a föld alatt van és feltáratlan, de sok helyen beszakadt, így találták meg egyes szakaszait. Több szakaszát meglátogattuk, az egyikben lábközépig érõ jéghideg vízben kellett végigmenni, nagyon érdekes volt. Az odavezetõ úton meg rengeteg kengurut és "wallaroo"-t láttunk (ez is egy kenguru-fajta).


Másnap meg elmentünk a Cobbold Gorge-hoz, egy 80 km-es földúton, de a lakókocsit leállítottuk útközben egy Frosayth nevû kis faluban. De az a feleút is elég volt ahhoz, hogy a lakókocsi teljesen telelegyen porral. Az ajtó alján van egy szellõzõrács, ami nagyon hasznos amikor állunk, de menet közben beengedi az összes port. Azóta kísérletezünk hogy hogy lehetne lezárni, de eddig nem sok sikerrel. Cobbold Gorge egy sziklába mélyen bevájt hosszú és nagyon szûk szakadék, az alján víz van, nem folyik, a föld alól jön föl, mindig egy magasságban. Elõször felmásztunk a szakadék peremére, onnan nagyon szép a kilátás be- és kifelé is. Aztán elektro-motorral hajtott, teljesen hangtalan kis csónakokon vittek végig egy kb fél km-es szakaszon, csak annyi a hajózható, a többi része még keskenyebb. Fantasztikus látvány belülrõl, nagyon érdekes élmény volt. Közben láttunk néhány édesvizi krokodilt is a partján meg a vízben.


Több kisebb városon is átutaztunk, Georgetown, Croydon, és most Normanton. Mindegyikben megálltunk sétálni, a történelmi emlékeket lefényképezni. Ezek nagyrészt a 19 szd. második felében keletkeztek, amikor aranyat találtak a környéken, akkor élték a fénykorukat, azóta elsorvadtak, csak párszáz ember lakik bennük, de nagyon szépen karbantartott és rendezett kisvárosok.


Tegnap (szombaton) érkeztünk Normanton-ba, és egy nagyon kellemes kis kempingben szálltunk meg, amine remek 25 m-es úszómedencéje van, és spa is, úgy hívják hogy "Normanton Riviera". Jót úsztunk benne, jólesett, mert nagyon meleg van 32-34 fok déltájban. Délután kirándultunk Karumba-ba, kb 70 km-re, egy kis falu a Carpentaria öböl partján a Norman folyó torkolatánál. A falu teljesen érdektelen, de a környezete és fekvése nagyon szép, és gyönyörû naplementét láttunk a vízpartról, a Sunset Tavern teraszán pezsgõt szopogatva. Ma (vasárnap, május 20) is ittmaradunk kicsit pihenni, háztartási munkákat elvégezni és felkészülni az út tovább részére.


Most jön majd a nehezebb szakasz, innentõl a következõ kb 800 km-t földuton, sok patak-átkeléssel kell majd megtenni, ezért kellett a terepjáró autó és lakókocsi, remélem, jól fogják bírni és mi is.

Az útvonalunk a következo Google Map-on látható:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(A Bowen utáni szakaszokhoz le kell menni a jobboldali panel aljára, és a következo oldalakra kattintani!!)

Cairns and the Tropical North

Crystal Cascades

We spent 4 days in Cairns, mostly relaxing and catching up on household chores - finishing and publishing the blog, which was a struggle with the very slow and unreliable internet connection, washing, cleaning and shopping. 

But there were a few highlights as well: a walk and plunge in the swimming hole of the Crystal Cascades, the new Botanic Gardens, a walk along the coastal promenade in the city, and to top it off, a day on the reef. 

This time we went with the Reef Magic company to their pontoon at Moore Reef. The 50 km ride out in the morning was a bit rough, many people got seasick, fortunately we survived without major trouble. Then we enjoyed all the usual activities, the glass-bottom boat, the semi-submersible boat, and especially the snorkeling. We saw lots of fantastic coral formations and bright colured fishes and other marine creatures. There is a fascinating  underwater world out there that should not be missed by anybody if possible.

Lunch at Mossman Gorge

Then on Thursday (10 May) evening we picked up our daughter, Eszter, from the airport, and spent the next four days checking out the Tropical North. On the way North we stopped for a quick visit at Port Douglas, then had lunch at Mossman Gorge, followed by a walk and a plunge in the beautiful swimming hole. 

Then we crossed the Daintree river with the ferry and drove up to Cape Tribulation. It is a difficult narrow winding road, with several 20 km/h speed restrictions where cassowaries used to cross the road, sometimes unsuccessfully. 

We were lucky enough to catch sight of a cassowary family alive, a mother with 3 chicks, crossing the road just in front of us. The camping at Cape Tribulation was just behind the coconut palms along the beach, a cute little hideaway, with lots of bush turkeys running around all the time.

Eszter checking the water before crossing

On Saturday 12 May we left the caravan at the campsite and went up to Cooktown along the Bloomfield track. It was the first time we tested our car, and ourselves, on a real 4WD track - although the track was in very good condition, but there were several water crossings and two very steep climbs up and down. Everything went very well, and the landscape and vegetation were very interesting. Unfortunately no more animals to see. 

Cooktown

Cooktown is a sleepy quiet little village, although we arrived there in the middle of the Saturday market, with more activity than otherwise expected. We dutifully visited all the monuments and memorial plaques of Captain Cook's landing and the Palmer River gold rush, and enjoyed the view from the old lighthouse lookout. We had lunch at a little restaurant at the banks of the Endeavour river, and after coffee we headed back to Cape Tribulation the same way. It was a 2.5 hour drive each way, but it was worth the effort. 

In the afternoon we still had time for a short boardwalk close to the campsite - again, very interesting exotic vegetation, plenty of birdsounds, but no fauna to see... In the evening, with Eszter's expert knowledge, we managed to cut open a coconut picked up on the beach. It was no mean feat, and we could enjoy the benefits. 

Face-to-face with a croc

Sunday morning, after another boardwalk, we packed up and drove down to Daintree Village on the other side of the river. We went on a river cruise and saw a few crocodiles, one 3-m long adult, and a 1-year old little one, several big birds, jabiroos and herrons. The scenary around the river was also magnificent. 

Mossman Gorge

We stopped for the evening in Mossman and had another jump in the Mossman Gorge pool before sunset. The caravan park in Mossman included a 50-m swimming pool that we had to try this morning, all 3 of us had a good swim before leaving the camp. On the way South we stopped at Palm Cove for a little walk along the coast and the jetty. 












By lunchtime we came back to Cairns and checked into the same caravan park as before. After lunch and siesta, we went to the city, had a nice walk around the Lagoon and the coastal promenade to the harbour and back in beautiful sunset lights, followed by a farewell dinner in a Thai restaurant.


Then tomorrow morning Eszter will fly back to Sydney, and we leave the East coast, heading West towards new adventures!


Our itinerary can be seen at the following Google Map:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8 
(Note that to see the more recent parts of the route, you need to move down to the bottom of the right panel, and click next page!)



Az elmúlt hét még gyorsabban ment el, mint a korábbiak. Négy napot Cairn-ben töltöttünk, fõleg pihenéssel, meg szükséges háztartási munkával, de azért minden nap volt valami kellemes program is: fürödtünk a közeli Crystal Cascade patakban, sétáltunk az új Botanikus kertben, no és egy nap elmentünk a korall-zátonyokra, hajóval 50 km elég viharos tengeren, de megérte. Volt üveg-fenekû hajó, meg búvárkodtunk (csak pipával), sok szép korallt és rengeteg színes halat láttunk, jó volt.
Aztán csütörtök este megjött Eszter, és másnap vele együtt elindultunk északra egy kis trópusi körútra. Cape Tribulation-ig burkolt úton lehet menni, útközben megálltunk fürödni a Mossman folyó szurdokában, láttunk cassowary-t, meg kígyót, és mág egy kókuszdiót is sikerült felnyitni, ami nem könnyû dolog, de megéri. Szombaton kipróbáltuk az autónk terepjáró képességeit "élesben": Cape Trib.-tõl Cooktown-ba kb 80 km-t mentünk földúton, ami elég jó állapotban volt, de több patakon kellett átkelni és két nagyon meredek hegyen átmászni le-föl. Mind az autó, mind a vezetõ jól vizsgázott, gond nélkül megtettük az utat oda-vissza. Cooktown egy csendes, érdektelen kisváros azt leszámítva, hogy Cook kapitány ide vontatta be a sérült hajóját javítani 1770-ben. Ennek aztán számos emléktábla és szobor állít emléket a városkában az Endeavour folyó partján. Késõbb itt is volt "aranyláz", egy közeli folyóban találtak aranyat a 19. szd. közepén, ami 15-ezresre duzzasztotta a város lakosságát egy pár évre, de az arany hamar elfogyott, és kevesen maradtak itt. 
Visszafelé jövet megálltunk a Daintree folyónál, elmentünk egy rövid hajótúrára, láttunk krokodilokat, egy szép nagyot, ugyan nem nagyon mozgott, de eleget ahhoz hogy elhigyjük hogy él. Szép vizimadarakat is láttunk, és a táj is nagyon érdekes a folyó körül. Késõbb megálltunk egy szép tengerparti üdülõhelynél is kicsit nézelõdni, és délutánra visszaértünk Cairns-be. Este sétáltunk egyet a városban, megettük a búcsúvacsorát, és kedd hajnalban Eszter visszarepült Sydney-be.
Mi is összepakolunk, és itthagyjuk a keleti kulturált tengerparti vidéket, elindulunk nyugat felé az ország belsejébe, ismeretlen tájakra. Egy hónap már eltelt az utunkból, igyekezni kell... 



Az útvonalunk a következo Google Map-on látható:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(A Bowen utáni szakaszokhoz le kell menni a jobboldali panel aljára, és a következo oldalakra kattintani!!)

The Tablelands

Wednesday 2 May, Toomulla Beach


We left Bowen after breakfast, heading towards Townsville in bright sunny weather. There were several road works where we had to stop and wait, but by midday we reached Townsville. We drove into the centre, then found a big almost empty parking area near the Entertainment Centre. We unhitched and opened the van, had a quick lunch and coffee, then closed and left the van there and drove back into town for a bit of sight-seeing. We re-visited the sites we already saw in 1991 with our children: the Strand, a beautiful park and promenade along the coast, and up the Castle Hill to enjoy the views of the whole city and surrounding region. It was a bit colder up there and very windy, but the panorama is magnificent. 

Townsville from Castle Hill

Then we came down and walked around the centre, mostly Flinders Street and Square. It was a bit disappointing: the main section of the street is freshly rebuilt, the previous pedestrian mall was reconverted to vehicular traffic with some traffic calming and "environmental adaptation", but most of the shops along the two sides were closed and abandoned. At the tourist info centre they said it is slowly coming back to life after the roadworks. Let's hope...
We found our caravan safe and intact, hitched up again and continued our way Northbound, but only for another 50 km. Our Camp-6 guidebook showed a number of free campsites along the coast, we selected on of them, Toomulla Beach. It is a nice park just behind the beach, with few basic facilities - but many sand flies or midgets as one onther camper called them. Another little disappointment was that while there should be mobile reception here according to the guidebook, it is so weak that we could not make much use of it. Anyway, this place is good enough for this one night stay despite its shortcomings. It is worth more than it costs...  


Thursday 3 May, Paronella Park


Another beautiful sunny, clear and hot day. We drove to Ingham after breakfast, and stopped at the Tyto Wetland Centre, and nicely arranged local tourist info centre that we took full advantage of. We collected a lot of maps and brochures about the area, then left the van in the parking and went up to the Wallaman Falls, the largest single drop falls in Australia, close to 300 metres. It was a 50 km side trip up to 540 m height and back, but it was worth it. A marvellous place indeed, especially in such a clear sunny day. 

Wallaman Falls

Mission Beach

We had lunch and coffee back at the Wetland centre park, watching the water lilies and birdlife in the wetland. Then we continued North, and visited Mission Beach, another nostalgic side trip to a place we visited 21 years ago with our children. It was less impressive than the first time, maye just because we got used to these features over time. We took some photos, then headed back to the main road.










In the evening we stopped at Paronella Park, noted in our guidebook as "the no. 1 must-see site in Queensland" - we could not miss that. It is a "castle" and park built by a Spaniard, Jose Paronella in the 1930s, modelled on Catalonian castles. We have arrived just in time for the ninght guided tour, which led us through the park to see some of the flora and fauna in the dark by torch light - bats, glowing mushrooms, etc. and some of the castle buildings and waterfalls lit by reflectors. The whole thing is a bit "tacky", not really for our taste, but an interesting experience. We are stayin for the night in their caravan park, and will have another tour in the morning to hear about the history of the park and their owners.


Friday 4 May, Millaa Millaa 

The Castle in Paronella Park

Paronella Park

On the morning tour of the Paronella Park, we heard about the history of Jose Paronella and his family, how the park and "castle" was built and used in the 1930s, and the various natural and man-made disasters that affected the park. Jose was a baker by trade, but he was a 'visionary' and he designed and built most of the facilities in the park, including a hydro-electric power plant under the main waterfall. The buildings - or, rather, the ruins, as most of the buildings are in a derelict state - look a bit like a movie set, but the park, the vegetation and the waterfalls and other natural features are very nice, they worth a visit.

In the canopy at MaMu 

Then we headed up to the Atherton Tablelands on the Palmerston Highway. We stopped at the Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walk site a bit further up. From the elevated walkways and the observation tower we had nice views of the rainforest canopy from above, the valleys of the South Johnstone River, and Mount Bartle Frere, the highest mountain in Queensland.












Continuing Westward, we did a 15-km circuit to visit 3 waterfalls: Elinjaa, Zillie and Millaa Millaa Falls. All 3 were interesting, but Millaa Millaa is the tallest and most popular with its shallow rocky pool. Plenty of overseas tourists, mostly German. 

Millaa Millaa Falls

We stopped for the night at the caravan park in Millaa Millaa, just beside the mobile phone communication tower, so good internet connection, and a lot of work done in the evening.


Saturday 5 May, Malanda


We left Millaa Millaa around 9.30am and drove up to the aptly named Millaa Millaa lookout for a view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The sky was overcast, and the air quite chilly 19 degrees, a big change compared with the previous days. Continuing Northbound we stopped 22 kms further at the caravn park of the next small town, Malanda. There are many attractions to see in this area and we have plenty of time, so it was easier to book into the park, set up and leave the van and do an easy round trip for the day. 

Coffee Break at Lake Barrine

After a bit of quick shopping in the town centre, we visited the two volcanic crater lakes, Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine. We had a picnic lunch at Lake Eacham, watching a few people swimming and bathing in the quiet water of the lake. The water was cristal clear, many small fish waiting at the edge for some food scraps. I was tempted for a swim, but the water and the air was a bit cold for my liking, so a gave it a miss. At Lake Barrine we had coffee at the Tea house then a short walk to the huge twin kauri trees. They are an amazing sight, true giants of the forest, about a thousand years old. 

The Curtain Fig

Next, we saw two other giant trees, the Cathedral Fig Tree, then the Curtain Fig Tree, said to be the most famous tree of Queensland. They were just as amazing as the kauris, although maybe just half as old. 


In between the two fig trees, we drove along Lake Tinaroo at Yungaburra. This is a huge artificial lake behind the dam on the Barron River. There was a lot of activity on such a Saturday afternoon, boats, swimmers, water skiing, partying on the shore. 


By this time the sky cleared to a sunny warm afternoon. We headed back to Malanda, for a quiet and relaxing evening (no mobile coverage in the park...).






Sunday 6 May, Malanda


This morning we decided to stay here for one more night and make another day tour without the caravan. It was a busy day, we "worked" a lot. The weather was partly cloudy, partly sunny but very cool, only around 20-22 degrees. First we went to Atherton, drove around the town centre, then visited an old Chinese Temple, where a heritage festival was going on. We also saw a line-up of old but well restored and still functioning old cars, some for as early as the 1920s, hand-made in England. It seems it is a popular pass-time for people also up here.

The next stop was at the Herberton Historic Village. It is a private outdoor museum of all country town life from the early 20th century, and some even older, from the end of the 1800s. We were pleasantly surprised by the wealth and quality of displays, not just the buildings but all the artifacts, tools, machinery, clothes, photos, armoury, an excellent depiction of life from that period. It was not cheap, but it was worth every cent of it. It took us almost 2 hours to get through all that. 






We then drove South to the Mount Hypipamee, a volcanic crater created by exploding underground gases a few million years ago. First we had lunch and coffee at the picnic area, then walked to the viewing platform, and were happy to confirm it is just as amazing as it was 21 years ago when we were here first. On the way back we passed through the Dinner Falls - nice but we are getting too accustomed to waterfall views... And we had a few more on the program for today...

We headed South-West, past Ravenshoe - the highest town in Queensland, at the altitude of 930 metres, which explains the cool temperature and quickly changing weather conditions up here on the Tablelands. Just before Ravenshoe we passed a Wind Farm, with 20 huge wind turbines towering above the landscape, a very impressive sight.  

Millstream Falls

Our next destination, Millstream Falls, was another "largest", in this case, the widest single waterfall in Australia. Nonetheless, it is worth a look. So much so, that we went to see the "Little Millstream Falls" as well, a couple of km's closer to Ravenshoe - that was also a beautiful, and very different view. 


Our last attraction for the day was Tully Gorge lookout. It took us about an hour to get there, as first we lost our way and went in a dead end, then on the right way it was a 25 km drive through thick forest and a very narrow winding one-lan road to get there, but we got ther in time before sunset to get a nice view of the 300 m deep gorge - unfortunately the waterfall is not flowing any more as the water is dammed and used in the hydro-electric plant, but the view is still good enough for a visit.
On the way home we were treated to a spectacular nightfall with interesting cloud formations in the orange sunset light so close above us we felt we could reach them by hand. It was a fitting finish to this very successful day.


Monday 7 May, Cairns


We left Malanda after breakfast, and drove to Cairns. On the way we stopped a the Jaques Coffee Plantation, to have a look at how coffe is grown and tasted the local product. Then in Kuranda, we had a nostalgic tour around the town and railway station. The town has changed a lot since we were here 21 years ago, the centre is very nicely developed and maintained. Quite a lot of tourists around, mostly Asians, but also French and German. 
We went down to the Barron Falls, just a few km-s from Kuranda. It was a bit difficult to park with the caravan in that tight car park so we only spent a few minutes there, but we had a quick view of the falls. Not a huge volume, but a decent flow of water, much more than in July 1991, when it was dried out. 

Barron Falls

We came down to Cairns by lunchtime, booked into a caravan park, had lunch and a bit of rest. It's 30 degrees here, a big change after the 20 degrees up in the Tablelands. Now we'll stay here for a few days, have a rest and enjoy the attractions.


Our itinerary can be seen at the following Google Map:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(Note that to see the route after Bowen, you need to move down to the bottom of the right panel, and click next page!)


Bowen-ben nagyon szép helyen laktunk, ott maradtunk 2 napig, jó volt kicsit lazítani, pihenni. Másnap Townsville-ben álltunk meg, leraktuk a lakókocsit egy parkoóban, és autóval jártuk körül a várost, meg felmentünk a Castle Hill-re a kilátás kedvéért. Este megint szabad kempingeztünk a Toomulla Beach-en, szép hely volt, de nagyon összecsípkedtek a homoki legyek, azóta is szenvedünk tőle, főleg Kati, engem nem annyira zavar. Másnap Ingham-ból tettünk egy kerülőt a Wallaman vízeséshez, majd 300 m-es, megérte a kitérőt. Utána meglátogattuk Mission Beach-et, ez is része a nosztalgia-túránknak, 1991-ben ott is jártunk a gyerekekkel. Az estét egy Paronella Park nevű helyen töltöttük. Ez egy José Paronella nevű spanyol pasas kreációja az 1920-as évekből, egy castiliai mintájú "kastély" és kert, kicsit giccses, erősen romos, de nagyon romantikus és a növényzet és a park nagyon szép. Este is és másnap reggel volt vezetés, ahol elmondták az egész történetet.
Innen felkanyarodtunk az Atherton Tableland-ra, ami egy 8-900 m magas fennsík Cairns és a partvidék fölött. A magasság nagyon megérződik a klímáján is, reggelenként 12-13 fok volt a lakókocsinkban, jól fel kellett öltözni éjszakára, és napközben sem ment 20-22 fok fölé, de az idő továbbra is szép volt, bár sokszor felhős. Három napot voltunk fönt, sok vízesést, vulkáni kráter-tavakat meg fantasztikus óriás fikusz- és kauri-fákat láttunk. No meg egy meglepően gazdag, jól összehozott és rengeteg régi tárgyakkal-szerszámokkal-ruhákkal, háztartási eszközökkell feltöltött skanzen-t (Herberton Historic Village), ami szintén nagyon érdekes volt.
Hétfőn indultunk tovább, lejöttünk Cairns-be. Útközben meglátogattuk Kuranda városkát, ami nagy turisztikai központtá nőtte ki magát az elmőlt húsz év alatt, de nagyon szépen, kulturáltan van megcsinálva. Megnéztük mellette a Barron vízesést is, amiben 91-ben egy csepp víz nem volt (júlisuban, a száraz évszak közepén), most sem volt sok, az az is valami.
Most egy pár napig itt maradunk Cairns-ben, kicsit pihenünk, és kihasználjuk az itteni lehetőségeket - holnap megyünk a korallzátonyokra! 

Az útvonalunk a következő Google Map-on látható:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8
(A Bowen utáni szakaszokhoz le kell menni a jobboldali panel aljára, és a következő oldalakra kattintani!!)