As we didn't catch any decent fish we stopped & bought a couple of kilo of prawns & some beautiful fresh king salmon on our way out of town. They are really nice. We both reckon now we've seen Karumba we wouldn't bother to come back again & we've spoken to a few other people since who feel the same way. If you don't fish you're pretty well an outsider. Would you believe that when some of the regulars have happy hour they ring a bell to let their friends know! You know you're on the outside then!We stopped in to see the historic Gulflander train at Normanton as it was out on a trip on our way up. From what I understand it's not really the train that's so important, as there were several different trains that did the trip, but it's the actual journey from Normanton to Croydon & the fact that the lines were built so many years ago in 1891 because of the gold rush & to overcome the 'most flooded & rotten country in Australia'. They used hollow steel sleepers packed with mud that withstood flooding & most of the original sleepers are still in place. The train has recently been restored & still does a weekly trip to Croydon. We didn't bother going on the train trip 'cos we would have had to come back for the car & van!
We headed off to finish our trip across the Savannah Way which actually starts in Broome in W.A. & finishes in Cairns. We've now driven from one side to the other & lots of it is dirt but lots more interesting! So much better than bitumen, & then you add in the river & creek crossings, gorges, waterfalls; that's what I call fun! From Normanton we headed through Croydon, Georgetown, Mt Surprise & then down to Undara National Park to do a tour of the lava tubes. Around about 190,000 years ago there were actually 164 volcanoes in this region alone. Who would have thought?
The lava flow from Undarra covered a region of about 55 square kilometres. When a volcano erupts the outer makes a crust & the lava continues to flow through it; this eventually makes a hollow tube. The tour was great; really interesting. They took us into a couple of different tubes & one had water flowing through it & the reflections were incredible. It's definitely worth doing. The accommodation at Undarra is pretty unique; there's a caravan park & also a heap of old railway carriages that have been done up like new & made into units.
The 'top end' has been great; we're pretty sad about leaving it (especially the beautiful warm weather!). The bird life has been amazing; so many water birds, emus both large & small, there have been so many different types of kangaroo, wild pigs (on one road there must have been about 20 or more!), several pretty big snakes, wetlands, national parks; you name it. It's been beautiful & so interesting.
After Undarra we headed off through Innot Hot Springs where if you're not in the caravan park you actually have to dig into the sand on the riverbank to get any water, (so we didn't bother). We kept driving until we came across a lovely rest area beside the river just before Ravenshoe where we lit the fire & settled in for another beautiful night.
The next morning we headed up to Atherton. We've been there before but it's such a lovely area. We drove back through Yungaburra which is a gorgeous little town with lots of cafes & a huge old pub. After a lovely lunch in one of the cafes we headed off & drove the 'waterfall way' once again. We did it about 4 years ago on our way back from the cape & it's just lovely.
We drove down the mountain then to head for Paronella Park as Phill really wanted to see it once again. On our way down a guy came over the CB radio telling everyone to watch out for the cassowary on the side of the road. They call this area the 'cassowary coast' but we still didn't quite catch on to what he was saying until here's this cassowary standing in the ditch beside the highway! I tried to quickly get a photo but only got a tree!
Paronella Park is amazing. It includes a castle, a grand ballroom, a theatre, beautiful gardens, a grand staircase all built by hand by a Spanish cane farmer many years ago. The current owners are fixing it up. We were going to go through it again & stay there but we could see it from the suspension bridge over the falls & it hadn't changed much since last time we were there so it wasn't worth the $38 each to go in. It usually includes a spot in the caravan park but it was full up anyway.
So we carried on down the road until we found a great park beside the river & set up camp for the night. Roast lamb & veges with a lovely glass of wine beside the campfire on the banks of the river. Ahhh, the serenity!
We had planned to head down the coast straight for Hervey Bay but Alan & Carol (our friends from Adelaide who we'd met over in W.A.) were heading up towards Cairns on the inland roads & we wanted to catch up with them. So, when we got to Townsville we once again headed inland through Charters Towers & down to Clermont where we spent a night together & what a night! It was so lovely to see them once again after 2 years. We spent the afternoon talking then had a 'few' drinks around the camp fire before heading up to the pub for dinner after which we headed back to the caravan park to once again sit around the fire & have a bottle of port or two.
We really didn't feel like getting up the next morning and another night with them would have been lovely but we had to head off again 'cos we're starting to run out of time. Thanks guys for a great night!
We'd been going to head further south from there to meet up with Garnie & Marg; our other friends we'd met in W.A. who come from Tassie but they're heading for Inskip after that so we decided to head for Hervey Bay & we'll catch up with them on the way home.
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We stopped at the Calliope River Campgrounds on the way back; another wonderful free camp site. We were amazed at the size of the area & there must have been 60 or more vans there! You can camp on both sides of the river for about 500 metres, even on the sandy shore right on the side of the river. It's just lovely. Sometimes I can't believe where you can camp for free! We are so lucky.
Time to head for Hervey Bay & see Bec, Chris & the kids. We'd booked into the caravan park instead of parking in their front yard as we thought it would be nice for them to come down to the beach. Trouble is, the weather's been terrible. We've had dinner at their place each night now as it just hasn't been nice enough down here for much at all. The boys have been sleeping over so we've had a bit of extra time with them so that's been great. We took Blake shopping for his birthday watch yesterday & he's so proud of it & he looks so grown up with a real silver watch on his arm! Here he is showing it off!
We woke up this morning to the sun trying to peep through the clouds & thought we might have had a better day. The kids got a bit of time making friends on the beach & Bec & Lexi came down but no sooner had they jumped on the playground than down it poured. Bugger. Back to the van again. So much for sunny Queensland!
We can't really complain though. Up until now we've had the best weather; mostly up around 30 degrees all the way & hardly any rain.
We can't get onto Garnie & Marg so we don't know what to do tomorrow and it's getting windy now to go with the wet so Inskip probably wouldn't be very nice. We'll try them again in the morning, otherwise we'll head home.
8 weeks & about 12,000 kms have gone by pretty quickly. We've had a ball but now it's back to work to start saving up for the next one!
The next morning we headed up to Atherton. We've been there before but it's such a lovely area. We drove back through Yungaburra which is a gorgeous little town with lots of cafes & a huge old pub. After a lovely lunch in one of the cafes we headed off & drove the 'waterfall way' once again. We did it about 4 years ago on our way back from the cape & it's just lovely.
We'd also stopped at a dairy near Millaa Millaa where they make their own cheeses, yoghurts & dips & we had to stop once again & buy some as they were so good! (and have an icecream of course!) The views on the tableland are magnificent; it's so green, so mountainous & beautiful. I could almost live up there!
We drove down the mountain then to head for Paronella Park as Phill really wanted to see it once again. On our way down a guy came over the CB radio telling everyone to watch out for the cassowary on the side of the road. They call this area the 'cassowary coast' but we still didn't quite catch on to what he was saying until here's this cassowary standing in the ditch beside the highway! I tried to quickly get a photo but only got a tree! Paronella Park is amazing. It includes a castle, a grand ballroom, a theatre, beautiful gardens, a grand staircase all built by hand by a Spanish cane farmer many years ago. The current owners are fixing it up. We were going to go through it again & stay there but we could see it from the suspension bridge over the falls & it hadn't changed much since last time we were there so it wasn't worth the $38 each to go in. It usually includes a spot in the caravan park but it was full up anyway.
So we carried on down the road until we found a great park beside the river & set up camp for the night. Roast lamb & veges with a lovely glass of wine beside the campfire on the banks of the river. Ahhh, the serenity!
We had planned to head down the coast straight for Hervey Bay but Alan & Carol (our friends from Adelaide who we'd met over in W.A.) were heading up towards Cairns on the inland roads & we wanted to catch up with them. So, when we got to Townsville we once again headed inland through Charters Towers & down to Clermont where we spent a night together & what a night! It was so lovely to see them once again after 2 years. We spent the afternoon talking then had a 'few' drinks around the camp fire before heading up to the pub for dinner after which we headed back to the caravan park to once again sit around the fire & have a bottle of port or two. 
We really didn't feel like getting up the next morning and another night with them would have been lovely but we had to head off again 'cos we're starting to run out of time. Thanks guys for a great night!
We'd been going to head further south from there to meet up with Garnie & Marg; our other friends we'd met in W.A. who come from Tassie but they're heading for Inskip after that so we decided to head for Hervey Bay & we'll catch up with them on the way home.
.JPG)
We stopped at the Calliope River Campgrounds on the way back; another wonderful free camp site. We were amazed at the size of the area & there must have been 60 or more vans there! You can camp on both sides of the river for about 500 metres, even on the sandy shore right on the side of the river. It's just lovely. Sometimes I can't believe where you can camp for free! We are so lucky.
On our way to Hervey Bay the next day, we stopped in to see our friends Errol & Neriel at Childers. They're on 17 acres there & it's just beautiful & it was so nice to catch up with them but not for nearly long enough.
Time to head for Hervey Bay & see Bec, Chris & the kids. We'd booked into the caravan park instead of parking in their front yard as we thought it would be nice for them to come down to the beach. Trouble is, the weather's been terrible. We've had dinner at their place each night now as it just hasn't been nice enough down here for much at all. The boys have been sleeping over so we've had a bit of extra time with them so that's been great. We took Blake shopping for his birthday watch yesterday & he's so proud of it & he looks so grown up with a real silver watch on his arm! Here he is showing it off! 
We woke up this morning to the sun trying to peep through the clouds & thought we might have had a better day. The kids got a bit of time making friends on the beach & Bec & Lexi came down but no sooner had they jumped on the playground than down it poured. Bugger. Back to the van again. So much for sunny Queensland! We can't really complain though. Up until now we've had the best weather; mostly up around 30 degrees all the way & hardly any rain.
We can't get onto Garnie & Marg so we don't know what to do tomorrow and it's getting windy now to go with the wet so Inskip probably wouldn't be very nice. We'll try them again in the morning, otherwise we'll head home.
8 weeks & about 12,000 kms have gone by pretty quickly. We've had a ball but now it's back to work to start saving up for the next one!
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