Gregory Downs - By Jai

Today we went to Gregory Downs from Karumba. On the way there, we stopped at a famous roadhouse called Bourke and Wills to clean off the kangaroo that we hit. If I didn’t mention this before, on the way there, a dead kangaroo went under our car and hit our spare tyre. It bounced up like a frog and hit our caravan and made a disgusting mess.  

While dad was cleaning the mess off our car and caravan, we got some nice, sweet cold ice-blocks because it was boiling hot. We were all sweating so much, I had never sweated so quickly before.

We soon got back on the road for about an hour and a half then eventually we arrived at our first free camping stop at Gregory Downs. When we got there we went in the river to have a quick swim.

 It was very very very refreshing, after our long and hot trip. Emma and Grace put mud all over their selves. That night we had noodles for dinner and then we had dessert under the stars. I was amazed by how many and how bright they were, I think I saw the Southern Cross.

Mum wasn’t feeling well when we woke up the next morning, so she had an hours sleep while the rest of us swam in the river. When mum woke up she was feeling a lot better. Then she joined in with the rest of us. We had a lot of fun floating down the strong currents of the river and swinging off the rope that was attached to the tall tree.

After that we went to the pub for lunch. We had calamari, fish n’chips and a steak burger. In the afternoon we played even more in the river. Before we had dinner that night we made a camp fire and toasted marshmallows.

After that we had dinner at Murrays house, Murray is the owner of the locaI grocery store of Gregory Downs. Dinner was delicious, apart from the burnt pizza. After that we went to bed. When we woke up, we packed up and went to Mt Isa.

Stop #15 - Karumba (via Innot Hot Springs and Undarra)

We excitedly head west after enjoying exploring the northern QLD region, not having previously explored much of the area west of QLD.

The Land Cruiser works hard towing the car up the Atherton tablelands for the last time, and we transition from the Rainforest to Outback scenery. We head to Karumba, a reknowned fishing destination for avid QLD fishermen.

On the way, we take a series of overnight stops to break up the long drive.  We notice that mobile reception for Optus and Vodafone is sparse, and we lose reception for the next couple of weeks.  We first stop at Innot Hot Springs, where we check into a "resort" that harnesses the natural hot springs.

The resort is based on the red dust that will now plague us for the rest of the journey, covering the car and caravan, as well as making it's way into the caravan via foot traffic.

The resort has a number of outdoor pools, with the temperature varying for each pool.  A pool containing room temperature water is the first, which feels like cold water after one has been in the warmer ones.  The adjacent pool is warmer, with the last outdoor pool being hot.  There are a number of indoor pools, again with varying temperatures, ranging up to extremely hot.  With the extreme temperatures, and potentially so the senior guests can have an escape, children are not allowed into the indoor pools; so we spend our time in the outdoor pools.

After the overnighter at Innot, we move onto Undarra, where we again stay at the Undarra Experience resort.  Getting there mid afternoon, I note the petrol bowser reads $1.98 per litre for Diesel; a sign to come for petrol prices in the outback.

After setting up, I teach the boy the art of the catapult.

The resort is well decked out, with Eco tents and cabins made from used train coaches.  The main restaurant and dining areas are made of wood, creating the quintessential Aussie outback feeling.  Fire pits are set up under the heavy duty awning, as well as outdoor fire pits to allow patrons to further experience the outback feeling.

We head to the Lava tubes that Undarra is reknowned for, and have guided tour with the resort guide.  He provides good insight to the history of the area and the previous owner of Undarra, explaining how the resort came to be.  The guide also explains the volcanic activity around the region, and how the lava tubes came to be.  The lava tubes have essentially become caves and crevices, not particularly exciting for me.  The highlight of the tour are the bats that now inhabit the caves, and the bones of animals that met their demise at the bottom of the caves.

Leaving Undarra, we then set ourselves for some long drives to Karumba.  We pass by Croydon, and then hope to do our first free camp at Normanton. 

Arriving late into Normanton, we see a campervan bogged in the free camp area and one other camper already set up.  We decide this is not a good location for our first free camp, so we check into the caravan park in downtown Normanton.

I also note that the car is riding somewhat lower than I remembered.  Pumping up the rear airbags, I find that one of them has a leak, so I lower the pressure on the other one, to keep the level even.  This will need to be fixed at the next major town, as the ride is much lower than I would prefer, and the vehicle now bounces around more than I am comfortable with.

We head off to Karumba the next day, after doing some sightseeing in Normanton the next morning.  We visit the Information centres, which is like a makeshift museum of the town's history.  We also see a life sized replica of "Kris" the largest crocodile ever captured in the wild.  It's hard to believe a creature of this size ever existed in our waterways, according to the locals a crocodile only a few feet smaller currently lives in the Normanton river..

On our drive up to Karumba we encounter some of the locals wondering the road, we're careful not to agitate them for fear of starting a stampede.

Arriving at Karumba We check into our Karumba Sunset caravan park, which is at Karumba Point.  As per the other caravan parks out this way, it is devoid of grass and prominently red dust.  In this instance, the red dust had turned into red mud, due to the recent heavy rains.

Moving to our spot, I eye out the long termers in the caravan park, who've set up for months, stocking up their fridges with fish.  It seems 80 percent of the occupants have a boat and enclosed awnings, presumably to keep the flies and midges at bay.

Driving into the park we see locusts flying in every direction, as they are disturbed by vehicles of pedestrians. The town has been gripped by a plague of locusts for the past months, with crops and trees devastated by the insatiable pests.  Our kids have fun collecting and playing with them, helping reduce the population.

After setting up, we go for a bike ride down to the local boat ramp.  It has a large carpark, indication of the masses that come this way during the peak season.  Unfortunately we've come a little late for the Barramundi season, however they still should be around and the blue salmon should be running soon.

The boat ramp overlooks the Gulf of Carpentaria, a wide span of water that extends as far as the eye can see.  There are no waves to speak of, and the water is murky brown.  When looking into the tide times, I note that the gulf only has two tides per day, as opposed to the four that we normally have along the eastern seaboard.

Alongside the boat ramp are rocks, a beach and other rocks.  The beach drops off quickly into deep water, causing eddies directly in front of the beach.  The foreshore is filled with landbased fishermen, who are busy catching just legal sized Bream.  I see a Grunter being caught, but no other fish of significance.

We ride further up the street to check out what the point has to offer, noting a few fish and chip shops and the pub by the water, which everyone says we need to go to, to view the sunset over the gulf.  Unfortunately for us, the weather forecast for the time we are at Karumba is for rain and showers.

After reading some positive reviews and personal recommendations, we decide to have fish and chips at Ash's Fish and Chips.  The place is certainly well set up, with nice tables and fans out the front of the ship, and colourful murals depicting what Karumba and the Gulf has to offer.

We scour the menu inside the shop, and I ask the male attendant whether they have Spanish Mackeral.  He blankly responds with a no, and other than King Salmon, they only gave locally caught fish (which could be anything, and I am told later is mostly catfish).  I like more certainty with what I consume, and we order the King Salmon (battered and grilled) and some calamari rings.  The price is a little on the high side, higher than what I would expect for a place that should be sourcing their produce locally.  Having said that the price of groceries and consumables are double, if not triple the price of what you’d expect to pay at home; not surprising given the transportation distance to this place.

I also ask the man about fishing tips and places to fish, given the store also sells fishing tackle, I presume they would be in the know.  He was not forthcoming, and spouted that the best place to catch a feed was in his shop.  Not helpful, and I hoped the quality of his food was better than his customer service.

When the food eventually arrives, we unwrap the brown paper parcel outside and inspect the food.  The kids are also eager to sample and compare fish and chips at different locations, and compare it to the now legendary meal we had at Lucinda. 

The chips are brown, looking like they have been around for a while, and the calamari looks like they were out of an I&J packet.  The fish looked crisp, and was not doused with batter.

Well, the chips tasted as they looked, the battered fish was lacking in taste, however the calamari was acceptable but nothing of note.  The grilled fish was also on par, not exception.  The kids and I gave the fish and chips a double thumbs down, and we'd certainly not go back there, even if the food was good (due to the poor customer service).

That afternoon I had down to the beach and observe the fishermen on the shore.  I see a man with two heavy duty fishing rods out, a castnet beside him and a big tackle box.  I strike up conversation with him, and find out that he has not caught anything yet, but is after some bigger fish that hang around the drop off just off the beach.  I ask whether he caught any bait with his cast net, and he laughs saying that he had just bought it and did not really know how to use it.  I told him I'd recently purchased one as well, and was learning, but could show him what I had learnt to date. He was certainly keen to get some tips, and I showed him how to hold the net and demonstrated a few casts.  We talk further of fishing, and he offers me a ride on his boat over the next couple of days, as he was fishing on his own from Mt Isa.  After checking with the Opposition Leader, she grants permission and two days of fishing are locked in.

Since I was out with an fisherman that was familiar with the area, and on a boat, my confidence level of catching fish was high.  To my disappointment, the fisherman prefers the technique of soaking a prawn around spots that he had previously done well before, without using the fish sounder or GPS.  I was a guest on the boat, so I went along with the plan and prayed the fishing gods were with us.

Spot 1 was out in the gulf, where we pushed into a back breaking swell and got soaked by the waves.  No luck, we head back into Spot #2; where we spend the rest of our time.  We haul in plenty of catfish, but no keeper fish.  After the tide turned, I finally land a Blue Nosed Salmon, which was apparently early in the season for this fish.  We catch plenty of other undersized fish, but no other keepers.  I am dropped off at midday, any my fishing buddy continues fishing until the night.  He catches a few keeper Grunter and bream towards the twilight period.

I pan fry the Blue Nosed Salmon that night, and the whole family devours it.  The texture of the fish is similar to that of a Gemfish, soft, oily and juicy.

I venture out on the next day, fishing in the afternoon with the same guy, hoping the change in High tide will be more suited for our fishing.  We experience engine problems and can only fish a few hundred metres away from the boat ramp.

We catch loads of undersized catfish, and only one Black Jewfish is caught by my fishing buddy.  He generously allows me to take the fish home to try.  The fish was approximately 80cm in length, but has a very big and thick frame.  By the time it is filleted, the meat I am able to retrieve is no more than the Salmon I had caught the previous day.  I cook the fish on the BBQ, but it was not such a big hit with the kids.  The fish had larger flakes, not as juicy, and the skin was thicker and malleable.  Jackie and I thought the fish was fine, so we had the fish to ourselves that night.

We leave Karumba after 3 nights, heading South West.  I know the kids and Jackie were bored, with not much else to do in Karumba other than fish and listen to old fishing tales.  I doubt whether I'd ever go back to Karumba, preferring places like Lucinda and the Hinchinbrook area as a fishing destination.

First Free Camping in Gregory Downs - by Grace

After leaving Karumba, we drove a long way and finally arrive at Gregory Downs. We found a great spot near the lovely fresh creek, but some people weren’t very pleasant with us there. A man from one of the groups came and told us not to camp near him, anyway, hopefully that was just a bad start! We ignore him and unpack, then check out the river, which is fresh and has NO crocodiles!

Parking the Caravan right next to the river!!

Once we unpacked, we get our swimmers on and jump in the lovely fresh water, it was beautiful. Emma and I explored the awesome rocks and we found some mud and put it on our face, I know, eeewww! That was our bath so we got our pj’s on and had dinner, which was noodles, YUM!!

On the next day we woke up and did a bit of school work, and then again we play in the water.

We have lunch, then set up the camp fire that we lit that night. We see it is getting dark, so we light the fire and toast marshmallows, and have a chat with our friends. Finally it is 6.00pm so we go and eat our Wood fired pizzas at a man’s house, he was doing it to raise money for The Royal Flying Doctor Service. We wonder what they will be like. We get there and nobody is there, but the people are very nice we had an interesting night, chatting to the owners Murray and Ronnie! The pizzas weren’t that good as they were badly burnt but we ate them to be nice. Then 2 more people came, we get chicken wings and homemade ice-cream, then it got late so we left to go back to the caravan. We got back and watched the majestic stars that twinkled like glitter. That was the most stars I have ever seen!

The next morning we jumped in the water, and floated down the stream, and swung on the rope hanging above the creek.  Mum went running and so dad had the idea to challenge all of us to run 2 kilometres non-stop.  He said ‘’no way you can do that’’! I wanted to prove him wrong so I accepted the challenge, and I made it! Then we were ready to go, good bye Gregory Downs!

I really like our first free camping I am looking forward to the next free camping!

The top of Queensland (at least for us)!

We continued on our journey north from Cairns towards Cooktown. The big question we were asked when telling other travelers was; are you going the inland route, or the coastal route? The inland route has nice, new, smooth double lane roads all the way. The coastal route (while scenic), includes the notorious Bloomfield track connecting Cape Tribulation to Cooktown. This is 4 wheel drive only territory. Even though this section of the route was relatively short,  it didn't take long to work out which route we were taking!

The drive to Cooktown took us back over the great dividing range through Mareeba . We stopped at the markets to have some lunch and while ordering our sugar cane juice were approached by a well known independent politician dressed of course in jeans and an akubra (we assume this is his electoral area)? Despite him calling me rich (because i mentioned that we were from Sydney  and were traveling for 6 months) the conversation was pleasant enough. I was however, interested to see many locals approaching him , taking photos with him and wanting to engage in conversation. Maybe it's just me (and my lack of interest in politics), but i found that odd! A quick visit to coffee works and then back on the road.

The drive from there to Cooktown was a lot of nothing! It made us realise (probably for the first time this trip), how remote some of Australia is. Given Cooktown is not really that remote, we are in for a steep learning curve!

Cooktown itself today is a very small town , that is mainly on the map because of its rich history, fishing reputation and tourism. A few shops and restaurants ,several pubs (!!), two  hotels and caravan parks and a proud history museum  is all that is left of the once grand/prosperous mining town that it was in the 1800's.  A huge effort has been made to preserve the history of the area and we enjoyed a day wandering through town learning about the area as we went. 

We also learned first- hand about the trade winds. They supposedly arrived two days before we did and are there to stay until September. While they didn't impact our stay significantly, we met a couple whose dream of doing a world record jet ski ride was shattered by these winds. They had planned to circumnavigate oz and in doing so would have smashed the record for the longest continuous jet ski journey. Instead however, they told us that they would take the skis up to the Cape and launch again from up there (which is more protected from the south -easterly trade winds). This means that they will not get the record, but will instead make adventure documentaries.

Three days later we headed back down the same road, past Mt Molloy (again) and onto our next stop, The Daintree. We had decided on a little beach (Newell Beach) just north of Mossman and south of the Daintree for a few reasons. It seemed like it would be a good base for exploring those two areas (Mossman and the Daintree) , we had never heard of it  (hence probably not overly touristy) and the reviews for the caravan park were great. We were right about two of the three. It is a great little area, but the park itself is very run down and has basic facilities. Luckily, this was one stop where we had planned to be out more than in! We had decided on two must-do outings, Mossman Gorge and a Daintree river cruise.

Swimming at Beautiful Mossman Gorge

For the Daintree River we chose a company called Solar Whisper. As the name suggests, they run the boat on solar power and therefore very quiet and can get up close and personal with the wildlife...eek!! The cruise ended up being relatively uneventful. We saw a few little crocs and a "teenage" male called Yoyo, but no big ones. Probably a good thing, given we will be in big croc country for another month or so (wouldn't want the kids getting too scared or worse still getting complacent). Like all tours, the guides provide so much information re the area and ecosystem. I didn't realise that Queensland's croc population is actually quite small (relative to the NT). Maybe we should stay in the Sunshine state!

Next, the big drive west. Starting on the bitumen sections of the Savannah way to Karumba. We will take three nights to get there, but not entirely sure what those stops will be. We know we will do the Undara Experience on the middle night, but other than that we are open to ideas!

We will be using the Savannah way as a guide (pending roads conditions).

www.savannahway.com.au

Up until now we have been in what we would consider to be known territory (the east coast). I thought therefore, it would be good to document the top five "luxury" items that i couldn't go without up until this point.

(1) Coffee machine (unless you like instant, it really is essential)

(2) Chocolate

(3) Dyson vacuum

(4) Laptop and WIFI

(5) Running shoes and clothes

Interesting to see if my list changes throughout the journey! 

Next stop, outback Australia (somewhere)!

Stop #12 - Newell Beach

We move on from Cooktown back down to Newell Beach, with a view to exploring Cape Tribulation and the Daintree.

We check into the Newell Caravan Park, a small run down caravan park, which looks like a double block that had been converted into a caravan park.  There is an old toilet block that services the whole caravan park, which has a capacity of around 50 sites. 

Our site backs onto cane fields, under a tree popular with Rainbow Lorikeets, who sit atop the tree cracking nuts from the tree all day.  Great, tree foliage and bird poo to clean up post our stay.

We head into Mossman to do some shopping after we set up, and I cook mud crabs and a Trevally for dinner. 

The kids and Jackie don't like the crabs, possibly because I under cook it (boiling in salt water for 12 minutes and letting it continue to cook outside the pot), so I assure them I will cook it differently the following night.  I don't mind the crab, but agree my cooking did not do it justice.  The fish is cooked well in the Thermomix, marinated in garlic, ginger, soy, brown sugar and peanut sauce.

We head off to Mossman Gorge the next day, after completing some school work.  I'd taken over the maths component, whilst Jackie took on the English.  Wasn't a good idea on my behalf, as maths involved measurements and capacity, something that required us to scrounge the recycling bins for suitable containers to complete our tests and experiments.

Mossman Gorge was only 15 minutes from where we were staying, we opt to walk the ~2klm from the car park to the gorge, instead of taking the shuttle bus.  This would be our exercise for the day.

Reaching the start of the boardwalk, we see signs warning of Cassawarys, which puts the kids (especially with Grace and her bird phobia) on high alert.  I'd primed them previously about the dangers of Cassawarys and their sharp claws, which have the ability to tear open their target's stomach.  The kids make as much noise as they can, to ward off the Cassawary, not something Emma had a problem with and normally does naturally.

We reach the gorge itself after a few minutes of walking, and despite passers by claiming the water was freezing, we all jump into the water.  It was very fresh, however once you were in for a while, the dip was very refreshing.  I could have stayed in there for a while.

The water was clear, with a lot of submerged boulders, very dangerous for those that choose to dive into the water.  The waters are filled with Jungle Perch, and the kids also spot a number of catfish.  I wondered whether you could fish the gorge, but given it was a popular tourist attraction, the idea of reeling in fish from such a pristine environment was not appealing.

The walk back to the car was arduous with the kids complaining most of the way, I divert attention by racing the kids back to the car.  This works for half of the way, and I end up carrying Emma for the other half.

On our second day, we head out to the Daintree to go on a cruise, hoping to spot some of the Daintree's notoriously big crocodiles.  We book in at the Eco Tours charter, luckily we did, as the 2:15 session we wanted was booked out upon our arrival.  We wanted the afternoon session, as it coincided with low tide, the most likely time to spot a crocodile sunning itself on the banks, perhaps others knew of this.

The makeshift checkin hut has a big crocodile out the front, providing hope to prospective clients.  We checkin via the friendly receptionist, who offers us another free cruise at 3:15 if we do not spot any crocodiles - not a good sign, but a friendly gesture.  We enjoy biscuits and Daintree tee, whilst waiting for the rest of our tour to arrive.

The boat that Eco Tours uses is fully powered by batteries that are charged by solar panels atop the boat.  The capacity is ~30 people, at ~$20 per head, it's not a bad little venture.  There is an LCD screen at the back of the boat, which the operator/owner projects his video camera on, zooming into his target for those that are not able to personally spot themselves.

We slowly meander up the Daintree, whilst the guide imparts his knowledge of the Daintree river, area and wildlife.  We spot a baby crocodile on the side of a bank, and numerous kingfishers.  

A python wrapped around branches of a tree is pointed out, something only a trained eye would have been able to find let alone see it after Dave reflects light onto it via a mirror.  Some Tawny Owls are also spotted, with another baby crocodile sighted.  

Things were not looking great for while, hopes of spotting to the big crocodile fading along with the light.  We venture outside the normal perimeter of the tour boundaries, and eventually spot a medium sized crocodile called "yoyo", named for his constant going bobbing up and down the water. 

This satisfies most of the Chinese tourists onboard, and we head back to the pontoon.  Jackie and I had seen larger wild crocodiles before, when we fished the Daly river over 10 years ago, so I was not overly excited about the crocodiles spotted.  

I'd like to go on another cruise of hire a boat in the NT, so see if we can spot some larger models.  I'm not sure if we'll be able to convince Emma to go on another cruise, her fear of cruises and crocodiles may prevent any such forays.