Cairns and back to Airlie Beach

27 July to 11 August, 2008

Once again, bookings essential ....

Lake Placid Caravan Park 15 kms north of Cairns was our next home for 5 days.  Here we caught up with Ballarat friends Bev and Bob Miles who were travelling for 3 months and had come inland before hitting the coast at Townsville.   Liz's sister Jan and brother in law Ian were caravanning too.  We had been in contact with them since they left  Denmark south of Perth in early June and we were finally catching up in Cairns.  It was great to see everyone and hear their stories of their travels. 

Flying, 175 km above the ground ....

The park is in walking distance of  Lake Placid and at the base of Barron Gorge National Park.  Up the road is the Skyrail where you catch a gondola cabin and glide just metres above the rainforest canopy on a 7.5 km journey.  Along the way you can get off at Red Peak Station and take a walk along the 175 metre rainforest boardwalk which meanders through the tropical undergrowth with beautiful tree ferns, climbing wait-a-while palms and a 400 metre tall Kauri Pine.  It's then back on the gondola to the next station, Barron Falls.  The Barron Falls are 260 metres tall and the waterfall tumbles water into the Barron Gorge.  You finally reach Kuranda, a "Village in the Rainforest.

Kuranda, tourist Mecca ....

Jan and Ian drove our Prado to the Kuranda village and then after coffee with them and a quick walk around Kuranda we proceeded to visit the Atherton Tableland while Jan and Ian returned on the Skyrail.   The main street of Kuranda is bordered by beautiful strangler fig trees which provide much needed shade and give Kuranda a unique tropical appearance.

The Coffee Works, Don't miss a visit ....

The best part of our Atherton Tableland visit was the Coffee Works at Mareeba. This place was such good fun probably because you could sample 21 different blend coffees, 4 teas, 12 chocolates and 3 liqueurs while discovering over 2000 coffee treasures, mainly coffee percolators dating back to the 1700's.  It was so well done and amusing. There was an area for the "Miss America Sex Pots" contest, and another called "The Snob Pots".  These coffee percolators all spoke about their lives.  Well worth going to visit.  We both came away after 2 hours feeling a bit over indulged.

Golf & Seafood Dinner ....

Bob and Bev and us had a game of golf (our first since Port Macquarie) at Half Moon Bay Golf Club.  This was a really interesting course cut out of the rainforest,  plenty of water and crocodile warning signs as well.  It was quite challenging and very picturesque. The boys beat the girls on the last hole.

Each night the six of us got together for drinks and a BBQ.  One special night Bob and Bev had visitors from Ballarat and the eight of us enjoyed a seafood night.  Rob did his speciality calamari dish.  Ian did his avocado and prawns.  We had kebabs of atlantic salmon, prawns and scallops followed by nannygai fillets, tossed salad, and of course, a good bottle of wine.  What better way to spend a balmy night up north.  

And on to Mission Beach ....

We were leaving Cairns on Friday 1 August to meet Kevin and Kerin from Townsville, who moved from Melbourne 2 years ago and are now into caravanning.  Jan and Ian were travelling on north to explore and maybe reach Cooktown and Bob and Bev were leaving for Port Douglas so we all said our goodbyes. 

We travelled 160 kms south to the Mission Beach Hideaway Caravan Park.  This is one of our favourite places up north. With a dense rainforest backdrop, palm lined sites, a fantastic tropical pool and across the road to the beach this is one of the most picturesque caravan parks along the coast.  We were greeted by Keith who has been guiding caravans onto their sites since our last visit in 1999.  He is an ex truckie and a character and you do what he says.  He does not make a mistake in his guidance either.  Our site was next to the pool and BBQ's and Kerin and Kevin were next to us.

A relaxing time ....

The beautiful beach across the road is lined with coconut palms and is pristine with a view out to Dunk Island.  The weather for our stay here was perfect sunshine around 25 degrees and cool nights for sleeping.  The Mission Beach village is so natural while South Mission Beach has the big Woolworths and is more built up.

It was a very relaxing time here.  We walked the Licuala Fan Palm Walk looking for the famous cassowary birds but only found their huge droppings.  They must be big birds, that's all we can say!  We also walked the Kennedy Walking Track, along the edge of rainforest where it meets the sea.  Of course, the views were again pretty good.  Each small town seems to have a market day on either Saturday or Sunday and for once, we were in town on the right day.  Kerin and Liz wandered around and found a lady selling seafood, and that night we enjoyed  barramundi and prawns on the BBQ.   It was great to have a few days of lazing around and feeling lazy so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Mission Beach.  We will definitely return here especially when the weather is perfect.

Balgal Beach, a nice interlude on the way to Townsville ....

It was time to move on and head towards Townsville.  Along the way the four of us called into Balgal Beach, a quiet spot on the coast just north of Townsville for lunch.  Balgal Beach has a 48 hr free camp ground right on the water and next to the only shop...the Fisherman's Landing... which serves battered barra and chips.   We stopped and had  lunch washed down with an icy cold XXXX beer. This a great spot for an overnight stop with clean toilets, beautiful parkland setting and a long sandy white beach. After lunch it was onto Kevin and Kerin's Townsville home for a home stay.

Townsville, with friends ....

Oh to be in a house for a few days with a bathroom, toilet and various rooms to wander in, plus a pool and patio to sit around.  We couldn't quite make the plunge into the pool even though the weather was a nice 25 degrees.  Rob and Kevin played golf at Townsville Golf Club and Liz enjoyed the time playing "lady of the house".  We finished off our nice break on The Strand, an esplanade along the water in the heart of Townsville where we had dinner. It was then back in our "holiday house on wheels" and our return visit to Airlie Beach for five days.  We had arranged to meet some people back there for a game of golf and dinner at the sailing club. 

Weather forecast, 25oC for the next 5 days, time for a cruise ....

With the idyllic weather that was forecast, we decided to take a day cruise around the Whitsunday's and what a fantastic day.   Our choice was the 85 foot catamaran "Camira".  This giant catamaran capable of 30 knots was an amazing piece of technology made completely of carbon fibre including a pre-bent carbon fibre mast which towered 110 ft above the main cabin.  Our day started with a 7:00 AM pick up from the resort and a we returned to the resort at 6:30 PM.   Included in the tour price was morning tea,  BBQ lunch, afternoon tea and as much beer and wine as you could consume. 

Snorkelling, then morning tea ....

Our trip took us to Daydream Island to pick up additional passengers then to Hook Island for snorkelling.  From there we sailed to Whitehaven Beach, a 6 km long beach on Whitsunday Island where we had the opportunity to stretch our legs, play ball games or just watch the fish swim close to the shore. During our walk along the beach we saw stingrays, small reef sharks and an abundance of fish within 10 feet of the shore.  If you walked into the water the stingrays come up to you for an inquisitive look.  On the cruise we made new friends, Ross and Marlene from The Patch in the Dandenongs.  They were undertaking a similar East Coast trip to us.  Together we had the most enjoyable and memorable day.  If you have the opportunity to visit Airlie Beach this cruise is not to be missed.  An absolute highlight of our trip.

Whitehaven Beach with cruise boats moored at the south end of the beach ...

Whitsunday Sailing Club for dinner ....

The sailing club is a little gem at Airlie Beach, known more to the locals than tourists and it is a great place to watch the sunset and have dinner.  Reasonable prices, great meals and a balmy night made this an ideal setting for dinner with people we met at the resort.  Marilyn, Peter, Sandra and Billy shared a great night at this ideal location overlooking Airlie Beach.   The following day we travelled to Proserpine and played golf with Marilyn and Peter at Royal Proserpine Golf Club.  This is a very nice country course with a few bunkers and water hazards but quite difficult 'upside down saucer' greens.  We reluctantly departed Airlie Beach on Monday August 11 to head south and into the cooler weather.

 Return