Time to mosey on south.......

Tues 25 July - Sat 5 Aug 

A blog entry full of landscape contrasts - from Punsand Bay at the Cape to the Great Barrier Reef at Mission Beach. 

Our last day at Punsand Bay we headed out to Somerset Beach and it was blowing a gale. An area that was settled by the the Jardine Family we saw some incredibly old graves and it is incomprehensible to imagine what that period in time would have been like to live in at the Cape. Close by to the Jardines were the graves of Cancan and other Aboriginal workers who worked on the station. 

Paronella Park, South Johnstone

Extraordinary tree at Somerset Beach, Cape York

The mangroves and gums growing on Somerset Beach were stunning and the shape of them just extraordinary - the level of salt resilience for these gums must be an evolutionary feat over time? Around the corner from Somerset was an easterly facing beach with a massive estuary running in a westerly direction and just outside the entry of the estuary - the tidal currents in a kind of weird shaped triangle were completely fearful. The height of the waves swirling below, and the pull of the current is unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Tidal currents near Somerset Beach - absolute force of nature

After such an amazing 4 nights at Punsand Bay the only way was south. Knowing we would be pretty well be heading back the same direction our aim for the first night was Moreton Telegraph Station. We were all looking forward to a lovely grassy big site at Moreton and a bit more space to spread out on. On our way we did pull into Fruit Bat Falls which is only one of a few places where it is safe to swim. Just a little further up is Elliott Falls, we'd heard a few hairy stories about the river crossing to it so knowing we wanted to head further south we just went to Fruit Bat and it was sublime!! 

Fruit Bat Falls, south of Jardine River

Hazy road just near Moreton Telegraph - dry season burn off happening

Massive Mango trees to camp near at Moreton

Moreton has an interesting pioneering history sitting on the Wenlock River - which way back when was called the Batavia. It was a bit of an eeery night as the burn off came towards the station and stopped suddenly with the back burn and fire meeting each other. It's a sight we've become comfortable with and used to over the last month or so travelling across the north of Australia. 

Heading off the next day were 20 odd guys doing a ride on motorbikes all from WA heading north towards the tip. We were heading for Chilli Beach. With quite a few stops along the way - we pulled into Lockart River about 3ish. This time the kids did notice and comment on the surrounds and conditions of this settlement. Driving into these settlement areas continues to bother me - and I know that this reaction is all about me and my discomfort seeing areas this way.

The squalor, the lack of pride in the areas and homes, the strewn rubbish, the mangy dogs, the feeling that we are intruding and the evident cultural divide. It's not somewhere where you feel like you want to hang around. It's not that you feel unsafe, it's the feeling of being an intruder and not welcome in this place - this is my perception and not necessarily the reality. These thoughts and feelings have been exacerbated for me by a book I've been reading which is essentially a memoir of a mid 20's woman's journal of 14months at Maningrida in Arnhem Land, titled Balanda. Balanda is the Aboriginal word in Arnhem Land for a non-aboriginal person, Bining refers to Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land. I picked it up at the Kowali Info centre at Jabiru.

My nutshell outcome is this - I have no idea how Australia can help to improve the health and wellness of Indigenous populations and that really breaks my heart as many of these people overall know more about country and Australia from there ancestors and own life experiences than perhaps we ever will as a nation. Any opportunity in different towns and communities, I've asked about the tribes and cultural differences between between Bining and Balanda - and interestingly the majority of answers and yes it was a very small cohort to start with is - that Aboriginal people are the only ones who can choose to change....and by this I mean they are the only ones who can take pride in themselves, there communities and their country...so after this shocked me a bit again and perhaps  - maybe that is some of the answer? 

And not all settlements are like Lockart River - some tribes or clans are very different to here - such as Pormpuraaw who many people have suggested are really making a go of things with employment and health. Others like Arukun may be similar to Lockart River - some opinions then continue to say that this may be due to multiple clans being forced to live together when areas near Weipa were developed by non-Aboriginal Australians way back when, this is not conducive to harmonious communities.  This is purely a result of observation and conversations with people living in these communities on the road as we've travelled and in no way is intended to offend - it's having the conversation from a personal and non-political perspective. So my question then is..... are non-Aboriginal Australians enabling Indigenous Australians to not grow within their communities as programs and implementation of programs and funding is being done in a Balanda way - not a Bining way?? Admittedly, this was one of the Mary Ellen Jordans questions from the book and one I had thought of as we travelled through Kakadu and a snippet of Arnhem Land. And so the questions continue - my only hope is the that Indigenous Australians have the opportunity to grow abundantly in all aspects of their lives - whatever that means for them. It's a bigger issue than I ever thought it was........infinite love and gratitude to learning and having these conversations. 

So getting back on track - next stop was Chilli Beach only 29kms or so from Lockart River! We knew it would be incredibly blustery and we were prepared for there being some rubbish on the shores which we had heard from a few people - however we were not prepared for what it would be actually like. The photo below shows you how incredibly divine and picturesque this remote part of Australia is. 

Once we were out of the car - the first thing we could smell was a rotting stench of some kind and we think it may have been some seaweed on low tide, as well as rotting coconuts and then the rubbish. Once we'd had a walk around on the beach it became evident that it was not safe for any of us to walk around without shoes or go near the water for multiple reasons. Broken glass, hard plastics, old thongs, plastic rings from plastic bottle, paper, rubber pieces, dead oysters and oil slicks in the water in loads of different colours. This really effected the kids and Eva especially - such a stunning natural wonder with rubbish that of which about 90% comes in with tides from neighbouring foreign countries - none of us had ever seen anything like this before. 

Chilli Beach

People have tied up thongs in preparation for the Aug clean-up

Oil slick on parts of the beach - all the oysters were dead on the rocks

So much rubbish washed up on the shore line

Every August Ironrange NP has a clean up week which is actually next week Aug 11-15 where they pick up all the rubbish, weigh and catalogue the rubbish and record it. Approx 5 tonnes is picked up off Chilli Beach each year. Had we heavy duty plastic gloves and bags we could have helped clean up a patch -as Eves was keen to do so - but we didn't have any of that and didn't want to add rubbish being picked up into flimsy rubbish bags and stack more plastic on the beach. Needless to stay we only stayed a night before moving on. Looking over and above this the beauty of the area is gorgeous and energy wise feels a very sad place.

Portland Road old jetty site

We had a long 150km drive out of Chilli beach - about 3 hours and we then continued our descent south - this time to Musgrave Roadhouse. We came through Archer River again for a late breaky and then Coen before arriving at Musgrave. With these places being a first in best dressed kind of camping arrangement - it's always good to arrive about 3pmish if you can.

Huges had a cracking yarn with a gorgeous young guy who was heading north to Coen and starting a new job. Huges popped over to ask him about his trailer, did he make it ? How long did it take him ? Checked out the wheels and rims etc - so incredibly cute and gorgeous !! And the young dude in his early 20's stood and yarned for ages - so lovely to capture the moment with a camera !! We also met a hilarious guy from NSW near Tenterfield I think, his name is Plucka - as his surname is Duck ( Plucka Duck - Hey Hey it's Saturday - you all with me here??) He came over to chat because we had NSW number plates - a Charolais breeder who knew Mick Millner from our area - small world yet again ....we won't forget our yarn with Plucka !!

Huges talking trailers with this young guy on his way to Coen

He built the trailer too...

And just to declare that every photo Hugo has been in he had his Carcoar Show shearers singlet on - it has been washed multiple times during the time in this post. So Musgrave to Bloomfield beachcamp was an absolute day of contrasts. In a bit over 4 hours we'd gone from dusty dry Musgrave to the tropics of Far North Queensland. The green and green and more green - just bliss, the damp, the touch of humidity, the green.......so very good ! Still can't swim at the beach though !! 

The Bloomfield track was a drive Stu was really keen to do and it was fabulous ! An incredibly picturesque drive and very steep in some sections with gorgeous river crossings too. We also saw 2 Cassowaries coming around one corner too - they are enormous and so mich bigger than Iever thought. The larger one would have been about 1.5m and the smaller about 1m - such beautiful vivid colours around their neck and heads. 

Bloomfield River near the beginning of the Bloomfield Track

The Bloomfield Track

Stunning Mangroves near Cape Tribulation

Cuties!! 

Extraordinary tree vines 

Cape Tribulation

Wow Cape Tribulation- beautiful skies and the beginning of massive beaches with shallow waves. This was not far from a great little cafe called the Turtle Rock Cafe and was the best coffee I'd found since Katherine, NT and holy shit that was a long time ago!! 

Stunning tree with massive yellow flowers - no idea what tree it is though!

We had a night at Port Douglas before arriving in Cairns, and of course did a little retail shopping at what I reckon is the most fabulous book shop and cafe in Australia! The Whileaway Bookshop and Cafe - and even better still the girls loved it !! Woo hoo so going to bookshops from now on is going to be a whole lot easier !!! So welcoming and cosy and kid friendly too with an enormous section for kids and young teens. Needless to say we had quite some time in here and walked out with books for the kids and some pressies too!! 

Whileaway Bookshop and Cafe, Port Douglas (photo from their FB page)

Back in Cairns it was only 2 sleeps until the VIP departed the Team Green on Tour crew. The girls headed back to Kuranda - woo hoo via the Kuranda Historic Rail and came back via the Skyrail over the mountains on a direct 7km run back into Cairns. With a great mooch around Kuranda and a fabulous brunch at a French Crepery too. The rail up was spectacular and without doubt a massive engineering feat! And then we swung our way back through the tropical treetops. 

Kuranda Historic Rail Train

On the way up at Barron Gorge

I can appreciate this little retail jaunt may not have been palatable to the boys - Stu had it sorted - a day of mountain biking !! So everyone was happy in how they spent their day ! The boys had a blast on some fantastic 'duallies' and cruised some hills near the base of the Skyrail. 

Meanwhile the boys went Mountain Biking

View from the railway trip over parts of Cairns

The VIP departed from Cairns after 2 and a bit weeks on the road. The middle row won't be the same without you for the rest of this trip - Huges and Mum get the giggles up and then the contraband comes out .....again !! Such great fun and so pleased we can all still fit in the Prado with the 6 of us!! 

Seeing off the VIP from Cairns

Paronella Park

Ok so now.....Paronella Park. If you come to Far North Queensland and love an amazing visionary story of an incredible family full of energy and resilience not to mention extraordinary castle ruins and tropical gardens - then this is an absolute not negotiable place to visit on the list !! It's just south of Innisfail and it was amazing....was it busy yes ....was it exceptionally well run...yes! First of all here is the website link.......there is too much info about it for me to remember and list! 

http://www.paronellapark.com.au

The current guardians Mark & Judy Evans (we found out later he welcomed us through the front entrance very enthusiastically!!) and family are doing an extraordinary job at ensuring Jose Paronella's dream does continue and wowsers they are doing tourism well. Included in our family pass was a free nights accommodation at The Paddock Caravan Park - behind the Mena Creek Hotel. We have also have 2 years to come back and visit using this same family pass - pretty awesome. On the website too are some Richard Fidler conversation hour interviews on their journey and how they came to purchase Paronella Park. 

The feel of this place was a calm and proud energy, that was so peaceful and tranquil and fascinating all at the same time. I'm halfway through the biography of Jose Paronella and the story of his family coming to north Queensland from Spain. It's brilliant and one of his incredible feats was Paronella Park having electricity created on site by a hydroelectric system about 25 years before communities in the same region. Apparently one of the first hydroelectric systems in Australia !! 

Part of the Grand Ballroom

The stage at the opposite end of the Grand Ballroom

The stories of movie nights, and balls, dance nights, wedding receptions, the opulence and decadence of the whole place really almost feels like Australia's bush-like-version of Downton Abbey with a Spanish twist. The old photos are divine and Jose's wife Margarita a Catalan women from Spain liked everything to be just so and had a passion for tropical plants.

A Garden full of castles, balustrades , flora & fauna

The treetops

The avenue of Kauri pines

An enormous Ullyses Butterfly on these cottage flowers

Feeding the fish and turtles

Sunning themselves

The flower of Ornamental Ginger

The Kauri Pine Avenue - about 84 years old so far

Greenies....bahahahaha !! 

Picnic seats down near the Mena Creek Falls

The boys did the Hydroelectric Tour at Paronella Park

Teresa Falls - named after Jose & Margarita's daughter

Walking bridge across the Mena Creek to Paronella

Our view from the Paddock Caravan Park - bliss ! 

I would absolutely love to go back and tour this garden and grounds again in time to come. The Evans family has some very grand plans to bring this place back to what it was like in it's hey day in the 1940's and 50's. Everything was easy here..shuttle buses took us up to the showers, the camping site backed onto the paddock above with Brahams grazing and dinner at Mena Creek was delicious with an awesome 80's playlist to sing at the table to as well - we all loved it !! 

Our plan was then to head towards Townsville and a friend who is also an Agronomist and lived in Mackay for some time suggested pulling into Mission Beach for morning tea on our way down south....4 nights later we are still here. We popped into the tourist info centre which Rob said are mostly run by retirees from the area. Well Geoff and Lorraine had us sorted in a jiffy. We booked a Great Barrier Reef day trip and a tour of a Cocoa Farm, as well as sorting accomodation out just a road away from the beachfront at Wongaling Beach. Just brilliant ! 

Mission Beach - first beach swim this trip!

Mr Whippy arrive at 1.30pm - the kids first experience music and all

New tea cup!!

It was so great for the kids to be able to swim at the beach...yes still some crocs in the creek estuaries and for the locals no one had seen a croc on the main beach areas in over 25 years. They didn't swim out far and so loved to just play and run and swim together....so great. The weather was fabulous our first day hence the amazing pics. Mission Beach is about halfway between Cairns and Townsville. Friday we visited Charley's Chocolate Factory. This was brilliant and yep another link below and yes you can order online too. 

http://www.charleys.com.au

The Cocoa industry is a really fascinating and emerging agricultural industry in Australia.  Cocoa trees can only be grown plus/minus 15 degrees from the equator. I think they mentioned that Mt.Edna near Mission Beach is 17.6 deg from the equator and environmentally the trees thrive here. Here we learnt about Chocolate, the history of Chocolate, their story on how they came to be here as ex-Melbournites, we went up the paddock and saw trees and cocoa pods and yep most importantly we tasted lots of chocolate samples!! Dairy free 70% cacao chocolate....so very very good. Charley's are the only Cocoa business in Australia to produce from tree to chocolate bar. It was highly informative and brilliant!

Cocoa Tree flower

Espaliered Cocoa Trees - for cyclone safety and more importantly for higher yields

Cocoa Pods

Caravelo Cocoa pods

Stunning Cocoa trees

Eva helping to break the husk off the seed

Sash separating the husk off the seed

Ta da - from Cocoa tree to Chocolate Bar - the only Farm in Australia to do so!!

Our day out on the Reef Goddess with Mission Beach Dive - was nothing short of spectacular! We got the water taxi across to Dunk Island to join the boat and crew taking us out. It was an international ship load of tourists with us being the only Aussie family on the boat! German, French, Dutch and Austrian couples and families were on board and the crew there was only one Aussie with a Brit, Americans and a Kiwi Skipper on board !! 

Beaver Reef, 20 nautical miles from Wongaling Beach

It was 1.5hrs out to Beaver Reef, just incredible out of the blue a sand bank comes up out of the water and the colour of the water changes into these incredible swirls of turquoise and shades of blue. There were people scuba diving as well as snorkeling on this trip and yep we were just dipping our toes in on the experience and were snorkeling the reefs for the day.

Eddy Reef, it's low tide and the coral is peeking through

It's like going into an aquarium, but you're in it and it's even bigger and better than you could ever possibly imagine. The fish and the colours are just like the brochures and ads and it's even more magical again. Every where you look there's something different to view and watch. And yes reflectively we should have hired and underwater camera for the day. Eddy Reef was about 20 minutes away and we ate a delish BBQ lunch whilst we headed over to Eddy Reef. This reef was really quite shallow as it was low tide and even with it overcast - the colours and diversity of fish and corals was divine. 

Heading back about 3pm we came across some humpback whales and the crew started to scurry with cameras so we knew this was exciting. What we saw was a competition pod with males chasing and vying for the interests of the females. Apparently this is not an overly familiar site to see and there was maybe 5-6 whales in this pod....a little further behind were about 6 dolphins too. These animals are majestic and enormous and even in a big boat they made you feel pretty small!! Such an amazing site for all of us on board and a finale to match an extraordinary day!!

Humpback whales migrating north - so majestic ! 

Happy snorklers !!! 

Sash was like a fish, duck diving most of the day in the water !

Competition pod of Humpbacks off the coast from Dunk Island

Dunk Island

Back at the jetty on Dunk - it was lovely waiting for the water taxi and having a wander. Mum, Dad, Rach and I came here when we were 10 and 12 for a weeks holiday. Dunk Island was hit by Cyclone Yasi in 2011 and has not been rebuilt - so it was quite eery walking up the beach and seeing beautiful units with strewn insulation, mould on walls, peeled back tin roofs and trees going up through them.

Reef Goddess moored at Dunk Island

Snorkeling we found out at the end of the day is pretty tiring stuff - nothing that beers, pizza and an early wouldn't fix !! Loving this part of part of Far North Queensland....so much to soak up and experience !!