NORTH OF THE TROPIC OF CAPRICORN

16^th April, 2013

It was an easy run from Lake Elphinstone to Bowen and we checked into the Harbour Lights Caravan Park for a couple of nights.  Time to restock the pantry again, so after a walk around town and lunch at Coyotes Saloon & Steakhouse we paid the supermarket a visit.  The harbour area has had a big facelift and it is lovely to stroll along the waterfront at sunset.  The precinct is dotted with plaques that explain historical events and information about the town’s involvement in World War II.  Images of Catalina Flying Boats are located where the planes were maintained and serviced.  In 2007 the town became the setting for the film ‘Australia’ which starred Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.  Bowen was transformed into World War II Darwin for the film and over 600 townsfolk were used as extras.  After laundry chores the next morning we took a drive to the northern beaches area and stopped at Flagstaff Hill for an uninterrupted 360 degree view over the town

Bowen

and surrounding bays.

View of the islands in the bay at Bowen

The drive north from Bowen is uneventful and pretty soon we are driving into Australia’s largest tropical city – Townsville.  There is a sizeable air force base here which probably helps in boosting the population statistics.  We pass huge fig trees along the foreshore

One of the large fig trees along the Strand in Townsville

and finally find Rowes Bay Caravan Park on the waterfront.  Of course being on the waterfront is not what it seems.  For most of the year swimming in the oceans, rivers and creeks is not advisable.  Apart from the odd shark cruising around there are saltwater crocodiles, box jellyfish, etc. etc. etc.   Yep …  us Aussies spare no expense in providing dangerous sea creatures for one’s amusement.  So if one wants to take a refreshing dip then an inground pool or netted coastal pool is a safer option.  There are quite a few interesting things to do in Townsville but a visit to the Turtle Hospital where sick and injured turtles are cared for and rehabilitated is very educational and the Museum of Tropical Queensland with its special display on the maritime misadventure of the HMAS Pandora is intriguing.  From Castle Hill which towers above the central business district there are great views of the city

Townsville

and Magnetic Island.

View of Magnetic Island from Castle Hill

The island was named by Captain Cook because of its interference with his compass.  It is now a popular destination for holidaymakers.  We head further north up the coast and do some free camping along the way.  The councils in this area allow camping at certain spots and provide water, toilets and shower facilities (usually cold showers) and sometimes a dump point.  Most of these free camping areas have a two or three night camping limit and a ranger enforces these camping limits by patrolling twice a week.  It is a fair system as it frees up spaces for people who are travelling and stops others who would set up home for weeks or months at a time.  We free camp for a few nights at Bluewater beside a sports field and creek and then move on to free camp at Balgal Beach where we are allowed to stay two nights.

Our campsite at Balgal Beach

It’s a lovely spot backing onto a park that overlooks the beach and has room for about ten caravans or motorhomes.  We are still ahead of peak time and have no trouble in finding a spot but by the end of May we are told there is a line-up of vehicles waiting to snaffle up a spot each morning.  Peak time lasts until the end of August when the migration of grey nomads slowly heads south once more.  Anzac Day is only a few days away and it is probably just as well that we will have moved on by then as the commemorative memorial is situated in the park only a few metres from our camp site.

Commemorative Memorial at Balgal Beach

Over 2,000 people are expected to attend the dawn service which would mean that anyone camped here would be right in the middle of it all.  Imagine being woken up before sunrise to the sound of a bugle playing ‘The Last Post’ and there you are in your ‘pyjamas’ whilst surrounded by a crowd of well dressed strangers.  Hmmmm … could be interesting!  Over on the beach side of the park is the netted pool enclosure.

Netted Pool at Balgal Beach

The mesh is designed to keep the box jellyfish out as well as a lot of other nasties.  Mind you at low tide the option of having a dip at all seems to be out of the question as the pool enclosure is high and dry.  We are also pretty sure that any crocodile worth his salt could easily work out how to get into the enclosure by walking (or swimming at high tide) around the top end of the net.  We are thinking that we will stick to pools in caravan parks if we really feel the need to get our feet wet.  There are quite a few birds around to keep us amused and the ‘red tailed black cockatoos’ spend most of the day squawking and chatting to each other as they munch on the fruit growing on the trees in the park.

Red tailed black cockatoo at Balgal Beach

They are a large bird and drop bits of fruit as they tear off chunks with their beak.  Not appearing to want to waste anything they simply fly down from the trees and continue their meal on the ground.

This black cockatoo is quite at home on the ground as he munches away

After watching how they rip into the kernel inside the fruit one would definitely be ill advised to put one’s hand (let alone fingers) anywhere near a black cockatoo’s beak.  After two idyllic days at Balgal Beach we head further north to Ingham and then east to the coast and the small village of Lucinda.  We check into the caravan park and take a walk down to the waterfront to see the longest jetty on the east coast.

Lucinda Jetty disappears into the distance

At 5.7 klms long the jetty was built to dock ships for the sugar industry.  There are large sheds near the entrance to the jetty where the sugar is stored before being shipped overseas.  We then take a walk out onto the old ferry jetty and watch the cars disembark off the vehicle ferry from Palm Island.

Hinchinbrook Island is just across the channel from the ferry jetty at Lucinda

Apparently there is a large saltwater crocodile here that has claimed the jetty as part of its territory but we did not see it - probably around the corner taking a nice nap in the mangroves.  Across the channel we can see the southern end of Hinchinbrook Island.  This large island is managed by the National Parks and only limited numbers of campers and hikers are permitted at any one time.  We can’t quite believe it, but forty years ago we travelled through this area in our converted Kombi Campervan and drove 60 klms west of Ingham to visit Wallaman Falls.  At that time the road to the falls was a dirt track and it was a pleasant surprise to find that the road was now tarred with only 7 klms of unsealed road at the top of the range.  There is now a dedicated campground for tents and small motorhomes near the top of the falls and at the lookout there are b-b-q’s and tables.  Information boards now tell you about the falls, the flora and fauna and advise you on walking tracks.

Wallaman Falls is Australia’s longest sheer drop waterfall and at this time of year there is still plenty of water going over it.

Wallaman Falls

The roar of the falls is deafening and in the pool at the base of the falls we can see a couple of people swimming.  It takes approximately half an hour to climb down to the base of the falls and the ranger says to allow three hours to climb back up – this of course is for people who are physically fit.  We did take a walk down to the next viewing point which looked out over the valley and took a vote (it was unanimous) that descending further into the gorge wasn’t necessary.  We could see everything we needed to see from up here and more importantly it was lunchtime – so we set up our picnic lunch at a table and watched the water plummet down the cliff face while we ate.  Ahhh yes … the view was just fine from up here!

After a couple of idyllic days at Lucinda we continued north.  We turned off the highway and once again headed for the coast.  Soon we came across a sign that let us know we were in Cassowary territory

Cassowary Road Sign

and then more signs showing that cassowaries and speeding cars don’t go well together.

This sign is pretty well self explanatory

We kind of agree that running into a cassowary would not be wise.  Cassowaries are really big birds (the size of an emu) and having one smash through a windscreen and landing on top of you in the front seat would not be a good thing.  We take the turnoff for South Mission Beach and pull up along the waterfront where we have lunch beside the beach.

Lunch at South Mission Beach with Dunk Island in the background

We check out the caravan parks at Wongaling, Mission Beach and Bingil Bay but decide that the caravan park at South Mission Beach suits us best and check in for a few nights of rest and relaxation.  Two years ago Cyclone Yasi paid an unwelcome visit to this area and many buildings were damaged or destroyed.  Banana plantations and sugar cane farms were smashed and trees and rainforests devastated.  Many cassowaries died as a result of not being able to find food but some survived and a juvenile cassowary found that the kind owners of the caravan park could provide a few handouts to a hungry bird.  He has now grown into a handsome cassowary (well we are sure a female cassowary would find him handsome) and most mornings he wanders out of the rainforest to check out what is on offer at the campsites.

This camper saves his breakfast as the cassowary wanders through

At the cabins along the beachfront he finds some good pickings when the guests take fright and head indoors leaving their unfinished breakfasts behind.

Oh good - I just love toast and jam

And that leftover sausage looks scrumptious!

It’s not far to the town of Tully from Mission Beach so we take a day and go for a drive.  Tully’s claim to fame is that of being the wettest place in Australia.  At the entrance to the town is the Golden Gumboot.

The Golden Gumboot at Tully

At 7.9 metres high the gumboot represents the amount of rain that fell on Tully in 1950 … that’s a lot of water!  On driving through the town it is quite noticeable that a lot of the buildings are new or newly renovated.  Cyclone Yasi strikes again!  Our destination for today actually isn’t the town itself but Tully Gorge National Park – 40 klms west of the town.  The drive to the National Park is very scenic and we drive through miles and miles of banana plantations.  Actually it all seems to be owned by one company so we guess it should read ‘miles and miles of banana plantation’.

Driving through banana plantation on the way to Tully Gorge National Park

We reach the national park and drive up the gorge until we reach the hydro electric scheme.  This is as far as we can go so we retrace our steps until we reach a viewing spot along the river where we stop for a picnic lunch and wait for the white water rafters to come by.  The Tully River is a popular spot for white water rafting and is timed with the release of water from the hydro electric dam.  We are picnicking beside some rapids where there is quite a dropover so it should be fun watching the rafts negotiate this part of the river.  While we eat our lunch we watch the many different coloured butterflies flit from flower to flower around us. We keep looking up the river trying to spot the rafts as they come around the bend and suddenly they come into view.

Rafters coming down the Tully River

We watch as the first six rafts negotiate their way down the river and stop above the dropover.  Much to our astonishment each of the rafters (except for the boatman) jumps out of the raft and drifts over the dropover into the pool below.  There is much laughing and everyone seems to be having a great time.  Then each of the boatmen steer their rafts over the dropover and the rafters hop back in and they paddle off down the river.  Well that’s it we thought and were ready to pack up when another lot of rafters came into view so we settled back down to see what they would do.  This lot of rafters seemed to be a bit more adventurous and as they got close to the dropover the boatmen urged their groups to scrunch up at the front of the rafts and over they went screaming and laughing – plunging into the water and then bobbing up amidst the foam.

Rafters below the dropover

We watched raft after raft negotiate the dropover, some going frontwards, some backwards.  We couldn’t believe how many rafts went through.  All up there were about fifteen rafts each carrying seven to eight people.  When that lot of rafters disappeared down river all was quiet again and it was time for us to call it a day.  The day before we were to pack up the local Rotary Club held a ‘Monster Market’ at the sportsground so we decided to have a look.

Wok is working his way down the stalls at the Monster Markets

As markets go these weren’t too bad with lots of the usual stuff you see at every market but enough local stalls to keep the interest up.  We did find some good regional fruit at inexpensive prices but Wok was disappointed that there were no actual ‘monsters’ for sale at the ‘Monster Markets’.   Honestly … one does wonder sometimes!