Townsville - Cairns

Despite the fact that we had to pack up the tent and a whole lot more, we departed Townsville at 8:29 a.m. on Wednesday, which is our record so far. Although the back brakes are now fine, we have to book another service in Cairns to fix the front brakes, which are worn (probably because we had no back brakes for 1500 kms) and need machining. Anyway, we were glad to be moving again, and decided to head for a camp spot on the beach about halfway between Townsville and Cairns.

Ella in a Grass Owl nest, with fluffy chicks.
A good news display for once!

We stopped in Ingham to visit the newly developed Wetlands Centre, TYTO, which is named after the Grass Owl. The wetlands project has been developing for 11 years, and the newly opened stage is the interpretive centre, which was excellent. While at the centre, we saw 2 Jabirus - impressive to say the least. They are enormous birds, standing 1.3m high with a 2.4m wingspan, and the colouration on their wings is very dramatic.

We noticed a not-so Agile Wallaby on the grounds, which we reported inside. Wildlife carers were rescuing him as we left, thinking he had been either hit by a car or bitten by a dog.

The not-so Agile Wallaby

As we drove towards Ingham, we noticed lots of damage from Cyclone Yasi. Huge plantation forests are completely wrecked with most of the large trees snapped off 3-4 metres above ground level. About half of the area's National Parks are closed due to damage as well. So we didn't get to visit some of the places we wanted to (including, sadly, Wallaman Falls), but we are already saying "next trip"!!

It was sobering to drive through Cardwell, the epicentre of the cyclone damage. One in three buildings still had tarpaulin roofs. The coast looks battered and bruised, but people are obviously getting on with their lives and tourism is picking up again.

We arrived at Mission Bay and found a camp spot directly on the waterfront. The kids were out of the van, cracking coconuts faster than you could say "Robinson Crusoe". They spent a fantastic few hours building huts along the beach with logs, palm fronds and storm debris. Jackson's was built around a Pandanus framework, and the kids found and erected a huge "totem pole" out the front. They then jumped around in the shallows until we called them in for bed about 9 p.m.

Sunrise at Mission Beach

We spent Thursday sightseeing, after I had another early morning taking sunrise photos. As we drove out of Mission Beach, we were all terribly excited to see a Southern Cassowary. They are critically endangered so we couldn't believe our luck. We spent the morning visiting Paronella Park, which has been recently voted Queensland's Number 1 Must Do. What an amazing place! Jose Paronella, an immigrant from Spain, virtually made the whole "amusement park" singlehandedly in the 1930s - including the installation of a hydro-electric system which brought electricity to his property and was the first one in Tropical Qld. Yasi's effects were evident here as well, with flooding levels still obvious from the mud up in the trees and damage to the buildings and picnic areas. We enjoyed the guided tour, and then had fun taking photos:

Platform above what was the kitchen
which served gelato to park visitors
in the 1930s

In the Kauri Grove

Mena Creek Falls and Hydro Station

The change rooms for swimming

We drove home via the Sugar Museum, which was a bit decrepit compared to some of the other fantastic displays we have seen. Still, the social history of the Kanakas was interesting although the virtual slave trade of this period is not a great part of our history.

We got back to camp in time for fishing, although I had to make dinner again! The rain which had been threatening all day started that night, so it was early to bed for all.

Robinson Crusoe and Friday

We awoke to a bleak and blustery morning, but nothing can put Lachie off fishing, so Dave, Marcus and Lach went off to Clump Jetty to try their luck. Jackson, Ella and I spent a couple of hours beachcombing and improving the hut. After lunch, all the boys went back fishing while Ella and I went rock-hopping, grocery shopping and made a pudding. The boys finally caught some fish - Lachie caught 3, and Dave caught 1 - very appropriately named "Grunters" (as they grunt when landed). Three dolphins cruised around them for half an hour while they were fishing, so they thought that was pretty cool. Marcus was looking through the hundreds of fish on the  identification chart, and chose a Sole as the fish he wanted to see. He was banging on about Dave catching a sole for an hour when Dave actually caught one! They arrived home very excited with the sole, but as dinner was ready it was consigned to the fridge for the next day. Meanwhile, our English neighbours in the next site were setting about having dinner and Amanda was bitten by a snake! Thankfully it turned out to be a green tree snake, but it gave all of us a start. The rain wasn't the only reason we ate inside! The ambulance departed as the pudding was ready, so we shared it with Mark, Amanda and their two girls.

Our second sighting of the Southern Cassowary!

This morning (Saturday) we had fish for breakfast and then broke camp to head for Cairns. As we left Mission Beach, we saw another Cassowary, and I managed to get the camera out in time for a quick shot! It was rainy and cold again, so we hightailed it to our camp site and were set up by about 2:30 p.m. The skies cleared so we went down to Lake Placid and the Barron Gorge National Park for a quick walk, before the kids had a swim (back in the van park pool, after reading all the crocodile warning signs!) to cool off. They are all asleep as I type, and we are enjoying power again as we catch up with Pete and Carey's blog (from their cycling tour of Nova Scotia and the East Coast of USA), our emails and comments on our blog. We have about 50 blog readers, and it is nice to hear from you! We are also enjoying following Dave and Mind's journeys through Kakadu, Arnhem Land and Uluru via texts when the Optus connections are present! We plan to spend the next four nights in Cairns, which will give us time to see some of the sights, including another Toyota Service Centre! Speaking of sights, Gonz, although we have seen Cassowaries, dolphins and wallabies, no Freshwater Lake Seals as yet!!

Stay tuned ...