So, the next leg/s of our journey to date.
We moved on from Duaringa into Emerald, having discovered
some friends we made working at Dubbo and Adels Grove were meeting up in
Emerald, so arranged to catch up with them there.
Spent three days there camped in the showgrounds with them.
We had a day trip out to the gemfields, Sapphire and Rubyvale. We bought
buckets of “wash”, (basically diggings from mine claim sites), 3 buckets for
$40. We were shown how to wash the rocks to search for gemstones, so we all had
a go and came out with shining examples of gems J.
Our camp at Emerald Showgrounds
One of the local markets at Rubyvale gemfields
Gordon and Marees new Patrol :)
Sifting through the buckets of "wash" for the all elusive gems
Managed to find some rather small stones, nothing to exciting.
Susan coming out of "Pats Gems" in Sapphire, couldn't find anything she liked?? believe it or not!!
Friends departed and headed on their way, the couple were
heading south to head back to work south of Tamworth.
We then made our way back out to Rubyvale with the van and
caught up with Liz and Al’s relatives, Clem and Linda, who have a claim out
there. They have 900m2 block which they have been mining/digging for a few
years now and have dug up some very nice gems, a large yellow sapphire is just
one of their finds.
Couple of pics below of their home away from home at the gemfields
The weather was very ordinary, rained/drizzled all night and
still the next morning, so we headed off again. If the weather had been better,
we probably would have stayed longer and done some fossicking, maybe next time.
Mural train wagons in Clermont
One of the big buckets outside Clermont
We continued out through Capella, Clermont and towards
Mackay. We discovered a free camp at the
back of “The Retreat” hotel outside Mackay. Had free hot showers, toilets and
of course meals and beer at the pub. Would be a good little spot to stay for a
few days, also had the option of power for $15/night. We only stayed the one
night there. The car was meant be broken down there for a day or two as we
discovered they had “Cheeky Tuesdays” and “Topless Thursdays”, but Susan said
the car was working fine!!. There was also a dancing pole in the bar J. Couldn’t get Susan to
try itJ.
From there we moved north, stopped at a little town called
Dingo Beach which is near Airlie Beach. Not much there, fishing village mainly,
no free camps out there though. Continued on to Home Hill which has a free camp
advertised as the “Comfort Stop”. Well, it had the facilities but also had
probably at least 30 vans, motor homes, backpacker vehicles all parked up along
the roadside.
The location was great, right in town, good facilities,
however, the vehicles were all parked in one long line as it was a street right
beside the main rail line, opposite small businesses and the highway the other
side, so was very busy place. We checked on the way through initially, but
decided not to worry because it was so busy, basically no spots left, so went
on to Ayr, not far up the highway, couldn’t find anywhere there, so went back
to Home Hill. We managed to find a spot for the van.
Must have been meant to stop there because the next morning
when Susan was doing some washing she started talking to this chap and he asked
where we were heading, Susan explained we were making our way north to
eventually do the Cape. This chap was form Cape York, worked and lived up near
Bamaga and was out and about visiting friends. He started telling Susan all
this stuff, so Susan said he would be better to talk to Les.
"comfort stop" at Home Hill
Les then went down to his bus and sat for an hour and a half talking about the cape, the tip etc, very informative and helpful. We had also paid a visit to the new IGA in
town also.
We decided to move on the next morning and travelled through
Townsville, had gas bottles changed over at Bunnings, cos it was close to the
highway and then went just north of Townsville to a free camp at Saunders Beach
for 2 nights. Right on the water, nice spot, but small. Had couple of nights
there.
The camp area at Saunders Beach
Red tailed Cockatoos at the beach, feeding on the Sea Almond nuts.
At this point we had heard of another rain event on its way
over the weekend and due to batteries being very low because of lack of sun, we
decided to book into a caravan park in Ingham and spent three nights there to
see it out. Nice town and nice little caravan park, We took a day trip out to
Lucinda and some of the other beaches around there. By Monday the weather had
settled so decided to move again.
The old Ingham Cemetry, mostly the old Italian settlers from the area, the first grave was dug in 1889
Lucinda jetty below, it is 5.7klms long to allow the bulk sugar ships to load. Low clouds over the hills with the sugar cane.
Hinchinbrook Island from a lookout
Our camp at Babinda Rotary park
We stopped at Cardwell for a couple of hours, great little
town beside the beach and opposite Hinchinbrook Island. Continued on had a
drive through Mission Beach, weren’t all that impressed with it and continued
to a free camp at the Rotary Park at Babinda.
Once again, very busy spot, barely found a spot, but had showers, toilets
etc. The showers had hot showers for $2 for 4 mins, very nice. Once again
though, the weather was crap so didn’t get enough sunshine, but managed to stay
three nights.
The hotel we visited for the State of Origin and the caterpillar of the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly
The Babinda Boulders just 7 k's out of Babinda, worth a visit
We had been wanting to visit Paronella Park for some years so decided to book in for the
Thursday night. As we were pulling out of the camp thurs morning, the caravan
brakes were not working very well, after a check with the mechanics and a
fabrication place in town, we realised the caravan coupling was coming apart
and would not have survived too far down the road. It was strange that it
hadn’t been a problem till we left Babinda. So we had to go back to the free
camp and remove the coupling, take a trip to Cairns to buy a new one and of
course fit the new one, whilst in Cairns, we also purchased a small generator
to help keep the battery/s topped up as
we have had the unusual rains and overcast weather.
Subsequently, we had to rebook Paronella Park for the Fri
night. Thankfully, the new coupling sorted the problem.
Well, Paronella Park is an absolute eye opener and a very
interesting place have a variety of pics here for you, have a look at the
website also, amazing story about a young Spanish gentleman who came to
Queensland, started working in the cane fields and eventually bought the 5Ha
property at Mena Creek and transformed the property, including the first
hydroelectric scheme in Queensland which provided all his power for the
property.
The current owners have refurbished the hydroelectric system
and now feed power back into the grid. It provides 13Kw regularly as it is set
up beside the waterfall.
Here are just a few of the Paronella Park pics, amazing place
After we departed Paronella Park, we had booked in for the MaMu skywalk on the way through to Peeramon, which was a 1100m walk through the rainforest and along the tree tops, and a 37m high tower. Needless Susan wasn't keen to try the tower.
A park in Milaa Milaa not only with a statue of Christie Palmerston, an early settler in the area, the local cenotaph, (also proudly flying the QUEENSLAND flag), yeah baby.
We left there Sat morning and headed to our friends, John
and Diane at Peeramon on the Atherton Tablelands. We have settled here for now
and probably for a week or so, then head back to Townsville for the V8’s.
From there back to Peeramon and get organised for the Cape, can't wait.
QUEENSLANDER!!
