Day 6 – Cairns to Palmer River Roadhouse (Sun April 29^th)

We left Cairns by 9.30am and headed north via the Kuranda Range, which was a steep windy drive thru the rainforest up to the little village of Kuranda.  We were surprised at how quiet it was, being a Sunday, i thought it would of been busy for the markets etc, but that wasn’t the case.  After morning tea in the park we had a quick walk thru the original Kuranda Markets, which was also really quiet with not many stores open.  But it still had nice, quirky things for sale, and also a waft of something green  in the air.

Then it was onto Mareeba for a coffee at one of the many coffee plantations they have up here in the tablelands.  We stopped at The Coffee Works, only a few streets back from the main street of Mareeba. It was awesome, we loved it!   

Such a cool ambience about it, a fantastic gift shop, and the best Swiss Mocha ive ever had. They had a  bar b going that smelt divine, but we are now on a budget and opted for own turkey rolls at the Rotary Park rest stop on the outskirts of town.

We came across this sign on the way out of town.  

Which made us think of what our plans will be until the road opens for the start of The Cape.  We continued on north, thinking if we stop this arvo at Palmer River Road house we can sus the road conditions out tomorrow, and make plans. Maybe head into Cooktown until the road opens.  We were pretty happy to think that we will be one of the first people ‘Up the Cape’.

The Mitchell River ends in the Mitchell Lake just north of Mareeba, right by the side of the road!  We saw our first Jabiru along this stretch.  

The road from Mt Molloy to Palmer River which is the Mulligan Highway is fantastic! Its wide, smooth and travels thru grassland and gumtree savannah, with heaps of termite mounds. 

After arriving about 3.30pm we set up camp along the high river bank of the Palmer River (The Golden River) as it was known in the Gold Rush days.  The river hasn’t got a lot of water in it now, after the little wet they had up here this season. The sites are grassy and overlook the Palmer River, a cattle station and the mountain ranges.  

View from Camp

 

Our View

Taken from our bed

A nice spot to do some drawing

Only $15 per night with power, the amenities are pretty basic, but relatively clean.  Although the water smells like it comes from the river. The Roadhouse Generator was a bit noisy, until they turned it off at about 10pm.

The road house is steeped in history, we took the kids for a walk after dinner, and met the local gold miners. One gave me a commentary on a picture of the Gold Rush days, very interesting indeed!

We’ve seen the sun today for the first time since leaving Townsville, it was a lovely sunset behind the road house and we enjoyed a few rums overlooking our view! 

Our Rum supply should last a while

.  

First sunset over looking Palmer River Road House

It’s also the first clear night we’ve had, so we really enjoyed eating our dinner under the moon and stars. Although now, as i look up, some clouds have rolled in

Not sure what our day entails tomorrow, but we’re looking forward to finding out.

Day 4 & 5 - Cairns (April 27-28th)

Greetings from Cairns

Our first day in Cairns was spent kicking back at the Big 4, and also a few duties like washing and food shopping. I managed to do an aqua aerobics class in the morning, then the kids and dad joined me in the pool for some fun on the huge water slide. We all had a turn, even little Cam was brave and had a go

We have found it quite warm since we have left home, the days are still muggy, the kids and i have been sweating quite a bit!  The nights aren't so bad, it cools down and isn't uncomfortable for sleeping.

Today, which is Saturday April 28th, we went into town to check out the markets along the Esplanade by the Lagoon.  The markets were quite small, but nice. We enjoyed a takeaway mocha in the park, then the kids had a swim in the lagoon, we kicked back on the sand and watched them while listening to the live music being played in the park. It was a great morning.

After lunch back at our camp, it was back to the big water slide, water park and whale slide pool.
Nothing like wearing the kids out during the day, so they sleep well at night, hehe.  We even managed to teach them to do some hand washing!!

After a bar-b dinner, the kids were buggered and in bed by 6.30pm, we must of worn them out!  We are leaving tomorrow morning. We're not sure where we are staying, we will head north, up through Kuranda and Mareeba and up towards Lakeland.  Our plans have changed due to poor road conditions up the Cape. We were meant to be staying at Lakefield NP from May 1st, but its not opening now until May 14th, due to the road etc. So we thought we would head towards Weipa instead, but Damon was just reading that as of yesterday the road from Laura to Coen is shut until further notice. So, we will just have to play it all by ear.

Which is all part of the Adventure!!

Day 3 - Townsville - Cairns (Thur April 26th)

After saying goodbye to the Jacksons, we were 'on the road again' heading for Cairns. Our morning tea stop was at Frances Creek, just south of Ingham, right on the highway. Didn't actually see any creek though.

On from there we stopped at a great spot called Five Mile Swimming Hole, which is 9km sth of Cardwell

This is just a day stop, no overnight camping, which is a shame. It would be an awesome spot to camp. We felt like jumping in, but did'nt. If the sun had of been beating down, we would of.  It was so clear, we could easily see the bottom, even though the sun was hiding behind the clouds.

Lunch was along the waterfront at Cardwell, we pulled up on the grass beside the beach.  It was beautiful looking across at Hinchinbrook Island. We would love to camp there one day with the boat, im sure we will sometime in the futute.

After lunch we continued on through Tully, Innisfail, Babinda and onto Cairns.  This drive is really nice, so lush and green, its mostly sugar cane with mountain ranges behind. The highest mountain in Qld is along this stretch between Innisfail and Babinda, its called Mount Bartle Frere and is 1622 metres high. 

Just on the northern outskirts of Innisfail we noticed a bakery on the left hand side of the road which was selling frozen pre make bread mix for dampers. We had already gone past, but thought this was a great idea, thought i'd share this for anyone that may be travelling through Innisfail.

We arrived into Cairns about 3.30pm and checked into The Big 4 (Coconut Palms) Caravan Park, this one is for the kids!!  It has its own water park, 2 jumping pillows, mini golf, 2 pools with water slides, kids play ground, and a heap of activities for the kids. We thought we would shout them some luxury before we go bush bashing up to Cape York!

Dad set up camp, while mum took the kids straight to the water park, and whale slide pool.  This was a treat for them as they traveled so well in the car today. 

Day 2 – Anzac Day Townsville (Wed April 25^th)

After breaky we went into Townsville, along the Strand to watch the impressive Anzac Day March. 

Billy, Sienna, Lydia and Cameron

It was magic down by the water on the Strand over looking Magnetic Island. The kids were then rewarded with a play in the Water Park on the Strand for being so patient throughout the special Anzac Day March.  It was a hot, steamy day, so they really enjoyed the cool off in the water park J

In the arvo, we went and visited some close family friends – Annie, Rob, Sarah & Graeme.  They are going up to Cape York in Sept, so we all enjoyed comparing notes and tips. We had a lovely catch up with them, the kids enjoyed a swim and loved the helium balloons that Annie gave them, thanks Annie J 

We let 2 balloons go as we left and Cameron swears his has gone upto the Planets and Sienna says we are picking hers up at Cape York!!!

Back where we were staying all the kids had yet another swim, and a bar-b-que for dinner. It was an early night for all, Lydia and Billy had school in the morning, and we were taking off for Cairns.  

On the Road – Day 1 – Airlie Beach – Townsville (Tue April 24th)

We’re now officially ‘on the road’ for the next 6 months or so!  We left Airlie Beach on Tue April 24^th. After saying goodbye to our house and pooch Loki L, we headed into town for a lovely farewell breaky with Tilly and Grandad.  It was a bit emotional for all, especially when we surprised Grandad with booked flights to Perth to see us in Sept for his 70^th birthday!  After the kids had a quick play in the park we said our good byes. The kids were over the moon with their special sacks full of treasures from Tilly and Grandad to keep them entertained in the car.  Mummy and Daddy were happy with their bag full of goodies too, that we got last night. Thanks Tilly J

Airlie Beach Foreshore as we left our Home town.

"The Crew"

We headed straight to Proserpine to go over the weigh bridge, our fully loaded camper and truck weighs  4.1 Tonne.  Wowee! 

It was a good trip up to Ayr for lunch at the Plantation Park rest stop, where Sienna enjoyed a climb on the Aboriginal Dreamtime Serpent.

Sienna on "The Serpent"

We continued onto Townsville, where we spent  2 nights catching up with our friends, the Jacksons.  We set up our camper on their lush green front lawn, it was a great spot to spend our first two nights on the road.  Sienna and Cameron had heaps of fun playing with their 2 children, Lydia and Billy.

We leave tommorow..... Wohoo!!!!

We now have both the truck and the camper fully packed and we are set to leave tommorow morning after a nice waterfront breakfast at Airlie with Tilly and Grandad. Im sure there will be a tear or two shed when we say our last goodbyes. We've only got a short drive to townsville tomorrow, after we get our camper and truck weighed at the weigh bridge in proserpine. Our 6 month adventure across oz is finally here, and we are all pretty excited for what lies ahead

1 Week till We Go.

1 week to go now, we have started to do a final pack of the camper and also sort out how we will fit everything in the truck. We have decided to head off a day earlier than scheduled and will now spend two nights in Townsville with friends before we head up to Cairns and then onto the Cape.

2 years of planning is now only a week away .....

The Hilux is Complete & Ready to Go, finally!!

We have finally finished all the mod's to the Hilux.  Just had the Taipan 3 inch exhaust fitted today, the truck has a nice sound to it now and a little more low down grunt,  hope it will also help with the fuel economy when towing. In the last few days we have installed the Rhino Rack Tray, the side awning , reverse lighting and some Wetseat seat covers so that completes the work list for the car.