CAIRNS PART 2. SAT 26 MAY 12.

Hi to all we are slowly catching up as it has been full on for the past week or so. So here is our next part of Cairns.....FRI 18 MAY.......Up early today as its surprise day for Carol. She knew Jacque, Brett's girl was coming but she didn't know of Adam, so when we arrived back at the site, Adam had got out of the car earlier and made his way around behind the van and surprised his mum. She was so happy to see him....good idea Brett...After hello's etc & working out bedding etc the 5 of us went into town for a walk around the waterfront/mariner and had a nice lunch.

We also booked our trip onto the reef. We then made our way back and set up the TV outside to watch the footy & we had a few drinks that nite. It was a good day. SAT 19 MAY....This morning the Bewells headed off Sth, whilst the 5 of us had a big breakie before we went for a drive up to the Crystal Cascades, then onto Barren Falls where there is a bridge over the river and a Hydro Electricity Building with a Info Centre. This was very interesting as some of the old photos showing the water that came down the river are AMAZING.

We then made our way up to Kuranda where we had a walk around the town before Rans headed off back down the hill to the Skyrail Station whilst the 4 others went to the Pub and then made their way down the Sky Rail. It was a good arvo. On arriving at the Station we were picked up by Rans and made our way back to the site for lunch & a rest. Later that arvo Rans & the boys & Jacque made their way to the pub for a bet & drink.

They then returned & we all went out to Hog's Breath for tea & then to the Courthouse Pub to watch the footy before heading to the Casino where we had a couple of bets with Brett, Jacque & Rans winning. Another great day & night. SUN 20 MAY..12MONTHS SINCE WE LEFT HOME. A early start today as we drove Nth to Mossman Gorge to show AJ & Jacque the Daintree area. We then made our way up the tableland travelling Sth through Atherton etc stopping at Tolga for lunch. The day is wet & overcast so its slow going along the roads.

 We then continued onto Millaa Millaa falls which were nice. We then continued down the Mountain towards Innisfail,heading back towards Cairns stopping at a nice pub to watch the footy (Manly v Easts). We then made our way back to our site for a happy hr. A good day with heaps of laughs & jokes etc.

MON 21 MAY.... Today we head out on the reef on a Cat Tusa T6, there are another 30 people on board so its good. The crew warn all to take sickness tablets & we had all taken 2 before arriving and we took another 1 as the swell was over 2.5m and the crew said it was going to be rough...well they were right with a few people getting real sick including Adam who was bad poor kid.

 It took about 1.5hrs to get to the reef but once there the rain had stopped and it had cleared & no swell. Our first stop was Hastings Reef and we had 2hrs snorkeling. Adam had improved and enjoyed himself. Brett & Jacque got the chance to feed a turtle, Adam to touch turtles and the oldies just had a ball being able to swim/snorkel with our sons. We then had a nice lunch before heading to another spot called the Fishbowl where we had 1.5hrs. It was fantastic with giant clams, fish, coral, with Carol being one of the last person back onto the boat...yes Carol!! We then made our way back to Cairns where it was raining probably the hardest since we started our trip a year ago. We then made our way back to our site where Mrs Rans stayed home & the other 4 went to the pub for tea & watch the footy. Another great day. Its been so so good. TUESDAY 22 MAY... Brett & Jacque head off just arfter 6am whist Adam headed to the airport for an early flight. Meanwhile we head Sth to Paranella Park where we set up our van on a tight site. It's raining, but stops later so we can join a tour of the park. Here is a place where one man has made a Spanish castle, a ballroom, a Hyrdo electricity system, Spanish buildings and lawns & parks.

What he achieved is beyond belief and although the place is looking worn out due to a fire and Cyclones it is a must see place for anyone who comes up this way. We then returned to our van for tea prior to returning for an evening tour which showed us things like glow mushrooms, glow worms, fire flies, eels & fish and the wonderful buildings under lights. Just magnificent...AMAZING. We then returned for a what we thought was going to be a good nites sleep but the Mr Juicy backpacker van beside us with four occupants were still going strong at 2am so it took a few words from Rans for them to stop!! WEDNESDAY 23 MAY.....We went for another early stroll around the park before heading Sth to Cardwell where we meet up with John & Sandy. It was good to see them again. The weather is overcast so its a catch up on paperwork day which we have plenty of. It was then drinks prior to State Of Origin... where we watched with the Bewells. NOT Happy !!!  THURSDAY 24 MAY....Today we decided to go for a drive. Firstly we headed out to the Mariner which overlooks Hinchenbrook Is. Here are a number of lge homes & duplexes & its here where the boats ended up on top of each other after Cyclone Yasi.

We then through the back of Cardwell to see the lookout & waterfalls. So we head out taking a number of different tracks, ending up where they are logging, then at a dead end then 6-7km South of the town not finding any lookout or waterfalls, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as there was a flashing sign warning that the Hwy was shut 10km up the road due to an accident so we turned around and headed Sth towards Ingham,(the Hwy was shut till 2pm) we then headed out into the Mtns & drove slowly up to the Wallaman Falls, the biggest free falling waterfall. Now it was raining on the way up and after driving for 1.5hrs we make it to the falls or what we heard was falls as you couldn't see 20ft in front of you due to the low cloud....such a shame....but we could hear them ! 

so its back down to Ingham where we had a late Chinese Lunch which was yummy. We then made our way back for an easy tea as it was raining and this continued throughout the night making it our wettest day so far on our trip. FRIDAY 25 MAY...Rain is continuing so its a day just doing pictures, computer work which takes all day & night and still not finished....Never fall behind as its a pain. Had a nice fish dinner. Its a bit cooler also today. Tomorrow we head off towards Townsville so we will say bye to all as we make our way South.... Love Rans & Carol.x x x

CAIRNS Part One...Fri 25 May

Hi to all, hope this blog finds you all well. We have made it to Cairns with the weather humid & overcast. The drive down from Mareeba into the back of Cairns was very steep & it tested the brakes & the patience of drivers travelling behind us, but of course there is always one, who just missed hitting our van when he wouldn't allow us back into the traffic lane. Then you come to one of the biggest roundabouts we have been on & it was a lottery as to when you have to pull out, but we made it. The girls said..."Get us back to the country roads."  So that's our whinge so here is what has happened since our last blog. TUESDAY 8 MAY STILL AT KURUMBA...This morning us 2 & Brett went out in the boat for the a fish. We travelled up the river and although it was windy the time spent together was great. We didn't have much success but some of that was due to Rans getting his line tangled a couple of times with either Brett's line or Carols or the anchor rope....boy he really isn't a fisherman.

Carol caught a nice fish but we were unsure what it was so we threw it back, but it was a good fight. Brett caught a nice 47cm Jewell which we kept but after filleting it, there wasn't much left!!! Tonight the regulars put another fish cook up on for us as we are leaving on Thursday, it was another good nite with us enjoying Barra, Grunter & Blue Salmon. To Marg, Bruce, Rhonda, Pete, Ian & Shirley many thanks. WEDNESDAY 9 MAY...Today the 3 of us headed down to near the airport again for a fish.When we arrived, there was fishermen all along the shore plus 30 boats or so out the front. We had a go & Rans caught a Jewell but threw it back.

There was one bloke who hooked onto a fish and fought it for 20min or so but when he got it in, it turned out to be a sting ray.  That evening we all went down to the Sunset Pub for tea which was nice looking over the River Mouth with the sun setting.

THURSDAY 10 MAY...The Fab Four headed off this morning after saying our goodbyes to all our "lations and friends" that we had met with Bruce giving us some nice grunter fillets to take with us. We headed back through Normanton than continued onto Croydon where we stopped for lunch. This is a nice town with a great interpretive centre at the Info Centre, about the gold rush & the Chinese immigrants, plus a great walk around town with some old buildings especially the courthouse where they have a recording of a early 1900's court case whilst you are sitting in the dock or jury box.

We then continued onto a Free Camp area at Gilbert River, which was a great spot. We went for a walk across the bridge seeing a number of fish. On our return a Police Officer pulled up asking us if we had seen a particular vehicle or the occupants, which we hadn't. It was a early nite.

FRIDAY 11 MAY....This morning we drove onto another free camp spot, Archer Creek just West of Ravenshoe, which is a good grassy area but very close to the road. After setting up we drove into Ravenshoe, stopping at the Millstream Falls which were nice.

 The weather had turned for the worse with rain in the arvo. John & Rans tried their computers whilst in town but the service was too slow. We then returned for tea. After tea Rans drove back into the pub at Ravenshoe to watch the Manly v Broncos game, which he was glad he did as it was a great game and he was the only one going for Manly, so as soon as the siren went, he yelled a big "Yahoo" to all the Bronco supporters ( then ran like hell to the car!)

SAT 12MAY....We headed off towards Cairns today starting to climb into the mountains/tablelands of Atherton & Mareemba where we stopped for the weekend Markets. Here the girls bought some nice fruit & veggies. We then made our way down into Cairns with the Bewells leading. Well is it steep or what... we have been on some steep roads but this one is up there with Kings Way, Wauchope etc. There are pull over areas on the way down but some are not big enough for car & van & we had one car miss our van by an inch. Anyway we make it down safely Ye Ha, then we come to this huge roundabout with 5 exits and its very  busy, but luckily we had a break and made it through OK.  The van park is nice, but a bit tight, with a creek running through it. After setting up, we headed out for a drive into Cairns Central. The town is very large & much bigger than we all thought. We stopped at the Esplanade and went for a walk along the waterfront with a sprinkle of rain occurring.

 We then went shopping for some food & grog. Rans had enough of his aerial & bought a new one. SUNDAY 13 MAY....Happy Mothers Day to all Mums. This morning we had a big breakie, before doing house work. After lunch our son Brett arrived so a nice mums day pressie for Caz. In the arvo we went for drive into Cairns to show Brett around. A nice baked dinner for tea and an early nite as it was a long drive for Brett (9hrs). He set his swag up under our awning. We have neighbours on one side that come from Hamlyn Terrace & on the other side from Norah Head. MON 14 MAY..Rans TV is working ye ha. Today we headed South & took the Gillies Hwy up to Atherton. Carol was with the Bewells whilst Brett & Rans were in Brett's car. Now this road is by far the windiest road that we have been on ever!!!! It made Carol feel sick & John & Rans little queezy. In some places it was straight down with the edge very close. We seemed to climb & climb & climb. Once up the top we stopped at the Giant Fig Tree which was huge.

We then drove onto Lake Barrine which is a old crater filled with water where you can fish etc. We then continued onto Malanda Falls where we had lunch. We then continued through Atherton, Mareemba & Mt Molloy before heading back down to the coast and going into Port Douglas & up to the lookout. We then stopped in town where the boys had a beer whilst the girls had a quick walk around town.

This place is full of resorts & is not our cup of tea. We then made our way back to Cairns following the coastline along the way with it being another windy road. After tea Rans & Brett drove into Cairns and watched the footy & than went to the movies to see The Avengers. It was after 12.30am when they got to bed. 

TUES  15 MAY.....Up early as today we are flying Nth. We headed off into the cloudy sky around 7.30am in a small plane with 3 other persons on board with us 4 & of course the pilot.

Although the weather wasn't very kind to us (being the first time on our trip) the pilot Greg attempted to show us many things, such as the Daintree, the tree devistation after a cyclone, the outer reef, WWII planes submerged in the water, Cooktown, waterfalls that not many humans have seen, the sand dunes, the river systems, small communities, fishing boats, Cargo ships & the Lockhart River system with us travelling a distance over 1300kms before landing at Bamaga at the top of Cape York.

From here we boarded a small offroad bus/lorry and headed towards the Cape with our driver Jeremy & his helper Deb both of whom were into their 2nd season up here in no mans land. Unfortunately it was still and had been pouring rain and as we almost got to the tip a similiar vehicle had got stuck as the road had washed away and there was no way around, so we had to turn back which was a huge bummer but nothing could be done about it. So we headed back,  firstly stopping at a caravan/tent set up where they sell souveiners about the cape. It is a husband & wife with a small child living out in the middle of no where, where it rains nearly everyday.

She is a Scientist & he is becoming a teacher. We then returned to the Resort where we had lunch which was nice before heading around the town to see how the locals live & then onto a WWII plane crash site where they were less than a 1km from the airport when they crashed killing all 6 occupants. We then returned to the plane so as to head back to Cairns via Weipa, but as we had not seen the tip of Australia, the Captain, Greg took us for a low level fly over the tip before heading further North over Thursday Island and landing on Horn Island which was a treat.

We then re boarded and headed back towards Cairns with the sun going down behind us & getting some great photos of the clouds, We arrived at the airport around 7.30pm, so it was a full on day ! It was very disappointing not to walk onto the tip of Australia but there is always next time. Early to bed let us tell you. 

WED 16 MAY... Today we take our time getting started but we head off to the sky rail mid morning with all 5 going up the Sky Rail to Kuranda. Brett was a bit dubious going up, so we told him to " toughen up" On the way you have 2 stops where you alight and go for a walk through the rainforest and the other you can see the falls & the train tracks across the mountain. You then reboard for you to continue on to Kuranda.

Here is a small town with heaps of everyday market stalls. We had a walk around town before having some lunch with the girls getting a nice GF meal whilst the boys had burgrs etc. We then went for a walk down to the falls and around the outskirts of the town before heading back to the pub for a drink before catching the train back down. This is an enjoyable trip as well, with great views and a great insight as to how this engineering feat was done. A good day and definetley a must for everyone who comes to Cairns. THURS 17 MAY...Today we head Nth to the Daintree with us stopping at Mossman Gorge. This is a nice easy walk through the rainforest coming to a small beach along the river as well as a number of viewing platforms, along with a suspension bridge across the river.

This is a nice place and Brett even has a swim. From here we continued onto the town of Daintree where one of the river cruises starts. From here we drive Nth and catch the ferry across the river and into the Daintree. We then drove to Cape Kimberley where we walked along the beach and although it was overcast the scenery up here isn't what I expected. We then continued onto the Interpretive Centre where we had lunch.

We continued North up past Cape Tribulation onto where it becomes 4WD only track with us going over a water course before turning around & stopping at the Cape for walk along the beach & lookout, on the way we were lucky enough to see a Cassawary & 3 young chicks scrounging the forest, so good to see.

We then made our way back stopping at another small beach before travelling back to our sites. Another long day had by all but enjoyable.

To all we have fallen a bit behind with our blog...sorry but we are catching up, so all take care,    Love Rans & Carol