Day 35 – Sunday 23 August 2015
Two washing machines were in action
by 7am to clean Cape York clothes. The clothes were on the line by
7:30. The rain started about 10 am. It continued on and off all
day, sometimes heavy, sometimes a drizzle. Musical clothes was the order
of the day.
After turning the caravan into a
laundry we went shopping as all food was consumed before the Cape York Trip.
3:30 was the designated time for scones,
cream and jam, with both plain and date scones on offer. The
congregation included 6 new friends from the Cape York trip. They were
all from South Australia - lovely people.
Scones drifted into happy hour, then
into dinner - some having a BBQ, some having a light snack in their
caravan. It was not a late night - although I was trying to get the blog
up to date.
Day 36 – Monday 24 August 2015
This was sort of a non-day with
little jobs getting done - in between more rain shower. The clothes were
gradually getting dryer The blog was gradually getting done.
4:30 was the designated time happy
hour for the 11 of us - in the camp kitchen. That drifted into dinner -
some having a BBQ, some having caravan-cooked dishes. Red wine was a
popular drink (I now have a South Oz red wine drinking mate). Sleep came
easily.
Day 37 – Tuesday 25 August
2015
Shirley, Fay and I started the day
with a BBQ brekky of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushroom and toast. It was
good.
After some lethargic time we headed
into the hills to Karunda, a touristy-type town with markets etc. We
invested a few dollars, had lunch then moved on to Barron Falls. It was well
worth the effort.
Barron
Falls
The drive back down to Cairns was
well worth a photo stop.
View
towards Cairns from the Karunda Road
Day 38 – Wednesday 26 August
2015
I was up early and wandered around
until Shirley woke up. We took our time and hit the road to Port Douglas
(less than 60 km) about 9am. We had a drive around Palm Cove, a lovely
tourist spot, then arrived at our Port Douglas campsite about 10:30.
We drifted into town about 2 pm, had
a mango smoothie, then headed for the yacht club to try a get a sail on a yacht
- but to no avail. So we headed to the Irish Pub in town for a Guinness
and some Irish fare for dinner.
A
"Wizard" Van
Another early night.
Day 39 – Thursday 27 August
2015
Another slow start to the day - quite
a good habit really. I had a 4.5 km walk about sunrise and took a photo
of some alternate transport (quite popular in FNQ).
After a shower I finished the Cape
York Sections of the blog. Plotting the route on the map was the hardest
part.
Fay and I drove into Port Douglas and
booked our cruise out to the outer Great Barrier Reef, for some snorkelling and
sea based fun. Please note that Shirley is not into activities that are
based on travelling over water.
It was a relaxing afternoon.
Dinner was a communal activity between the five of us.
I now need to tell a couple of
stories:
Story 1: The guy in the caravan behind us is taking off tomorrow. He spent about 6 hours today cleaning his car, caravan and hoses. He has wrapped his outside mirrors in plastic presumably to keep the dew off the mirrors.
My
Favourite Bird
Story 2: The guy in the caravan
beside us has a mini strobe light affair that is lighting up the palms over his
and our caravan. It looks really good, but one wonders why someone would
do such a thing - when most people are in-doors soon after dark.
Day 40 – Friday 28 August 2015
Another 4km walk to start the day,
the highlight being a pair of kookaburras enjoying the fresh start to the
day.
Morning tea was scones, cream & jam - the last before Kay and Darryl start heading south tomorrow.
Dinner was the tiger prawns
followed by pancakes, strawberries and ice-cream. Not bad for poor old
grey nomads.
Day 41 – Saturday 29 August
2015
Fay and I boarded the QuickSilver big
cat at 9:30 and headed 34 miles out to Agincourt Reef, a small part of the
Great Barrier Reef. Shirley was left at home as she is not a lover of boat
travel.
Chris in "Trimming" Lycra
We (in turn) donned our lycra suits, snorkelled, ate lunch, snorkelled, got changed and headed home. It was a fantiastic day with very calm seas. We had the bonus of a very low tide that allowed us to see a lot of the reef come out of the water, as well as finding Nemo.
Our coral reefs - the east and the
west of the country - are a sight that all people should see at least
once. The range of coral and fish are amazing. We had a marine
botanist on the boat who gave us an small insight into the reef and it occupants.
He was not a big fan of existing and previous government policy on the topic.
Above & Below: A
Visit to Agincourt Reef &
Day 42 – Sunday 30 August 2015
On the Sabbath we rested - after a leisurely breakfast (bacon & eggs cooked outside), a stroll around the Port Douglas market and a walk along the main Port Douglas beach.
Port
Douglas from the Port Douglas Lookout
After that it was a mango smoothie
then a casual lunch. The afternoon was filled with pool, relaxing and
reading activities, but was interrupted by a "damsel in distress"
call. There are no need for names but someone we love and care for had an
issue with frogs invading her toilet. I removed the first green frog
yesterday, but a darker one appeared today. The first one was removed from
the toilet seat (no photo), but the second one took some coaxing to come out
from the bowels (pardon the pun) of the toilet. However it was caught and
placed on a fern some significant distance away.
Please note that no frog was harmed in the "frog relocation process".
Anyway it did not adversely dinner
that was spaghetti bolognaise and damper, washed down with a superb Mojo
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Day 43 – Monday 31 August 2015
We started with visit to
"Yuda Juba Dungay Marrjanga", more commonly knows as Mossman
Gorge. This is part of the Daintree rainforest and is an amazing part of
the world. In some months, up to 40% more water is harvested by a process
called "Cloud Stripping" - where low clouds deposit water on leaves,
stems and trunks, which then drips or flows to the ground. Cloud
stripping is important in ensuring that the rainforest has a constant supply of
water.
We heard many birds, but none of them appeared for a photo opportunity. The following photos helps to show what we saw.
"I
wish this bridge would stop rocking"
After a cuppa we headed further 20 km
north to check out (for future plans) a little place called Wonga Beach. Wonga
is a small town (no shops) with two caravan parks, one OK and one excellent.
The afternoon was a repeat of
yesterday with the pool, a book and a comfortable lounge playing key roles.
Day 44 –
Tuesday 1 September 2015
We started the day slowly (strange
about that) and eventually drove into Port Douglas to do some grocery
shopping. I got relegated to Coles while Shirley & Fay drifted around
the shoe shops. I did a grand job of my task, including the purchase of a small
hunk of beef (on quick sale) that was perfect for my small gas bottle BBQ.
Surprise, surprise the afternoon
was a repeat of yesterday with the pool, a book and a comfortable lounge
playing key roles. I think an ice-cream was also slipped in somewhere.
Roast
Beef about to start cooking
As I bought the beef and it was my
BBQ it was my job to cook the roast - so I did. Happy hour was extended
thanks to the welcome visit of friends form home - Chris & Erica - a
delightful couple.
The roast was worth waiting for, as
was the dessert of a bar of peppermint chocolate. Fay was not really
happy as this was her last night in FNQ (Far North Queensland) before we take
her to Cairns airport.
Tomorrow we head to the Atherton
Tablelands.
Please stay tuned.
At the end of 44 days (less 10 days
on the Cape York tour) we have:
- travelled 4200 km (124 km per
day)
- spent $28 per day on diesel
- spent $35 per day on
accommodation
- taken about 965 photos (including Cape York)
- written about 10465 words in my blog (including Cape
York).
This post is complete (last update 10 pm
Tuesday 1 September 2015)
Go to Previous Post (Chapter 2) ….
Go to Next Post (Chapter 4 – Cape York, Part 1) …
No comments:
Post a Comment