July 26th... DAY ..40

 I was more than pleased to leave Cocoa Creek with so many sand flies and mosquitoes. Some bites have become very swollen and very itchy. The tide was in but no sign of crocodiles.

Travelling took us through many sugar plantations. ..another processing mill and more train carriages loaded with harvested sugar. Where is all the sugar sold? There seems so much produced.

A beautiful hibiscus flower

We stopped to buy fish from a wayside shop and the owner told us about the Burdekin Show which was on in Ayre. John spent 1.5 hours there looking at old engines which seemed to be the highlight of the day.
I spent quiet time under the shade of a tree.

We have come off the Bruce Highway south of Ayre into a fishing camp Molongle Creek. It is the point of access for Upstart National Park. This park can only be accessed by boat. Needless to say we are on the mainland tonight. Molongle Creek is tidal and there are many fishing enthusiasts camped. In fact we joined in with a
 pre dinner 'sing song' for an hour. The leader was a clever musician and vocalist who sang all the 'old' songs, many of which John and I danced to in the 1960s.

Mangroves along Molongle Creek

July 25th....DAY 39

White trunks of the Poplar Gum as we walked along Alligator Creek

The morning dawned fine, thankfully and still very warm. We walked along Alligator Creek for an hour, then slowly tidied the rig ready for a short move to another site in the Bowling Green NP.
Cocoa Creek is quite wild as we drove in to the camp sites.  There are eucalypt trees and palms as well as long dry grass. In fact I find Cocoa Creek itself quite 'ominous' looking. It has steep muddy banks and the water is lined with mangrove trees. My imagination runs wild when I walk close to edge..every shape is a 'crocodile shape'. There are sand flies and mosquitoes so it is not the best place we have chosen to camp at.

Cocoa creek lined with Mangroves

I have had a new experience today and that is taping a cut with 'steri strips'. John slipped on rocks this morning and  cut his elbow.

July 24^th…DAY  38

Last night I arranged to visit Barry Desailly in Townsville.  We arrived at his home before 11 am. What a friendly chap Barry is and so like his brother Roly whom we visited in Hay 5 weeks ago. 

Barry’s Great Grandfather and my Great Grandfather were brothers. Barry is eight year older than I am but we both belong to the same generation of the large Desailly family. He is an interested historian and has kept all contact letters that he has received as well as some that were written to his parents. He was delighted to find that I am Lurline’s (Desailly) daughter..the ice was immediately broken. Barry shared many stories and printed matter with me and copied anything that I was slightly interested in. Unfortunately we did not meet Barry’s wife but he, unexpectedly organised lunch for us. He knows much more about the history of the Desailly families than I do but it takes years of collecting, talking and remembering. It is amazing how many of the men of the family have a similar appearance. Sadly I forgot to take a photo of the two of us.

The Poplar Gum shows an unusual way of shedding bark

Hop Bush along Alligator Creek

Prior to leaving Townsville we called at a shopping centre to stock up with food, than drove out to the Bowling Green National Park and camped in the Alligator Creek Camping Ground. For the first time in 5.5 weeks the evening is wet but not cold thankfully. I need the door of the rig open to let cool air in. The sky is starry so we hope for a fine day tomorrow.

July 23rd...DAY 37

Paluma Dam from Camping Grounds

This morning our camp was surrounded by Brush Turkeys. They like to scratch around looking for food I expect. We explored the camp at the Paluma Dam which is really attractive,  walked over the dam wall  and inspected all 25 camping sites. We decided to travel down  the western side of the Paluma Range. At one point we could see the mountains toward Charters Towers. The road took a much less steep course and was much easier driving. However we soon left the rain forest and plunged into very dry cattle station properties with no water in most creeks. I think it must be in a rain shadow of eastern coastal rains. One property was called the 'ZigZag' Station. I am pleased I do not have the responsibility of operating this very dry property. The ZigZag Creek runs through it!

We lunched on a water hole in Running Creek. It was an oasis in the dryness. The road had now turned to bitumen and it did not take long to reach the coastal areas. Wattle trees lined the road way in many places.

Luncheon stop by Running Creek 

Finding a place to camp was the challenge. We finally found that The BIG4 camp north of Townsville had room for us..at a price of course!

July 22nd….DAY 36

Water lines as the tide comes in

Despite the number of people camped at Hull Heads it was a peaceful bush camp. The noise of the distant waves was good to sleep with. The only disturbance we had was the mournful cry of the curlew. I have never seen or heard so many in one area.

On the way back to the Bruce Highway we called in to Tully heads and walked for 40 minutes on the beautiful beach. No camping is allowed here and from signs along the water front the ‘Welcome Mat’ is not out for visitors.

The mountains are a wonderful background..some are very steep with a cone like top. Hinchinbrook Island appeared the same. It is possible to go to there by commercial boat,  but there are no facilities to take a vehicle.

Pelicans with off coast islands 

Lunch was enjoyed at Ingham which is a pretty well cared for town with Hinchinbrook Island a dominant background feature.

Sugar cane is the main industry with acres of it under production. The local mill processes 3 million tons per year. Sugar cane harvesters and sugar trains were very much in evidence.

I had arranged to call at Paluma to visit Anneshka's friend whom she has known from Darwin days. Colwyn is a lovely lady who welcomed us into her home. The trip up the very steep mountains to Paluma was quite an incredible drive through forest which varied from open treed bush to thick rain forest. Late in the afternoon we went further on to camp at the Paluma Dam which supplies Townsville with water. The temperature is quite cold up here so we have re-instated the doona on our bed.

July 21st...DAY 35

We drove out to the highway quite slowly so we could enjoy all the rainforest at close hand. John even found a tree snake beside the road., Wooroonooran National Park had been a great place to stay...a grassed area with the Johnstone River nearby. 

Zamia Fern

Very soon after the Highway intersection we stopped to walk  600 metres to the Tehupala Falls on the North Johnstone River. It was a beautiful walk with amazing Falls at the end. Walking gave us the opportunity to see the Rainforest plants very close at hand. I feel quite in awe at the huge plants and how they grow together in such steep country.

Flying Buttress trunk of a Fig Tree

Driving on to Innisfail gave us a great change of scenery as we travelled through the rich, red volcanic soil of the agricultural lands.. bananas, sugar cane and cattle grazing were the main farming pursuits. The overall country is very hilly and steep. We chose to drive on the old Bruce Highway where the traffic is not so busy. Following the cane train was rather fun. Sugar cane is being harvested and taken to the North Johnstone Sugar Mill which was puffing out great plumes of steam. A strong smell  of heavy treacle came from the mill as we drove by.

We have had a great drive again today and are camped at Hull Heads which is near Tully . The area averages over 4 metres of rain per year..maybe we are lucky that it is warm and dry this evening. Our rig is across the road from a long beach so an evening walk was refreshing before we cooked Barramundi for tea..we did not catch the fish ourselves like some clever people but we purchased it at a Fish Farm.

Footsteps in the sand

   

July 20^th…DAY 34

Garden Plant..unknown variety

 The day has been quite cool after an unexpected 4 deg morning. Again the country through which we have driven has been interesting, varied and beautiful. Rainforests turned into a patchwork of farm lands and now this evening we are camped deep into a rain forest again. Ferns, huge and small trees and vines all compete for sunlight. The forest is very tall and dense. A tree near our rig this evening must be 35 metres tall and fronds of the King Ferns can be 4 or 5 metres long. 

Mt Bartle Frere..Queensland's Highest Mountain

The Johnstone River is fast running with a swift flow of clear water.

Throughout the  Atherton Tablelands agricultural lands look healthy, growing on beautiful red volcanic soil…sugar cane, maize and an unidentified grass like crop as well as acres of tea bushes grown by Nerada. We visited this operation and viewed the production area.

I purchased packets of three types of tea..black, green and camomile. These are readily available in Super markets of course. Last year when John and I visited Malaysia we went up to Cameron Heights where tea is grown. We called at one plantation called BOH and enjoyed cups of tea with our friends. Strangely BOH tea is owned by the same company as Nerada Tea. I did enjoy the green tea made by BOH.

Nerada Tea Plantation

Another strangler Fig tree was an amazing site today…the Curtain Fig Tree is huge and, I felt, was more attractive than the Cathedral Tree.

We do find interest in a variety of birds. Yesterday we learned the call of an Oriole and  photographed a pair of curlews. Today we saw another pair of curlews and about 20 brolgas feeding on a freshly ploughed field of red soil.

Whip birds have ‘cracked their  whip’ at a number of sites. We have seen Cattle Egrets many times..feeding with cattle in the field. We have now seen Egrets following a sugar harvester as well as feeding in the freshly harvested sugar cane field. They have been in flocks of 20 to 100. An Egret is a  common site!