Waterfalls and Calves

We spent a gorgeous thunderous day at Mungalli, which has beautiful waterfalls, open expanses of green pasture, and a dairy or two.

Enough said, enjoy the photos.....

School kids learn how to absail next to the waterfalls

These calves enjoying trying to lick my hand (their tongue is rough like sandpaper!)

Palm Cove

Palm Cove is a lovely beach with many fine restaurants and resorts, a wide sprawling beach, a long jetty, and a large resident crocodile which came by the jetty one night when I was fishing!!

The weather tends to be very wild here and the wind extremely strong.  There is a boat permanently tied to the jetty and is very storm-swept, scratched, dented and banged about.

The fishing here is a little 'so-so' - it's not necessarily difficult to catch a good-sized shark, but hooking a nice whiting or flathead or squid is a challenge.  I ended up 'cheating' by fishing with a small treble hook, and played catch-and-release for a while just for fun (the fish are always a bit small when fishing this way).

It is nice just to sit at the beach and watch kids row out on their little kyaks (beware of crocs though!!).  Jase made us a batch of delicious sangria and we wandered to the sand where he played some guitar as the breeze gently blew by.  Several international trousist discreetly sat closeby so they could hear his playing, and some Japanese tourists even took his photo (although he suspects it was because of the side-burns, not the guitar!).

During our stay we also enjoyed spending an evening at Apres, one of the many bars, and were impressed by the freindliness of the staff.  We came dead-last in the weekly trivia competition, but by the time the game was over, it didn't matter too much!

We also took some time out and drove past Gordonvale where we had dinner with an old work-colleague at his beautiful home, with his lovely friendly wife and son.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and night, the wine was to-die-for, and I enjoyed cooking pancakes for breakfast!

PalmCove camp ground (council-run) has a brand new amenities block which is bigger and better than any I've seen in the last 19 months... but securing a powered campsite is near-impossible; and it is simply too shady to collect enough sunlight for our solar system.  Therefore, 2 or 3 days is enough at Palm Cove if you are caravanning.

If you visit FN Qld, forget Port Douglas... come to Palm Cove.  It is smaller, has more restaurants and bars, and a lovely calm and 'local' atmosphere.  Just beautiful.

Jase catches a small hammerhead shark

Launching our boat off the beach at Palm Cove.

These trains carrying sugar cane are everywhere!

I'm a tourist!

It was a bit surreal, and maybe a little bit silly, to walk around a park to view wildlife which is abundant back home, such as koalas, kangaroos, parrots, owls, water birds and the like, but we donned our 'tourist' hats and got into the spirit of the day.

The wildlife zoo at Port Douglas also provides a full buffet lunch which was brilliant!  I must have eaten 5 helping of delicious barramundi......

This is a curlew, attempting to get comfortable on her 'nest' (you might be able to spot her eggs on the stones).  Curlews are abundant in this part of the country and make a sound like a girl being murdered - their shreik is unlike anything I've ever heard before!  Curlews are also part-nocturnal and will wake you in the your sleep with their screaming - they are quite unreal!

The almighty cassowary

Jabirus nesting, a rare and rather beautiful sight.  Apparently both parents raise the chicks together.

This little wallaby is looking at Jase, who is feeding him.  He gave Jase this loving expression for many minutes, which we thought was adorable!!!

Magpie Goose, an annoying and greedy bird.  And ugly too, don't you think?

Another little wallaby relishing in being fed.

Buffet-liscious

Cooktown, Daintree (sort of) and Port Douglas

Cooktown was our 'base' while we galavanted around Cape York, and where we left the caravan during our trip.

Cooktown is a very small town with a very big history.  There are many museums to view, and you can even check out the actual anchor from James Cook's Endeavour, as well as learn about the amazing journey it took to find and haul in the rusted, barnacle-laden piece of iron.

Cooktown also has a very beautiful botanical garden, and its visitor's centre has a permanent exhibition of Joseph Banks botanical illustrations which are stunningly beautiful and intricate.

We aso enjoyed dining here - the Bowls Club is packed to capacity every night, and Jase gorged on a feed of sticky beef ribs while I supped on a fishermen's basket.

We also tried fishing off the rocks near the wharf but only littlies were caught.

The flowers in the Cooktown Botanical Garden.

Botanical Gardens visitors centre

Can you spot the little bird?

After returning to Cooktown from the Cape, we ventured out for a day of drivign, and enjoyed the very windy and long track in the Misty Mountains and even got as far as the Daintree Village, but it was too late in the day for us to venture across the river via ferry to enjoy the Daintree itself.  The Village is a meek excuse of a town, being a caravan park and a string of "visitors centres" (aka souvenirs shops and tour booking offices).

The river at Daintree Village.

The ferry which leads you to the road to the Daintree

We also drove to Port Douglas, mostly just to see what all the fuss is about because it seems that lots of Melburnians talk about it.  Well, now that we've been, we can tell you that Port Douglas is chockers with resorts and middle aged rich people... and that's about it!!!  We enjoyed walking along the mariner - in many places you can walk right up to million-dollar boats and even touch them if you're game, and the posts and beams under the water are covered with scallops  (not that you'd eat any fish that lives in a mariner).

The boardwalk has a few nice restaurants and we spoilt ourselves to a delicious lunch: Jase ate perch while I chose the linguine marinara.   

The restaurant on the mariner at Port Douglas

Mmmmmm linguine marinara.....  *drool*

The view of Port Douglas from the lookout at the top of a nearby hill - tropical paradise

Well, back on the road... towards Palm Cove... and hopefully towards better fishing.....

The Great Dividing Range is a pain the bum to cross over with the caravan in tow... but check out the view!!!!