Arrived at Cairns!

Monday, 30 June 2014

 

Burdekin River

Still the Burdekin River

Burdekin River Bridge

More sugar cane

Enjoying the sun

Rollinstone Beach - watch out for crocodiles!

Today, for the first time since leaving home, we encountered the four letter word beginning with W – wind!

We had a fairly easy drive today, with good road surfaces and only one area of roadworks on the ring road around Townsville.  Apart from a large number of caravans heading south, the only other scenery of interest was the tomatoes, capsicums, sugar cane and nearby mountains.  Of course, we must not forget the mighty Burdekin River and its big bridge.  It is hard to imagine what this river must be like during the wet season.

We are overnighting at the BIG4 Rollingstone Beach Caravan Resort – along with every child within a 500 km radius.  This very large caravan park is right on the beach and obviously a favourite with families during the school holidays.  I don’t think we have been allocated one of the better sites in the park, being on a slight grassy slope and a bit on the dirty side, with a good view of the rubbish bins and clothes lines.  Even worse – midgies!!!  The amenities are very modern and very nice.

The weather today, after a very cool start, has been warm and sunny.

Tuesday, 1 July 2014

 

Hinchinbrook Island

Tully Sugar Mill

Bananas in Pyjamas

Setting up

The final day of our drive north!

We departed Rollingstone and headed towards Ingham, where we stopped for fuel on the outskirts – and were shocked to discover the price of diesel was $1.63.  We also stopped to buy some bread at Brumby’s and was very pleased to discover that Brumby’s now have a Tuesday special for seniors - $2 a loaf.

At long last, the road through the Cardwell Ranges has been completed and this made for an easy drive into Cardwell; the roadworks here have also been completed and there is once again plenty of parking for caravans on the sea side of the road.  Rather than arrive in Cairns between 12.30 and 1.00 pm, we stopped for an early lunch break at a well used rest area just north of Innisfail, at the junction of the Palmerston Highway.

From there, it seemed like a relatively short run into Cairns at the Crystal Cascades Caravan Park at Redlynch – our home for the next two months.  We have stayed here on numerous occasions and discovered a couple of changes since last year.  Some of the older cabins have been replaced and a children’s playground has been installed beside the swimming pool.  School holiday activities have been organised for the children of all ages in the park and tomorrow some people from the Cairns Zoo are bringing animals and reptiles for us to look at and perhaps use as a photo opportunity.

Needless to say, the weather is warm (24-25) and sunny – let’s hope it stays that way.