Hello again, this time we are back at Pallamallawa. Has been a long time. Will have to get back into the groove again.
We returned for our youngest daughter's wedding and to meet her new family. We now have 3 new grandchildren, Rhett, George and Emily. They are great and we welcome them all into our family. The wedding was informal and fun.
Craig is helping our son in law out for harvest. So far so good, but harvest has not fully started yet.
We will be heading back north as soon as harvest is over.

Travel safe.

Picture is the rig with the boat on top.

Mossman. Well actually Jullaten. Quiet park but unfortunately no telephone service for mobiles or the net.

So, here I am sitting in the main street of Mossman with the laptop on my lap to update the blog. We have been very quiet. No fishing as the tide times are at the wrong time for us. Also at this time of the year the wind is a bummer and the tides also go out so far. Hopefully after the weekend the tide times will be better.

Will update more later.

Tablelands

Welcome to the Atherton Tablelands. The fruitbowl of Queensland. They grow just about everything in this region.
Most mornings we have a fog but the days are beautiful and the temperature is about 29C.
The park we are at is 11km from Mareeba, on the banks of the Barron River. The bird life is amazing. It is about 65km to Cairns, up through Kuranda and down the range to Cairns. Kuranda is the Queensland equivalent to Byron Bay. The old markets are like a lot of the market sites at Byron. The rest of the market stalls are geared towards the tourists, with the Kuranda train and the Skyrail, both delivering tourists everyday.
We drove past a 'tinnie' yesterday at Mareeba that was for sale. Not any more. It will be delivered tomorrow. Today we had to go down to Cairns to get new roof racks and to order a boat loader. It should be here by Monday, so at this stage we will be heading off on Wednesday. We fitted the new roof racks today so a couple more days will be spent here at Mareeba.
We have decided to visit Cooktown while we are on the move. Will post next from there, hopefully after we have caught some fish.
Safe travelling.

Heading to the Tablelands

The Gulflander Train. Runs between Croydon and Normanton on Wednesday and Thursday.

What most of the terrain is like on 'The Savannah Way' I think they secretly farm the termite nests up here.

The town tip at Normanton being burnt. Could see the smoke for miles.

The beach at Karumba at high tide. This is about 7.30am. Just going to start fishing. We caught 9 Toadfish at Karumba!

Well on the move again. Enjoyed the fishing and people at Karumba but the East Coast is beckoning.

Heading across to Georgetown and then onto Mareeba. Will base at Mareeba for a couple of weeks. It is only 60+Km into Cairns and it is an area I am looking forward to exploring.

On the trip today we went back to Normanton, then turned and headed for Croydon and Georgetown. The Gulflander was stopped at Black Bull Siding so we stopped there and had coffee.

Safe travelling.

Ay! Karumba!!

The Burke & Wills Roadhouse.

Hello all from Karumba.

Arrived yesterday arvo, about 4.30pm.

We had a tyre on the van that looked a bit 'doughy', but, as nothing was open in Isa, we pumped it up and headed off. Fueled up at Cloncurry, but, halfway to the Burke & Wills roadhouse we had to change the tyre. Fueled up at the roadhouse and headed to Normanton.

Terrain changed from gentle ranges to gently undulating to flat savannah. Karumba is surrounded by flood plains and dotted through them are water holes, the bird life and the wallabies surround these water holes.

Karumba is filled to the brim with 'southerners.' Some of them spend up to 4 months of the year here. Most of them have their tinnies on the top of their cars and on days like today, it is hard to find a parking spot near the boat launching area.

It is a tidal mud flat area, here at the mouth of the Norman River, when the tide is high, apart from the rocky shoreline, it looks beautiful. At low tide you have to walk a kilometre to touch the water.

Craig and I really love being near the ocean again. Craig tried out his cast net this morning but unfortunately no luck. We did however enjoy the walk on the beach.

We had originally only booked for one night but we extended that for another night and then today we extended out another two nights. We are in no hurry and it is beautiful here.

Safe travelling

Still Here!

We are still in Isa and we are enjoying the total break and rest. We were going to leave the van here and travel up to Normanton and Kurumba for a couple of days, but we have decided we will leave here on Sunday and take the van up there. We checked today and the road is fully sealed although it is only single lane in a few places.
Isa is an interesting town. A place to stock up before you head West and a welcome place when travelling East.
On the northern edge of the town is the giant Xstrata Copper mine, you can not miss it as you can see it from the town centre. The town boasts a KFC and McDonalds as well as major chains like Woolies, Coles, KMart.
The caravan park where we are staying would have to be the busiest park we have been into. Everyday it is just a never ending parade of every type of caravan and camper on the market.
Needless to say that the biggest car dealership in town is Toyota.
Well I will post again from Kurumba.

Safe travelling

To Mt Isa

Had a glorious run today to Mt Isa.
Weather is beautiful. The sky is blue and the sun is shining.
The terrain changes from the gently undulating plains to the rocky ranges around Isa.
During our travels today, the windshield was hit by an errant stone and we now have a star crack that is starting to go across the windscreen. Is about 1/3 up and in the middle. Bugger!!
Anyway we reached Isa and luckily rang the Caravan Park and they had just had a cancellation so here we are for the next week at least.
We will explore tomorrow and I will put up some photos.
Craig was taking some shots today of the Crocodile Dundee Walkabout Creek Hotel, at McKinley, unfortunately the camera was set on video.

Safe travelling