Our trip to Cape York begins

Leaving the caravan in storage in Port Douglas

This morning we finished packing up the caravan and took it to storage in Port Douglas. We are now travelling with the Patrol which has the tent and hopefully everything else we will need for our 2-3 week trip to the northern most tip of Australia. We intend to take the Old Telegraph track which is 4wd only and follow as many of the 4wd tracks as possible. This is a trip of some 2000 kms return to Port Douglas.

Queue for Daintree ferry

We took the road to Cape Tribulation stopping off at Newell Beach and Wonga Beach on the way. We also went into the village of Daintree just so we could have a look. Once back on the highway we met the queue for the barge across the Daintree River. This costs $12.50 one way and only takes a few minutes and about 15-20 vehicles can be transported in one trip. We wondered why there was a queue and soon found out - the barge was being assisted by two speed boats. Obviously there was a cable problem as the workmen were working on this on the side of the river.

Daintree ferry with aid of power boats

The trip through the Daintree National Park was really beautiful. We stopped off at the camping area at Noah's Beach for a picnic lunch and then walked into the beach at Cape Tribulation. This is a most beautiful part of the world. We then started along the Bloomfield Track (the road Peter and Roanne and Roger had taken on Friday). It was an interesting drive, requiring the normal letting down of the tyre pressures, and there were a number of creek crossings. We stopped at Wujal Wujal and walked into see the falls which are pretty impressive. The crocodile was again sunning himself on the same rock which Peter had seen him on last Friday. The town of Wujal Wujal is very depressed and it is quite sad to think that people are living like this in Australia.

Crocodile warnings everywhere

We had initially thought we would stop off at one of the camping facilities but decided to travel on into Cooktown. We stopped off at the Lions Den Hotel so that I could see this - our friends in Melbourne Heather and Tim had told us about this icon and it had to be seen to be believed. The camping facility looked good but wr de died to travel on. We passed the Black Mountains and these were most impressive. The mountains are covered in black granite boulders and are apparently the only mountains like these in the world.
We arrived into Cooktown just before 6 pm. This was a real mistake as we had to put up the tent and organize ourselves for the first time in the dark. Another lesson learned - arrive in the daylight! Still the tent went up easily and we were soon organized and dinner was cooked. We will stay in Cooktown a couple of nights before heading north.

DaintreeCape Tribulation information

Cassowary country

Cassowary sign!

 Lunch in camping area at Noah's Creek

 Cape Tribulation information

 Beach Cape Tribulation

First creek crossing Bloomfield Track

 Air down - Bloomfield Track

Facts about travelling in Aboriginal area

 Wujal Wujal River

 No crocs to be seen

Wujal Wujal Falls

Croc sitting on rock Wujal Wujal Falls

Wujal Wujal Falls

 Lions Den Hotel

Black Mountain National Park information

Black Mountain (granite)

 Close up of granite boulders

 Unique animals to Black Mountain

Time to go



Mangrove walk

On the Mangrove walk

Wednesday, 3rd August had arrived and this meant there was an airplane to catch. We had to leave Port Douglas by 10 am. The day started as usual with Zoe arriving for breakfast. Today she arrived in her nightie which was not normal. Her favourite dress was on our clothes line and she wanted and had to wear it. Unfortunately it had rained a little overnight but that didn't matter for Zoe - on went the dress regardless. Then Grandad had his last chance for a while now to make breakfast for his little granddaughter. The boys soon arrived and breakfast continued for a while. Roanne and Roger were very organized and the morning went smoothly. The children had plenty of time to run around and play with friends.

It is my birthday in a few days so the children enjoyed having kept a secret and gave me my birthday present. It is a lovely long sleeved red top and a short sleeved grey top. Roanne knows how much I feel the cold lately and the tops will be great when we are back in cold temperatures. We may not be able to speak with the family on my actual birthday as we will be somewhere remotely in Cape York.

 Mangrove walk

On the way to the airport Tim and Jake travelled with Peter and me. We talked about all the things they had done during their 15 day holiday and it was surprising the small detail they could remember. Of course Duncan's "Crocodile Rock" song came up and Peter and Tim enjoyed singing it over and over again. Not Jake though, he will never be an entertainer. They were keen to know if Duncan had made the song up so the Internet helped (while waiting at the petrol station) and Elton John's song was played. This is totally different to Duncan's version which we all agreed was much better.

Looking at crabs Mangrove walk

Soon after we saw a paddock with heaps of kangaroo. We decided that it must have been a farm or similar to have so many in one place at nearly 11 am and near suburbia as well.
We stopped at the Mangrove Walk on the way into the airport. This is an interesting board walk amongs the mangroves and takes about 15-20 minutes. We saw lots of the crabs, both red and blue ones, and the sign boards explained how important the mangroves are to Cairns as
cyclone protection. It was really interesting and a good opportunity for the children to stretch their legs and have a run before boarding the plane for the trip home.

Crab in the Mangroves

Once at the airport the travelers changed out of their summer clothes and into warmer clothes as they arrive back in Auckland at 8.30 at
night and it will be a totally different temperature than Cairns. It was sad to say good bye but holidays have to come to an end.

For Peter and I it was back to Port Douglas and time to start packing up as we move out of camp on Thursday to commence our Cape York trip

Tim putting back on winter clothes

Zoe's koala teeshirt

Jake in his snake teeshirt taking the bag

Tim pushing the trolley

 Zoe helps out

On way into airport

  We will certainly miss the company of the children and Roanne and Roger.

The last day of the Lumsden holiday



Inside the church Port Douglas foreshore

 Roger and Peter Cooking Dinner Glengarry

Tomorrow our daughter and son in law and three grandchildren return to New Zealand. Today was the last chance for them to catch some sun and warm weather. Unfortunately it was quite windy again which was most annoying. The boys still had birthday money left to spend and Zoe had been promised a koala soft toy so we made our way down to Habitat Wildlife. Jake chose a great book on Australia's deadliest animals and started quoting us facts and figures. He is so like Cam! Tim took some time choosing - he seemed to think that a book on koalas would be a good idea but then there was this rubber black headed python which he could see he would have a lot of fun with, so that was his final choice. Fortunately the koala Zoe wanted was still in stock so the purchases were made. The children have all chosen an Australian teeshirt - Jake's with a python, Tim's with koala and Zoe pink with koala on it. They are now set with their souvenirs of their holiday.
Next stop was the marina so that we could feed the fish with the stale bread. When we had visited last week the water was very clear and the fish were jumping out of the water. Not today. Heaps of bread had to be thrown in and only a few came to the surface and the water was very murky. We then went for a walk along the waterfront and looked at the boats and had some time at the playground.

We spent the afternoon at the camping ground while Roanne and Roger packed up. We have new neighbors from Seymour in Victoria and they have kids as well so there were new friends - this is the great part of staying in a camping ground with children. We enjoyed a lovely BBQ dinner with huge T-bone steaks and we had some glow sticks in the caravan so the children had a lovely time playing with them in the dark. It made a special last night.



Dinner in the communal dining area Glengarry

Roanne & the Kids playing cards before dinner

Jake is eight!

 Jake's birthday

His present of a model military vehicle

Jake feeding the cassowary

Today is Jake's birthday and he was delighted to get a large space Lego set from Mum and Dad, Tim and Zoe. He also loves games of various types so they gave him a game requiring strategic thinking to complete. He soon got the hang of that! We gave him a model of one of the military vehicles that Malcolm, his grandfather, has on the farm. He was also able to choose what he wanted to do for the day and had chosen to visit Hartleys Crocodile Adventures. Tim and Jake had been given $25 from Pauline and John for their birthdays. Tim had spent $16 of his on his photo with the koala taken at Wildlife Habitat and Jake had decided to wait until his visit to Hartleys to have his photo taken with a snake or a crocodile.

Hartleys was about twenty minutes drive south of Port Douglas and we wanted to be there by 9.30 am for the cassowary feeding so we headed off before 9 am. The cassowary are fed a mixture of large pieces of fruit and vegetables with a calcium powder. All three children soon gained confidence to feed the cassowary through the fence. We then went to see the turtles and some of the crocodiles.

Crocs

We went on the 10.30 am boat cruise. The driver's name was Duncan and he had personality plus. He chatted, told jokes, sang, danced and generally entertained the tourists extremely well. He needs a medal for customer service. Besides pointing out the various crocodiles and explaining their habitat a feed of chicken was placed in a tree for a large eagle to swoop down and collect. He swooped a number of times and it was pretty amazing. Zoe soon had Duncan's song and dance of the "Crocodile Rock" off pat and enjoyed practicing this to show off to family and kindy on her return to NZ. Tim particularly liked Duncan's jokes and Jake, well he just absorbs the facts. He is so like Cam in this respect.

Turtle

Lunch was next on the agenda but we all decided to give a miss on the crocodile burgers!

Hartleys also has a commercial crocodile farm operating so we went on a farm tour to have the operation explained to us. Hard to believe
that $75,000 worth of goods can be made from the skin of one crocodile.

We then went to a crocodile show - the staff certainly know how to entertain. This was very well done. Next was the snake encounter. Tim

 Tim & Zoe take it all in

volunteered to help but when it came to having the snake put around his neck he thought the guy meant the most venomous snake and decided against that. He in fact had meant a different snake and then Tim was annoyed with himself for not understanding and missi ghavibg his photo taken with the snake for free! Hey he is only six!

Now it was time for Jake to have his special photo taken with his birthday money. He chose to have a snake and the photo turned out really
well.

Venomous snake demo

Still time at the end of the day for a visit to the kangaroo for feeding, and also the education area to look at the snakes and various lizards
etc. The last visit of the day was to the koala enclosure - they never loose their appeal.

 Just want Jake wanted for his birthday

It was a great day and on the way back to camp both Tim and Zoe fell asleep. Of course a birthday is not fully celebrated without a cake, and Jake had chosen to have steak and macaroni cheese (an unusual request and combination, but it was his birthday) so while Roanne and Roger went shopping for a cake and candles, dinner was prepared. Other campers soon joined in to sing happy birthday as Jake blew out his candles.

To market, to market

Port Douglas has markets on Sunday morning so it was time for Roanne and I to have some time out so we went to the market for a couple of hours. This is set up in the waterfront at the end of town. There is a beautiful church in this area. Apparently it was shifted to the site in 1988 from a neighboring street and completely renovated. It is now a most popular choice for weddings. On Sundays the market stalls completely surround it. We weren't the big spenders of the day but enjoyed our time. The temperatures have averaged around 25 degrees every day so have been very pleasant.

Stall at market

Back at the camp we decided to pack up and go down to the beach for the afternoon. Although the temperatures have been pleasant the mornings and afternoons have been quite windy which is very annoying, and then in the evenings the wind dies down and the evenings are warm and very pleasant to sit outside.

Lizard by tree beside caravan

We went down to the beach and it didn't take long for all three children to be playing in the waves. Roanne ended up wet to nearly her waist as she hadn't put her togs on and had to keep going out further and further into the water to remind Jake in particular to not go out too far. It was very tempting for him! Children and sand always encourages creative play and the afternoon soon went. Peter and Jake took off for a long walk along the beach which had it's adventures for both of them. The lifesavers were on the beach and we had chosen to swim between the flags. Before the afternoon was finished Zoe was sitting on the quad bike with the volunteers chatting away.

We have taken to cooking our dinner mainly down in the large open air kitchen at the camp. This area has good tables and chairs and is very communal. We have taught the children how to play last card, and Zoe likes "pairs" so the waiting time for dinner soon passes. Tomorrow is Jake's 8th birthday so he is quite excited.

 Zoe at Port Douglas beach

The boys Port Douglas beach

Tim and his hole

Not to be outdone - Zoe in the hole

Relaxation

After a very busy Friday we decided that we needed a couple of quiet days. On Saturday whilst Roanne and Roger, along with Tim, took to the shops and some local sightseeing for some time out, the rest of us stayed at the camping ground. Jake and Tim have made friends with a little boy, Slade, who lives in the camp so Jake and Slade kept themselves busy. Zoe, being Zoe, makes friends with adults and children alike and soon is chatting along or playing with someone. We all had a laugh the other day when she told her mother not to talk to strangers when Roanne had a conversation with a lady on one of the board walks. Zoe certainly talks with strangers!

Jake's attempt to have fresh coconut

Jake and Slade had found a coconut and Jake was very keen to taste the milk. When they were told that they couldn't use the unit kitchen knives to try and break the outer husk (I was sure a visit to hospital was next on the agenda) Peter came to the rescue with an axe and a saw. They loved their first taste of fresh coconut.

Grandad helps

Jake pours out the milk

 Breaking in

The first taste

 Jake and friend Slade with the coconut

The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the camp. It was time for relaxation! We all enjoy playing games so played Greed with the children, Roger taught Jake how to play clock solitaire and Gill and Jake played best of three a number of times. Of course Five Crowns is popular with the adults but at this stage we haven't taught the children as it is a bit complicated for Zoe.