Port Douglas again, and others!

The whole area from Port Douglas and on, south of Cairns is sugar-cane country interspersed with rain forests, mountains and beaches - the wet tropics. The sugar-cane fields are all perfectly manicured and the rest of the scenery decidedly beautiful. Since leaving Port Douglas which we loved, we have mostly been having grey, rainy days. After months and months of perfect, sunny days a bit of rain is quite a change. The scenery created by the mist and rain clouds makes our travelling times quite magical and Lord of the Rings like.

We spent 3 amazing days at an out of the way place called Bramston Beach. On the way we passed over Alice River where we had to take a picture as it reminded us of our precious little Alice. (We haven't found Eva or Eloise Rivers yet!) The caravan park at Bramston Beach was a huge park between the beach and the rain forest. We could not believe its beauty... and only a few caravanners - some whom come and stay for months at a time. The only dangerous thing was the falling coconuts! We also keep looking out for a cassowary but as yet have not seen one.

After our gorgeous few days we spent a night and day at the amazing Paronella Park which was constructed by a Spanish man, Jose Paronella, in the 1930's. He had a dream to build a Spanish castle for the people he loved. He built his castle and other buildings in the park so that wherever you stood you could see the waterfall. He even used hydro- electric power from the waterfall to supply electricity to the whole park. It is still powered by the same generator that he originally used. It was a most moving experience seeing the castle all lit up at night. His dream lives on today as it is now open for the public to enjoy. It really is a special place to visit. When we were all hitched up ready to go we found our car battery had gone flat! Luckily the park had a battery pack and with Chris's ingenious ways we managed to start the car and continue on our journey - needed more than just the battery pack!

We also had fun driving up to Wallaman Falls (the highest drop in Aus - 320m) through another amazing rain forest. Unfortunately, when we eventually got up the steep, windy road to see the waterfall, mist, clouds and rain had built up to such an extent that we couldn't lay eyes on the falls. We had a few chuckles with some fellow tourists about using our imaginations and being in very mystical surroundings. It was the first time we had to use our special rain jackets, and my umbrella - that I couldn't find as it was hidden deep in the bowels of the caravan! I had to take a picture of Chris as I thought he looked oh, so camp, in his blue rain jacket and (my) matching umbrella!

After descending from the clouds we visited the cemetery where we were told we had to see the mausoleums built by the Italian families in the area for their departed loved ones. Amazing when you've never seen something like this before.

All this in Ingham - again, sugar-cane country.

Sorry the pics are a little jumbled. Google blog does its own thing. The church is an old one in Port Douglas with an open square behind the altar that looks out to the ocean. Magnificent.

Visiting the Daintree and Cape Tribulation

This is a place we could have stayed for ages. We happened to choose a beautiful day as there is a fair bit of rain around - the place is a rain forest after all! It is absolutely beautiful - everything you've ever read or seen on TV or in magazines is true. We crossed the Daintree River on the ferry early in the morning and travelled slowly up the road to Cape Tribulation almost touching the rain forest on either side of the car. Whatever looked inviting - which was everything - we stopped to look at and explore. The views, the magnificent beaches, the trees, the ferns, the butterflies, the birds, the coffee, the ice-cream!!! were all incredible. The ice-cream was made from the tropical fruit grown in the area and where we had our coffee was like sitting in a butterfly sanctuary. I tried so hard to catch the blue Ulysess on my camera but it was impossible. They are the brightest blue I have ever seen. When they land their wings are closed and the blue can't be seen.

It was like being on a movie set though it was real life, and again, a complete privilege to have been there. We will definitely go there again.

Karunda and Mosman Gorge

We stopped in the small village of Karunda on our way to Port Douglas - right in the middle of rain forest and mountains. It consists mainly of "tourist traps" but was fun walking around as there were so many things in the shops that I had not ever seen in Perth. The markets are open 7 days a week much to Chris's regret!! There are also forest sanctuaries of butterflies and tropical birds to visit as well as a sky train that goes right over the forest area to Cairns. As we were driving we didn't have the need to travel the sky train though the views would be beautiful. There are a few more beautiful waterfalls in the area which we didn't go and see. (I think we were waterfalled out from the days before!)

We bypasssed Cairns as we were on our way to Port Douglas though our first view of the ocean was stunning after being inland for so long. The roads, once again, were very windy and one lane only.

We were very glad to finally get to the caravan park we are staying in. It lies at the foot of the mountain ranges, is so tropical and is - pretty full!! (This is high season!) We have a lovely family from Perth camping next door to us. We had met them before at Mt Surprise. They have a 6 and 8 year old who diligently do their distance ed school work each day. I think they have learnt far more from travelling around than anything they'd learn in the classroom!

We have 7 days to explore the whole area - Port Douglas, Cairns, Daintree, Cape Tribulation and Mossman (the next town N from Port Douglas). We have decided we are not going all the way to Cooktown - and are still deciding whether to do a snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef - expensive and weather not too good.

We spent one morning walking around "upmarket" Port Douglas -mostly boutiques, travel agencies advertising trips to the Barrier Reef and funky coffee and ice-cream shops. There was actually a Coles in the middle of all those and we found the cheapest vegetables we have come across - 48c kg for onions, half a Kent pumpkin was 56c, tomatoes 1.98 kg, avocadoes were 50c each, 4 pieces of cut corn was 1.99. I spent a while stocking up on fresh vegies as I cook all our meals as we seldom go out to eat. I find eating out in restaurants is a fortune! I even made our own hot chips tonight with delicious, fresh from the ground potatoes - $1.20kg - those lovely muddy, unwashed ones.

Another morning we drove up to Mossman and explored the Mossman gorge and rain forest. After a long walk into the forest we were saturated. The atmosphere deep in the forest is heavy and oppressive though a privilege to be able to walk through. The height and width of the trees and the size and shapes of their roots is amazing. I think we were lucky too to have cassowaries walk out openly from the dense bush.

The whole area North of Port Douglas seems to be a favourite place for tourists. When we got to Mossman Gorge we were amazed to see how many cars were parked. We nearly turned around and went home - but were glad we persevered as the deeper we got into the forest the fewer people there were.

Sometimes I wish we were back in rugged Western Australia. Let's see what the rest of the east coast is going to bring!

Atherton Tablelands and surrounds

We stayed in an absolutely beautiful caravan park with manicured gardens, luscious plants and trees, chirping birds above us and rain forest surrounding us. We loved it here even though it rained on and off for the 4 days we stayed.

Atherton is a small, spotlessly kept town with rolling green hills surrounding the town. Each day we went for a drive or a ride discovering beautiful waterfalls and incredible rolling hills covered in mist. It reminded us so much of parts of Tassie.

Windfarms are always Chris's favourite. We always stop and listen to the clean, whooshing sound of the air caused by the blades generating carbon free electricity. (We're thinking of building our own turbine in Ocean Reef!) This windfarm we saw was mist laden and absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at the new chocolate and cheese factory obviously designed by a smart cattle farmer to put his oversupply of milk to good use. Sadly we decided not to buy any chocolate as it was $90 kg!!

We loved our few days here as the temperature was perfect - warm in the day and cooler at nights. We met some nice people too! We also discovered a good old Spar!

Making our way through Mount Surprise to Atherton

We left the "V8 Super Car" town and decided to travel on an inland "Developmental Road" to Mount Surprise thereby skipping the busy coastal highway through Cairns and onto Atherton. We checked with Queensland Roads and were assured that the road was good despite some (VERY HEAVY) roadworks taking place! Well, yes the road was good, but a SINGLE lane highway! Quite hairy if one is not used to pulling over into the dirt when a road train is coming towards you with no intention of slowing down.

We eventually made it to Mt Surprise in one piece, after stopping for coffee at Bluewater Springs, and stayed in the well known Bedrock Caravan Park in the tiny town. The owners have done a huge amount of work developing the park. We bought the most delicious bread rolls from the onsite bakery which were the best we had tasted for years. It's also very unusual for a caravan park to have its own onsite bakery. They also run tours to the nearby, ancient "lava tubes" formed by the Undara volcano which erupted 190,000 years ago. (That was why we stopped in Mt Surprise). In fact, all 6(?) businesses in Mount Surprise need to have a range of services on offer for the passing tourists. I loved "Planet Earth" with its weird lounge, museum and kitchen all contained in one big, old shed with German backpackers as staff.

Walking through the tubes was quite scary because the various patterned rocks (manganese, calcium and basalt) above our heads seemed very unstable. The only way to see these tubes are on a guided tour. I have a feeling that in the years to come it will probably become too dangerous to keep walking through the lava tubes as they could collapse at any time.

After our morning of walking through the tubes we headed on to Atherton, our first stop in rain forest country - something I have been really looking forward to. We couldn't get over the contrast between the outback of the Queensland bush to the lush, green fields and hills around Atherton. I have a feeling that I will get some beautiful photos of the sights coming our way. I didn't manage today as the mist around the hills and on the road was so thick we had no place to safely stop and take in the views that were on both sides of the narrow, winding road. Chris was so relieved to arrive safely at our new caravan park after pulling the caravan through all that mist. Me too!!