Mission Beach - 30/09/12

Dot is up early to get access to washing machines for another  wash of the shorts/T-shirts & undies – recycling the same 2 – 3 items of each.

Following our early morning breakfast, we all walked off to the Rotary Monster market, some 2.5klm away.  With little cloud cover the sun was starting to have a burning effect.  Michael caught up with a number of the Rotarians managing the market.   They had very stylish yellow & blue shirts, with the word “ROTARY”  printed in a portion of the Rotary wheel, visible front and back.

A variety of stallholders mainly of a craft nature, but some with fresh local produce and some fantastic orchids in flower.  A coconut grower was very popular, cutting the top off to provide coconut milk drinks, as well as the coconut meat.

Tony, at the coffee tent,  caught up with a “local” 80+ year old gentleman [Bob] from Southport Yacht Club who lives up to 7 months at South Mission Beach.  He was a keen fisherman and sailor and was very informative on the local area and of a few must things to do before we leave.

Back to the campground to commence some packing for next day’s departure.   We head the 60 metres back to town for lunch, Tony & Jen at one place, and Dot & Michael to another for barramundi, chips & salad.  The barra fillet was very thin and disappointing compared to Burketown, now some weeks ago.

After lunch Dot & Michael go for a drive to see some sights whilst Tony has his nano nap.  We follow the attractive winding coastal road at the base of rainforest cliffs, adjacent to the beach, to Bingil Bay.  Then onto El-Arish [a small town on the Bruce Highway – named after a battle in Palestine] for a visit to the recommended 1928 built Tavern/Pub.  This Pub has photos all around the walls of pig hunts and the sizes of some of the slaughtered feral pigs is unbelievable – possibly up to 7 feet from snout to backside.

Whilst enjoying a refreshing drink at the bar, they get to talking with a “local”  - Lindsay …an ex Victorian [and a Collingwood supporter]  who has been here for 30+ years, but is getting sick of the heat, humidity, and the cyclones and is thinking of returning to Victoria up near the Murray.  Lindsay [an Army Engineer in Vietnam]  - informs us that El-Arish is a soldier settlement area established after World War 1, with all the streets named after British & Australian Generals.   Monash was the only General who was a winner of any battles.

Dot & Michael leave El-Arish and head back through cane farmland with mountains as a backdrop, then rainforest to Wongaling Beach and South Mission Beach opposite Dunk Island and other small islands.   All of this is very attractive and you can see why people are drawn to to the coastal beaches.   Many houses and apartments on the beachfront and nearby are up for sale….impact of the 2 cyclones over the past 6 years.

Dot & Michael return to the campground for a shower in readiness for heading to Bingil Bay, with Tony & Jen, to meet up with locals David & Christobel at the local Bingil Bay Cafe.  The Cafe is very popular with the locals, being their lifeline following Cyclone Yazi in 2011. With generators it was the only power source for  3-4 weeks in the community, following the cyclone and has now expanded from a very basic fish & chip shop to provide a  good menu of local products.  We have a very nice evening with David & Christobel, learning about their life in Nth Queensland and sharing travel experiences.

Mission Beach - 29/09/12

We all head to town for breakfast around 7:15, only to find one breakfast provider open…the one Tony had eaten at yesterday.

Tony has the Aussie special of bacon, eggs, grilled banana toast and tea…….and receives from Jen the ice cream from her pancakes and fruit salad.  Tony knocks over the ice cream and bananas immediately and then into the toast/bacon & eggs.   This is the followed by a pancake that Jen could not eat.

Following breakfast, it was time to go and get our hats and go for an extended walk along the Ulysses walking Trail to neighbouring Narragon Beach and the Clump Point Jetty [ approx 2+klm].  The walk is not too strenuous and the rainforest canopy was very interesting as well as providing essential shade.  We walked past some mangrove trees and muddy areas and Dot kept on looking for mud crabs.  Sigh, not a one in sight.  The shop just across the road from the beginning of this part of the track sells crab pots.  Hmm. We spend some time out on the jetty talking to those fishing…..very quiet though they had seen large green turtles and stingrays.  This little bay is really beautiful, still no shells though.  I guess the reefs stop much from washing up on the beach.

As we are leaving we meet up with the friendly couple from last night [David & Christobel] and after much discussion they invite us to have dinner with them at the Bingil Bay Cafe tomorrow night.

Back to the campground for some cold drinks and lunch, followed by Tony’s nano nap.  Michael is off to watch the AFL grand final on the campground screen, whilst Dot is off to the Information Centre. Tony & Michael go for a dip in the very flat ocean at half time and then back to the footy for Michael.  Tony shares the footy with domestic chores of clothes washing & shower.  Quite a crowd had gathered for the last half of the footy and cheering for Sydney’s goals was loud and joined in by one of the patron’s pet dog.

For the long weekend, there has been an influx of visitors with no accommodation available in town.  The campground has 3 – 4 cabins taken up by a group of young women [19 –22years] driving flash cars [Lexus sports] and in town for a good time.  Tony encounters the group , as he comes back from the shower block and they are on their way out.     One smarty tells Tony …”to keep up Gramps”!!

We have the usual wander around town & return after tea to see what is happening in town….this covers a distance of probably no greater than 300metres.  The group of girls have hit the bars, but there are no males.

Mission Beach - 28/09/12

Both couples take a walk before breakfast, heading in different directions up the beach.  Dot & Michael come across a number of small blue bottle jellyfish washed up on the beach.

Tony & Jenny arrive back some 2 hours later to advise that they had come across a lady dressed in a wedding dress & veil riding a white Andalusian Stallion [very similar to the Lipposan Dancing horses of Vienna] on the beach for a filming exercise, Time gets away watching the filming including the girl standing on the horse bareback whilst cantering.  Tony and Jen have breakfast in town.

Upon returning and after a coffee, Tony & Michael go for an invigorating dip in the waves, whilst Dot & Jen take in the sun on some chairs left on the beach.

We then continue on and see the white stallion [mentioned above], along with a brown stallion  and they ready for further filming.

We arrive back at the campground just in time for a heavy short rain shower.

Looking around the camp area in our vicinity, there is a lot of dollars in the caravan setups and 80+% of the towing vehicles would be Toyota Prados or Land Cruisers.

Another separate walk in the later part of the afternoon by both Tony & Jen and Dot & Michael.  We come across Stinger treatment stations  every 400-500metres along this beach as well as seeing them at other beaches. The stations at Mission Beach are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mission Beach.  We are coming into the stinger season for the next few months.  We are also seeing hundreds of the Portuguese Man of War [blue-bottles] on the shoreline.

Two blackhawk helicopters, fully armed, fly in formation over the beach heading south.

Dot & Michael conclude their beach walk and pass a local bar……..stopping for a reviver -  cold and pleasant NZ sauvignon blanc. We get into conversation with a friendly local couple – David & Christobel [secondary teachers at Tully] who give us recommendations of places to see and things to do.

Back to the Hideaway Caravan Park for meal and with extensive cloud cover the evening is a lot cooler which will make sleeping easier.

Hinterland to Coastal camping–Mission Beach - 27/09/12

Tony is off to conquer the walking trail to the waterfalls this morning and arrives back to advise that the Falls were somewhat disappointing -  about 1 foot wide over a drop of 40 feet.

The discomfort of the March Flies made up our minds to move on.to the coastal region.   From Innisfail we take the “Canecutters Way”  meandering between Sugar, Banana & Pawpaw plantations on the coastal plain..  Our intention is to call in at the little coastal resorts/beaches to find a suitable campsite.

Our first stop is Etty Bay, a beautiful secluded bay.  The Lifesaver woman informs us that a Cassowary was on the beach some 500m away grazing for food.   We all head off to see up close and get pictures.  Tony & Jenny advise that with all the their travel to the tropical areas of Australia over many years that this is the first Cassowary that they have seen.

Next stop was Mourilyan Harbour where their was a large shipping terminal attached to a sugar refinery with molasses fed to the container ships by pipeline.   Additionally their appear to be a timber & possible woodchip export operation also.

After Cowley Beach and Kurrimine Beach we head to Mission Beach and choose a Top Tourist Park to stay the next 4 nights.   This park is approximately 60 metres from the beach.    The sandy beach stretches some 12 klm.     When the tide is out the hard sandy beach would be ideal for beach cricket.  After camp setup, Tony & Jenny take in nano nap time  Dot & Michael go for an extend walk on the beach.    With the tide out, the tiny crabs were creating intricate patterns with small sand balls  …the designs are amazing…you would think that they were in an art competition.

Many of the houses on the foreshore are up for sale, possibly because of the the [2] cyclones in the past six years.  One lady informed Tony she had sold for high $600,000s in 2006 only to see it sold again some 3 years later for low $300,000.   We go onto the internet – YouTube and view a couple of videos [before/after] of Dunk Island and Mission Beach of the impact of Cyclone Yasi in 2011.  Dunk Island is yet to be rebuilt and you can still see the scars along the beach from the Cyclone.

Henrietta Creek [above Innisfail] 26/09/12

 

We leave Cairns before 8:00am and travel the 60 klm to Innisfail, where we firstly visit a camping place for Tony to replace his Bunnings $6.00 camp chair with an up market OZTrail model.

Then onto the Information Office and are looked after by one of the best ever Information Office staff.  She really knows her stuff and provided a range of information on potential camping sites, both Cassowary coastal and rainforest/hinterland, as well as booking our Townsville accommodation via a special deals on “What If”..

We then find a great bakery for stocking up on bread..Dot & Michael buy bacon & cheese loaf  with the shop assistant’s suggestion to dip the bread in egg [like french toast] except this will be a bacon & egg flavour – the bread was very tasty  Tony decides we should have an early lunch….the pies, sandwiches and especially the cakes looked inviting and better still tasted great.

We decide on a hinterland rainforest camp site – Henrietta Creek some 40klm out of Innisfail.  On the way we stop and do a rainforest canopy walk (Mamu) up amongst the rainforest tree crowns. – we are up between 15 – 20 metres and finish off climbing the 37m tower ……this provided spectacular views of the rainforest and the valley with the winding South Johnstone River.  The walk took approximately 1 – 1.25 hours.    At the beginning and at the end of the walk we were met by attacking March Flies….little did we know a sign of things to come.

We arrived at Henrietta Creek, camping area, some 10klm further on,  and set up camp in an attractive & popular clearing not to far from the creek wandering through the rainforest.  Whilst setting up we continually were slapping at ourselves to kill or clear the attacking March Flies…we would be rich if we had 0.50c for everyone that we killed.  We walked to one set of waterfalls which were disappointing.  A later walk before dinner to another set of falls was cut short for Dot & Michael as they needed to set up their tent fly due to the threat of rain.  Tony & Jenny continued on but turned back before reaching the Falls.  Tony promises to do it by himself next morning.

We had a group of approx 14 German university students [ all met at university in NSW] in the camping ground.  Dot provided some education on starting the Gasmate Portable Cookers, without the need to use a match.  They had teams responsible for the evening meal preparation, the coffee making and the ultimate washing up of dishes.

Fortunately after dusk the March Flies became inactive.  As we had no fire to sit around, and to prevent an early bed – 7:45pm  Tony, Dot & Michael go for an evening stroll through the rainforest….did not see a thing…though could hear frogs and no doubt cane toads.

Overnight we have rain, so Michael & Dot have to packup a wet tent & fly whilst confronting the March Flies again.

CAIRNS – 25/09/12

 

Leisurely breakfast of many choices [ $5.00 per head] followed by Blog update whilst Dot attended to a couple of days wash.

Prado start assistance required by Tony, [ tyre lever tapping starter motor numerous times] then off to Pacific Toyota – Cairns.  Toyota Service Team advise that replacement part arrived & that before replacing the starter motor, it would require inspection to see if contacts/ solenoid could be repaired, and if not, then  referring the current starter motor to Toyota Warranty department for examination & APPROVAL to replace under warranty.  Apparently approval for replacement of a Prado starter motor under warranty was organised the previous day, for another vehicle.

We are told Prado should be finished by 4:30pm, so Michael is back to the Hotel with chauffer Tony & Jenny.

Dot & Michael wander around the Cairns CBD for the morning looking for a replacement pair of sandals for Dot and visiting various galleries.  Success in finding a pair of Tevas.  This was followed by a very leisurely lunch overlooking the lawn and pool area on the foreshore.   Dot found a half BBQ Crayfish while Michael had one of the best & freshest seafood basket with wedges & salad……He could not finish it all.

Strolling back to hotel Dot & Michael come across Tony & Jenny about to start lunch – pancakes for Jenny and Swiss Ice Cream & Cappuccino for Tony.

Michael receives call from Toyota to advise that starter motor had been replaced under warranty and at no charge, so he is off to pickup Prado following the  Hotel Courtesy car driving him to Toyota.

Both couples took the opportunity to replenish supplies from the local supermarket for the next 4 – 6 days.

Evening meal was again followed by an easy stroll into the City Centre via the foreshore boardwalk.

Mareeba – 24/09/12 - CAR REPAIRS?????

 

Visit joint Toyota/Ford  Mareeba to discuss current situation and find Prado just in kilometre Warranty period [60,000klm] for starter motor.  Earliest examination was scheduled for 2.00pm that day and if replacement part required, need to be ordered/supplied from Brisbane or Townsville………this could take 2 – 4 days delivery (ridiculous – Cairns is 60 km away), then repairs could be another couple of days to schedule.

After jump starting, Tony & Michael go off to recommended Northern Auto Electrical – Mareeba for a second opinion….they look at the vehicle immediately.   Mick [Hawthorn supporter] was very professional and thoroughly tested the battery for charge and the individual cells.   Mick confirms RACQ opinion of a faulty starter motor and recommends changeover under warranty   He suggests the contacts have warn.   The cost was $22.00…..very happy with their assistance and charge.  He says that he can get the part up and into the car today!!!  But that since it is under warranty we should go  that way.  What on earth is the matter with Toyota?

Tony & Michael revisit Toyota Mareeba and advise that they will travel to nearby Cairns [63klm away] and would they setup an appointment with Toyota Cairns.   They were not prepared to do this, so Michael rang through and booked an appointment for next day, along with ensuring a replacement starter motor was ordered to be shipped out of Townsville overnight.  We have to say that we are most unhappy with Toyotas service up here.  Michael was asked on phoning Cairns if he had driven through water, since this would nullify the warranty.  The service guy told him he could only drive through water up to the wheel nuts and that it said so in his book.  If the starter motor has water in it - bad luck.  Michael said – the thing is sealed!  This would mean that it had to have been faulty to get water in it surely.  (me saying this).  Michael has been through the book and it talks about driving through rivers, in sea water etc, but then says to drive in water no deeper than 27 inches.  This is well above the wheel nuts!

Tony took his tyre to  have it looked at – he has had several suggestions as to  why it failed (all RACQ’s fault) and asked for a report which he planned to  send to RACQ.  Unfortunately the tyre was ‘staked’ and had an inch long slit in it – no chance or repairs.  Tony has had the tyre for 10 days and now needs a new one.

Off to Cairns and booked into the Heritage Hotel where we stayed last year when in Cairns.

Cairns is much more interesting and many more attractions than Mareeba, plus many more eating alternatives.

Evening meal on the footpath at  foreshore shops, just watching the world go by on a very mild night.  A quick visit to night market for Dot to seek out some upmarket thongs and then a scrumptious dessert  - Swiss ice cream,  before strolling back to the hotel.