Paronella Park

Sunday, 30th June

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Camouflaged kauri tree - inspiration for the Army

This morning we left the beautiful tropical surrounds of Mission Beach for the 45 minute drive to Paronella Park – factoring in rest stops proved a little difficult this morning!

Paronella Park is at Mena Creek, in the hills south of Innisfail, and was the home and vision of Jose Paronella. Originally built in the 1930’s by Jose, using concrete and old railway lines as re-inforcement, the property suffered badly as the result of natural disasters – mainly cyclones and floods. Falling into disuse, the jungle very quickly reclaimed the concrete structures. The current owners have followed Jose’s vision and cleared the jungle from the ruins and paths, as well as re-instating the hydro electric power. The result is quite beautiful.

We are staying in the overnight caravan park attached to the attraction – a very jungly site, probably with lots of nocturnal wild life! A visit to the reception area and café revealed the skin of the resident 4.2 metre python – this was shed only a couple of weeks ago. Cat took one look at it and vowed not to set foot outside the caravan again while we were here. Next, we came across the golden orb spider (larger than a man’s hand), along with quite a few friends) outside the conveniences (thank goodness for our onboard facility!!!). Our conducted tour of the site took us to the pool below the waterfall – complete with fish, turtles and a saltwater crocodile! We were assured, after entering the tunnel of love to look at the micro bats, that the pythons no longer came into the tunnel to eat the bats as they had discovered the local chooks – made us feel so much better.

Tonight we will have a chance to feed the mosquitoes when we enjoy the night tour, which is supposed to be rather special.

Skydiving at Mission Beach

Saturday, 29th June

Stainless steel floor, pig trough drain and step ladder required to turn on the taps 

 Crab balls

Hold breath, stomach in, chest out ... 

Spot the three parachutes!

This morning, we actually removed a blanket from the bed and put it away! It has been another gorgeous day, too hot to actually sit in the sun even. The morning was spent with mundane activities such as laundry, cleaning and shopping.


Following an alfresco lunch under our awning, we set off for a walk along Mission Beach; decided to head north as this headland was much closer than the southern headland! This is such a beautiful beach, just what one thinks of as a tropical beach – golden sand (proper sand, not coral sand), palm trees, blue seas and a gentle breeze to stop us overheating. There were even a few bikini clad young ladies to add interest for one of us.

Very early this morning, we were amazed to have ten sky divers and their passengers land on the beach immediately opposite our caravan. During our walk along the beach, the plane again flew overhead, dropping another load of daredevils. These flights have continued throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately, we were unable to partake of this activity as all the flights were fully booked … One can easily imagine the look of disappointment on Himself’s face.

We had been expecting the caravan park to be fully booked, given the time of year and also school holidays, but there are plenty of empty sites. There are a few midgies about – and the showers have to be seen to be believed. I think they must have been recovered from a World War 2 camp! Although the grounds are beautiful and the tropical rainforest setting is just superb (as are all the butterflies), I do think that $43 a night is a little overpriced given the infrastructure – and $0.40 for 20 minutes use of the stove in the camp kitchen is unbelievable.

The area has recovered well, vegetation wise, from the cyclone 18 months ago – the jungle is very quickly covering all the dead trees and there are only a few headless palms in some of the gardens. However, the village does seem to be struggling a little, with many empty shops and the ice cream shop not even bothering to open at the height of the tourist season. Shan’s Chinese Takeaway still has a sign up, but that is all. The open air bars, familiar from the television series “Patrol Boat,” still seem to be doing well.

Wonderful news from home today – my niece Laura has become engaged. Congratulations to her and Tye.

Television at Mission Beach

Friday, 28th June

Keeping a close eye out for Carlton supporters 

No need for an alarm clock this morning – 30 Hornet fighter jets departed Townsville at 5.30 am!


With clear blue skies all day, the temperature quickly rose to a very pleasant 25 degrees, and still no wind. How lucky we have been. The couple of hundred kilometres north to Mission Beach should have taken less than three hours, however, we quickly discovered that major road works were happening around Ingham and still happening (after many years, it seems) south of Cardwell. We spent many, many minutes sitting in long queues – one stop was so long that we were able to make a “pit stop” and have morning tea. I did even consider putting the kettle on to make coffee and sell it to the waiting drivers! Cardwell was also dug up, with major redevelopment happening along the foreshore. This lovely spot right beside the Coral Sea, a firm favourite with caravanners having plenty of parking room, no longer had places to park and enjoy the view across to Hinchinbrook Island. Unfortunately, it also looks like the redevelopment will include angle parking along the foreshore.

With so many delays, it was apparent that we would arrive at Mission Beach until well after lunch, so stopped at the northern end of Cardwell, where we found a place long enough in front of some houses. In front of us, part way across a private driveway, was the small campervan we had followed for some time a few days before and had left the three big trucks to intimidate him. Obviously still thinks the road belongs to him …

Shortly after leaving Townsville, we started meeting Army vehicles, obviously returning from an exercise somewhere to the north. Three hours later, they were still going past and we were getting waves from many of the drivers when we were stopped for roadworks. It took us a while to work out why only us were getting the waves and then realised Les’ army ribbon stickers are on the front of the caravan. Nice to have a veteran recognised by today’s serving forces.

We are staying at the Mission Beach Hideaway Caravan Park, right in the middle of the village. This is a fairly big park, very well maintained and has a lovely tropical feel. We are in the middle of the wet tropics, so the atmosphere is very humid. Unfortunately, we have had trouble with television reception. A co-axial cable was required, which after being fed through the hatch and connected to the television, failed to give any picture. Much muttering (and sweating) by Himself, changing of cable, more muttering, checking with neighbours and testing their cables (which worked), back to Mr Personality at reception (who seemed very uninterested) for an extension and permission to use the connection on a vacant site. Success, thank goodness – Sydney Swans play Carlton tonight! The coffee cup was then replaced in the drawer and the whiskey bottle brought out – he is starting to feel a little better.

Townsville

Thursday, 27th June

A smoky sunset 

Relaxing, looking out over the Coral Sea to Magnetic Island 

The Strand 

The Rocks Swimming Pool 

Castle Hill 

We were very fortunate this morning in that the caravan opposite us was also leaving; we waited for him to leave first, then we were able to drive through the vacant site. With such narrow sites and roads, this meant we were able to drive out of our site without having to do the backwards/forwards shuffle.


After a glorious sunset last night, today was still very, very smoky all the way from Bowen to Townsville. If we could see the mountains and hills at all, they were merely vague shapes through the thick haze. The weather continued warm and, joy oh joy, still no wind! It has been amazing that we have driven from Melbourne to Townsville without wind. Needless to say …

The road north was flat and in good condition, with some roadworks in the Ayr vicinity. However, the traffic became quite heavy once we started being held up by the road signals. With a relatively short drive of just less than 200 kms, we were at the Big4 Walkabout Palms in Townsville shortly before lunch. This is a nice park, next to the Laverack Army Base and we were most impressed when the Defence Forces organised a fly past of six Hornet fighters as we were setting up! The caravan park is on the Bruce Highway, which may mean a bit of traffic noise overnight.

This afternoon, we drove into the waterfront of Townsville and had a walk along The Strand. This is a lovely walking path, park and beachfront which extends for a couple of kilometres along the shore line. There is also a large lagoon swimming pool – much safer than swimming in the ocean with the crocodiles and stingers! We also discovered a gelataria with an amazing array of different flavoured gelato – decisions, decisions! One also has to wonder if the benefits of the walk are undone by the benefits of the ice cream? However, as a tourist, it is important to support the local economies.

Bowen tourists

Wednesday, 26th June

Island on fire 

Islands not on fire 

A mountain on fair - did someone light the coal? 

Thinking ... 

Bowen Marina 

Rose Bay in the background

We still don’t know the answer to yesterday’s question, but the people in the next caravan became aware about 5.00 pm yesterday that we didn’t like their “music,” especially after the volume was further increased. Today has been very quiet. 


Although the temperature has been about 25 degrees, today has been rather hazy. We discovered the reason for this when we visited Flatstaff Lookout and realised that a small island just off the coast was on fire. When we looked westward (inland), we also discovered that a complete MOUNTAIN was on fire as well! Apart from the fires, the view was very nice across the township and marina. We also met some Lions fans who were “seeing” Queensland between the first and second tests.

The remainder of our town tour took us to Queens Beach and Horseshoe Bay, which was a lovely small bay with plenty of sand and a couple hearty tourists braving the sea.

Bowen is still very much a North Queensland country town, with some new development happening, and probably a struggling economy. The community are probably very glad when the tourist season commences – some southerners even stay for three months; apart from fishing, there is only the bowls and golf clubs to fill in the days.

Fuel Issues

Tuesday, 25th June

Tropical setting 

Enjoying some sun and the view 

Nothing worse than sand in a sandal

Our morning started out well, but started to slide downhill a bit when we attempted to hitch up. There was no way that the drawbar could be raised high enough, using the loaned jockey wheel, for the tow ball to go underneath the hitch. The jacks on the front of the caravan had to be lowered onto chocks and then raised as high as possible while I slowly let the Pajero slide backwards and then the hitch wouldn’t engage. Himself eventually became a little frustrated and swore at it! Obviously the magic word, because the hitch immediately dropped of its own accord onto the tow ball.


Our next concern was fuel. We planned on refuelling at one of the roadhouses between Sarina and Mackay; pulled into the first one (on the wrong side of the road) and discovered that, due a tight turn being required, there was no way we could fill up at the normal bowser and not wishing to use the high flow truck bowsers, pulled back into the traffic and continued to the next servo. Easy drive through but then realised the diesel pump was at right angles to the others. Again, it was impossible to pull up alongside. In the process of leaving the service station, an overhanging sign leant outwards and downwards and removed a section of the edge strip along the roof line. Not happy chappies, as we now had a slightly damaged (but easily repairable, thank goodness) caravan and still no fuel. With the highway (or Doris, rather) bypassing Mackay, we were starting to think we would need to turn around and head back to Mackay when a big roadhouse appeared and had plenty of diesel pumps. As we were pulling across the road (wrong side again!), a police car (lights flashing) followed a car into the service station and proceeded to book the driver. The police pulled out immediately before us, heading in the same direction, and only went a few hundred metres before stopping another car – they were obviously on a roll!

The remainder of the drive to Bowen went well, the road was good and the roadworks were came across didn’t hold us up to any degree. We did have the misfortune to follow a bloke driving a campervan very slowly and without any thought or consideration to other road users. It wasn’t long before we had three large trucks on our tail and some time before we were able to pass the campervan – with a long glare which the driver ignored. We were then amused to listen to the truckies’ chatter about the driver – I think they eventually intimidated him into pulling over and letting them pass.

We are staying at the Big4 Coral Coast Caravan Park; we stayed him on the same date last year and we are actually on the same site! It is a lovely tropical park, with lots of palm trees and tropical plants, right on the beach front – very pleasant with such beautiful, warm weather. Apart from the annual Bowen Show, nothing much is happening in Bowen today, so this afternoon we simply enjoyed a walk along the beach and returned through the park, which is next to the caravan park.

Question: Why do people in caravans who like to listen to the radio and/or thump thump music, think that everyone else wants to?

Sugar Cane

Monday, 24th June

Sugar cane hiding lots of snakes

Working on the "Victorian suntan" 

Can't get much lower

The Big Cane Toad

We had a bit of excitement in the caravan park last night! Shortly after we had finished eating, the police arrived to arrest a male person who had been camping in the tent area for a couple of days. Unfortunately, the said male person wasn’t al that keen on being arrested and all the young children camped in the tent area were able to add new words to their vocabularies. After being held down by three hefty policemen and tasered, he was unceremoniously placed in the police paddy wagon, which he then attempted to break out of, unsuccessfully, by kicking the walls. The police then loaded his ute onto a truck and removed that from the park as well. Needless to say, everyone was left wondering just what it was all about!


The weather has definitely taken a turn for the better now we are more coastal, with warm and sunny days; the temperature has been around 24 all day. The t-shirts and shorts have now put in an appearance.

Today we had a relatively easy drive to Sarina, just under 300 kms through reasonably flat cattle country, which gave way to sugar can. We know we are in Queensland now – sugar cane, macadamia trees and “Wicked” campervans! It is also time to keep a wary eye out for snakes and crocodiles, although Himself tries to tell me there are none about. Neither Cat nor I believe him.

We are staying at Sarina Palms Caravan Park, a small park which is very well run by its owners. The overnight sites do front onto the street and are a little steep, but have a wonderful grass cover. The man who put us on site offered to lend us a flat jockey wheel (fortunately), otherwise I would be rolling out of bed. Even with the jockey wheel right down, we are still on a bit of a slope – at least the shower will drain well! Sarina is a small sugar town, with a “Big Cane Toad,” just south of Mackay and is a popular overnight spot for caravanners.

Tropical Queensland

Sunday, 23rd June

We had another cold and foggy start to the day – hopefully we wont have any more cold starts now we have arrived in the tropics.


I was greeted by a couple of king parrots this morning as I left the caravan (one was sitting on the awning arm right beside the door), and with such sad looks on their faces, I felt I just had to disobey park instructions about not feeding the wildlife. A couple of slices of bread quickly disappeared, especially after a couple of rainbow lorikeets sat on my hand and demolished a full slice between them.

It was a rather uneventful day; we departed Cania Gorge shortly after 8.30 am and drove through fog for about a half hour. The highway north was in pretty good condition, with only a few rough and bumpy patches. The countryside was quite hilly for a while, with a couple of long hauls up, but even longer downhill runs as we descended towards the coast. We came across a sudden detour at Mount Morgan, with the highway completely closed and Doris became very upset as we travelled through some country roads, not really knowing where we were headed. However, we eventually ended up back on the highway for the final run into Rockhampton – and the Tropic of Capricorn!

We are staying at the Big4 Caravan Park, north of the Fitzroy River. It has been surprising how quickly the park has filled up after we arrived – there are obviously still plenty of tourists heading north. This afternoon, Himself was in seventh heaven when we needed to visit Bunnings! Our brand new power cord didn’t like the cold, frosty mornings we have had and developed a split, so to be safe, a new cord has been purchased. Hopefully, we wont need the heater as much from now on – a very pleasant 23 degrees today meant the short sleeve shirts were donned and shorts retrieved from the bottom of the cupboard ready to wear tomorrow.

A Day at Cania Gorge

Saturday, 22nd June

After listening to the overhead trees drip onto the roof of the caravan all night, we opened the curtains to thick, cold, damp fog – again! Fortunately, after hanging the washing on the clothes line, the fog did lift before 10.00 am and we were treated to beautiful clear, blue skies for the remainder of the day.


This morning we drove the short distance to Cania Dam, with some spectacular views from the lookout over the sandstone cliffs of the gorge, as well as the dam and lake. After leaving the caravan park, we crossed the small creek which runs through the park – the amount of damage caused by the January floods was amazing. It is hard to believe that such a small creek could become such a large torrent.

This afternoon, while finally enjoying some warm sunshine – I even swapped the woollen jumper for a windcheater! – the peace and quiet suddenly disappeared. We discovered yesterday that the Queensland school holidays started yesterday and today the caravans and campers starting arriving in force. To make matters worse, the park are having septic problems – be thankful that I can’t upload smells as well as photos!!! This caravan park has the best children’s water park I have ever seen – apart from three small swimming pools of varying depths, there are two large, shallow pools plus a long, curly waterside. The only downside is that the water is not heated.

Tomorrow we will be in Rockhampton – the tropics at last.