Going North in Queeensland

We got out to the coast at Townsville where we finally caught up with the seemingly thousands of travellers in motorhomes and caravans, all escaping the southern winter for the dry season in Queensland. It was the weekend that the V8 Supercars were in town so accommodation was at a premium. We did get several beautiful fine days in the Townsville area and were amazed by the difference in the vegetation – at last we were seeing palm trees and lush vegetation in the parks and gardens. Plant which we struggle to grow indoors in Melbourne thrive wild and natural – stag-horns and climbing greenery everywhere and so many different types of palms.

A couple of relaxing days were spent at Toomulla Beach not for from Townsville but it was not a good beach for swimming. The wind was blowing in strongly although the camp was protected by coastal vegetation. We moved slowly north to Ingham, then Mission Beach and Innisfail but the weather was unseasonably wet and windy. The area has largely rebuilt after Cyclone Yasi but the vegetation will take years to recover.

Dunk Is. from Mission Beach foreshore -
not what you see in the travel adverts.

Mission Beach used to have big trees all along the foreshore, now the surviving few are tattered and broken. We did not see the Queensland of the tourist brochures with perfect sunny days but there’s always something new to see and amuse like the traffic warning signs showing collisions between cars and cassowaries on the way to Mission Beach and the rainforest in the area was beautiful.

Little Millstream Falls - Ravenshoe

We still had a couple of weeks before we were due in Cairns so from Innisfail we turned inland up through the Misty Mountains to the Atherton Tablelands spending a few days at Ravenshoe where there is budget camping at the Railway museum. Unfortunately their steam locomotive was not running.

Kookaburras at Millstream Falls

 We visited some of the lovely waterfalls in the area and drove some very twisty hill roads in the Moke  - but it still rained!

Next stop was Herberton where we stayed for over a week visiting local tourist areas like the Pioneer Village (excellent) and through the hills on dirt road to Irvinebank for the day. 

Speedway competitor

We went to a Sunday market and the local speedway at Wondecla – great entertainment though by the last race of the day there were a lot less cars left.

Dave, Allen & Grace at Green Island

At Cairns we caught up with a fellow Moke owner, Dave and spent a very enjoyable day with him and his friend Grace on a boat trip 9km out to Green Island, a coral atoll which forms part of the Great Barrier Reef. We viewed the coral and the tropical fish and turtles from a glass bottom boat and walked round the island before a fairly rough trip back. That night we had dinner at the RSL with Dave, Grace and Dave’s mum, Elsie, and next morning we left our Moke and trailer in Dave’s care as we headed out to start our adventure to the top of Cape York.