Apple Creek

27/06/13 - 28/06/13 Agnes Water - The Bradley Wolf Breave Heart Retreat

 

 

We finally hit Rockhampton, and visited the (free) zoo in the Botanic Gardens.  The wild birds joined us at the table for lunch and ate our pie crusts.

 

The wombats were rolling around like dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rockhampton is known as the beef capital of Australia, so we thought we should sample the beef.  We got some bone in rib fillets (viking steaks) and some american ribs.  I do have to say that they were nice, but not super.  We know where to go for better ones..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lidia found this place a little out of town but cheap, nice and the owners were very friendly, and we even had our own guard dog.  She was pating this dog, playing with it every chance she had.  In the morning it came to wake us up.

 

We arrived late afternoon the first night, so decided to stay 2 nights, just to spend the entire next day tripping around.

 

 

 

Next day, we went into Agnes Water, and drove into the town called "1770" (was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770, and somehow this is what the towns name still is).  Really just a bunch of nice beaches and walks.  We took a 4wd track along the beach and visited some rocks and camping areas which were really nice, but too cold for swimming.  After then we went into Eurimbula National Park which was a waste of time.

 29/06/13- Apple Creek Creek Rest Area

We drove to Bundaberg and did a tour of the rum distillery there.  Went to the ginger beer barrel aswell, but we didn't do the tour there - instead we just took a 6 pack of samplers with us.

A bit more driving took us to a free camp, which had a nice freindly bunch of people, and we shared a camp fire and some travel stories

Yeppoon

24/06/13 St Lawrence

 A lot of driving but nothing exiting to report. The free camping area was quite nice, big and busy. We could even have a hot shower ($1.00 per 3min).

 

25/06/13 - Yeppoon

On the way to Rockhampton we saw some funny signs. Our favourite was : "Still a long way to go kids".

We decided to visit Yeppoon and this was a first city where we had to call more than 2 or 3 caravanning places before we could find a place to stay. We really wanted to camp at the Byfield National Park but they have some problems with computer and couldn't tell us if there are any free spots or not. So we book a place in Yeppoon and went for a drive to the NP. We drove to the Water Park Creek and  after than to the Little Five Rock Beach .

 

 

The first part  of the road to the beach was easy but after than we had to let our tyres down and  4WD the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

 

But it was worth it. It was a lovely little beach.

 

We found some interesting patterns on the sand made by crabs and sand-worms, little waterfalls and even wetland

 

 

 

 

Graham spotted some free oysters on the rocks and had a little snack. He took a picture of it in case we had to go to the hospital and show them what he had.

 

26/06/13 - Yeppoon

 

As we had no time left yesterday to see any of local beaches in Yeppoon and around, we decided to stay for one more day. There are couple of nice lookouts and walks around the town. As you can see you can enjoy the view from the lookout from different position.

One of the beach was made of those tiny shells....

We went for a drive around Emu Park to see the Singing Ship  which was built in honour of Captain Cook and his visit to the region in the 1770.

 

We had a cravings for pizza from yesterday so we went to Eagle Boys and got one for lunch. Pizza and beer on the beach, oh yeah!

 

In the afternoon we went for one more walk on the beach not to far from where we are staying and came across some different parrots.

 Graham was trying to find some more free oysters but instead we found a green turtle stacked in the shallow rock pool. It didn't look happy or comfortable in this pool so Graham rescued it by moving it back to the ocean.

 

Graham the turtle hero!

 

Eungella National Park

20/6/2013 Paluma National Park

 

We stopped at Frosty Mango, for a morning smoothie, then drove for a while longer into Big Chrystal creek in the Paluma national park.  We dropped of the caravan, then headed into the national park, on roads that caravans were not allowed to be taken.  The caravan could easily get there, its just another instance of conservative measures.. Anyway, the rainforestwas nice to walk through, we had lunch at the dam then tried to spot some platypus - unsuccessfully.

The twisty road and bridges were built in the 1930s during the depression.  The men were paid 2 Bob per day.  The rocks were cut from the local mountains, using hand drills and explosives, and laid in place by hand.  The rainforest was cleared using picks and shovels for the road construction.

 

21/6/2013 Funny Dunny

 

We headed south from Paluma into Townsville.  Took a walk through the city and along the Strand. We then drove for the rest of the day.  We were going to stop at a free camp in Home Hill, but when we got there is was packed. It wasn't that nice anyway - really just parking in a back street, so we drove a bit further to Funny Dunny.  The toilet is a little unusual, but nothing outrageous. Somehow we missed taking a photo.  This appears to be a favourite fishing place for locals.

 

 

 

22/6/2013 Eungella National Park

 

We stopped into Bowen on the was south, but it was a bit windy and cold(ish) that made swimming there not so appealing.  We were told that Eungella National Park is one that we shouldn't miss, so we headed for there.  Its a little out of the way, but we decided to head there.  We found a nice shady site at Pioneer Valley Showgrounds, where powered sites were just $20.  It also made a central location to set up base camp, and avoided extra driving with the van.

 

We went for a drive to Finch Hatton Gorge, and the scenery was amazing.  Even the sugar cane looked good, and the seed heads looked so soft and fluffy.

 

 

When we arrived, we walked along the rainforest tracks to the "Wheel of Fire" waterfalls, which were not quite up to show, but still had some pretty waterfalls along the way.

 

 

We stayed out until dark trying to find a platypus, but there were none to be seen.  Some people showed as were they saw one that afternoon, but was long gone.

 



23/6/2013 Eungella National Park (day 2)

We ran out of time to visit all of the places, so decided to stay at the showgrounds another night (its a perfect place to call base camp).  We had a really lazy morning.  Lidia did some washing and I did some stuff.  We had lunch, then left for our platypus hunt.

Last time, we ran out of energy as it was getting dark, so with torches (and my shooting spotlight) loaded, we were set.  We planned just to take a look around during the day, and go hunting for them in the night.  We found some amazing lookouts.


Lidia thought she would try a Tarzan swing, only moments later the whole vine came crashing down, followed about 10 seconds later by a number of tree branches, then later still, a pile of leaves and stuff... In Australia, we learnt not to swing before testing weight by age 10 - Its still funny though

We had some amazing walks through the rainforest again, with awesome trees, and things you just don't see normally.

 

 

So now down to business.. We found the spot.  It even had a sign

We watched ....

 

And watched

 

 

And we were successful.  A total count of 4 different ones (possible 5).  They were coming to the surface and floating around for a few seconds, then disappearing into the water.  The water wasn't so clear, so you could only see them down about 1 meter under but we watched them in a couple of pools for about 1 hour. Photos were difficult in the low light, but Graham nailed one..

 

 

Ingham

18/6/2013  Mission Beach

 

In the morning we went to see the Kurrimine Beach. It was nice to see a ocean again.  On the way back we stopped at the Murdering Point Winery, where they make wine from tropical fruits.

 

After that we drove to Mission beach. The tourist info centre there runs a "Tropical Fruit safari" where (for $8 per person) they cut up, and give for tasting a sample of each.  A local grower produces these varieties from all over the world .  Some of them cannot be transported, so are only available in tropical regions.

We did a bit of shopping, and were happy that fuel prices were back to normal.  After then just walked along the beach and finished the last (hopefully ever) of my XXXX gold.

 

 

 

19/6/2013 Ingham (free camp)

 

We left  Mission Beach thinking we were going to have a driving day, but the Tyto Wetlands centre changed our plans.  We had stopped there for lunch, and looking around, we found that the largest falls in Australia were just around the corner.

No caravans allowed, so we left the old girl in the car park, and headed to Wallaman falls.  This fall is the longest single drop in Australia, at 286m, its impressive.  We took a walk to the bottom through a beautiful rainforest, and when you get there, the wind and mist from the fall is awesome. The photo does not do it justice

On the drive in and back, there were cows everywhere, that are not nervous around cars, which is a good thing normally, because they don't panic and run crazy directions.  But these 2 laying on the road were that comfortable, they didn't even get up was we drove around them.

 

I didn't want to, but we stopped at the original "Pub with no beer". I thought they should be embarrassed about that, rather than embracing it.  It was quite modern, and not what we were expecting, so we read a poem or two than left. 

The free camp for tonight is right on the highway, but is protected by a couple of rows of heavy trees.Just a bit noisy.

Innisfail

15/6/2013 Mount Surprise

Graham dropped a line in at Lake Belmore before we left Croyden, but no fish.

 

 

 

 

After then, driving on boring sealed roads again.. Until we arrived at Mount Surprise.  We stopped at this awesome little caravan park, which was the cheapest powered site we have had ($17) since we left.  There was loads of grass and plenty or water to wash the red stuff out of the car and van. We were planning to go see the lava tunnels at Undara, but latter changed our mind. The owner has a collection of snakes,and does a free snake show, which was very informative and interesting.  He bought his 18 year old Black headed python out for show and tell.

 

 

 

16/6/2013  Innot Hot Springs

 

We had a lazy morning, and chatted for a while with some Polish people we had met the night before (Lidia did most of the talking), so only drove for a short while before arriving at Innot hot springs.  It was $10 per adult to use the pools they maintain, or, its free if you shell out $27 and stay in their caravan park.  So, we stayed and spent the afternoon and the next morning in the hot tubs.  The trick was 5 mins in the cold (26degC) tub to get your body temp down, then 5 mins in the hot tub (45 degC) then repeat.  The sensation is pretty amazing, and good for muscle relaxation.  The best thing was that kids were banned from this room.  They had a heap of other pools outside for the noisy little monsters.

 

 

You didn't have to pay, you could just go the the creek running through next t the park, and dig yourself a hole.  The only problem is that the artesian bore water temp is around 90 deg C, so you have to be careful to blend the right amount of hot and cold river water to get your perfect temp.  I burned my feet and ankles, because I didn't realise the water was so hot (you can see the steam coming off the water in the photo below)

 

 

 

17/6/2013  Fred Drew Park (near Innisfail) - free camp

 

Heading east towards the coast, we stopped off at some of the waterfalls in the southern parts of the Atherton Tableland's.  Some people told us they had rain here a week ago, so I think this is the reason these waterfalls actually have water (awesome),  Here are some of the glory photos - one thing we noticed was that there was not a great amount of walking to see these falls.  The Milla Milla falls, could be a drive through because you can see them from the carpark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found a pretty cute Kookabura.  Graham actually sat at the table with him to get this photo

We also like the cassowary survival guide, which explained how to behave it confronted

Graham successfully completed an obstacle course returning from the Mungalli falls
















Lidia kissed a pink cow at the Mungalli Crek Bio-Dynamic Dairy.  We bought some fresh milk, yogurt, cheese and some cheesecake.

Li

One of the amazing things for us was the change in temperature, and vegetation.  Temperature here topped out at 21 deg C, and the nights are cold.

 

 

This is the roads we have been use to for the last month...

This is what we had today..













And, we learnt Australia has Tree Kangaroos, that are only found here in the atherton Tablelands.  We could not find any, so we googled a picture of them..  Here is a website with more info if interested.

http://www.australiananimallearningzone.com/lumholtz-tree-kangaroo.htm