Eastcoast of North Queensland

A completely different climate. Coming from the interior, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, what I notice most, the light seems to have changed, softer, somehow more mellow, none of that 'pushing-you-into-the-pavement' kind of sunlight, bright, unrelenting and intense as I have experienced. Even the air seems to have mellowed, the dust gone, more humid, yes, but somehow more gentle...

From Ingham I travel lots of backroads toward the coast, then back again to the main highway, a bit further north, then again back to the coast to check yet another beach.

Sugar Cane wherever I look, then narrow gauge trains delivering the harvested cane to the Sugar mills.

I drive out to 'Forrest', then 'Taylors' and finally 'Lucinda Beach'. All of them with islands across the water, so no clear view of the ocean. I finally stop and stay the night at Cardwell, which is opposite the noth end of 'Hinchinbrook Island'.


A visitor arrived during the night, apparently feeling quite at home on my chair.

The following morning I drive further north again, this time out to the coast again the one with good views, which is of course, Mission Beach.

Looking across the water from Mission Beach

I remember the last time I was at Mission Beach, about 25 years ago when there was nothing there in the way of infra structure, like Resorts, Shopping Centres and, of course camp grounds, also charging premium fees.

I meet two German tourists enjoying their final week before having to return to Cologne and the up-coming European Winter. They both recommend a spot a little further up the coast which turns out really nice when I check it. I continue further north to Innisfail, where I turn in-land again to drive up to the Tablelands, in fact, this is part of the range of mountains and hills that form part of the coastline as I travel north.

Coming closer to Mission Beach

Gradually, the road takes me to higher and higher levels and with that the temperature gets ever more pleasant. Initially there is also sugar cane fields, gradually being replaced with fruit and vegetable growing fields. Parts of the Tablelands are in excess of 800m above sealevel, so I am in a different climatic zone. Green rolling hills, open views, rivers and waterfalls reminding me once again of some views I had seen in New Zealand on North Island. Simply beautiful!

I spend the night at the town of Atherton in a quiet campground, also notice that the night air is quite crisp as I wake up, looking for another blanket to keep me warm. I leave next morning, just after 8 am toward Cairns, but spot a sign about 20km along my way, pointing to my left, saying "Granite Gorge 19km". As I love rocks and rock formations I decide to go-have-a-look.

Lots of rocks to be climbed over


Above the gorge water is held back by a weir. There has to be a torrent of rushing water through the gorge but now only a gentle flow of water can be heard as I get deeper into the gorge.
It turns out quite interesting, with me having to climb all over Granite Rocks down a Gorge with quite a few Rock Wallabies with much shorter hind legs than those I have seen before.


Rock Wallaby with baby in pouch

I am also told by the Ranger that these are unique to the area and indeed Australia. They certainly look extremely agile jumping all over the rocks, many of them with tiny babies in their pouch.

Crossing Queensland to the Eastcoast

It sure gets hot in this part of Australia, even though its only Springtime. To keep myself cool I have adopted the approach, get up early, leave early to get over the driving before the heat of the day really sets in.

Only about 190km from Camooweal to the Copper City of Mount Isa, where I arrive before 10 am. I urgently need to buy some food items at the Supermarket before I book myself in at my 'old' camp ground. My next-door neighbors are four guys from Ballarat in Victoria, just pre-retirement age, each of them on a big Motorbike, one Harley Davidson, one British Triumph (2.2litre engine, about 520kg in weight) one Honda Gullwing and a Canadian 3-wheeler, 2 in front and one at the back. (They passed me on the highway about halfway back toward Camooweal.

Each of the boys had a tent to sleep in, all of them pulling a small trailer each with all their gear. We spent the evening talking. They left early the following morning while I stayed another night for an early-morning start.

The next bigger town on my way east is Cloncurry, yet another town that was founded on the back of the Gold rush in the late 1880s. The road from Mt. Isa to Cloncurry is quite interesting as the road crosses mountainous terrain, winding its way up and down, all the way to Cloncurry.


Hill country before Cloncurry

I continue on till I get to the Town of Richmond, Dinosaurus country. I visit the local display hall where some of the more interesting finds are on display, among other things, the most complete fossil of a Pliosaur and a fossil of an armored Dinosaur complete with fossilised skin. No, whats on display there are not replicas but the actual fossils.


A complete Fossil about 110 Million years old

The gentleman doing the guided tour through the display is Robert Ievers, 'Robbo' for short. Robbo actually owns and runs a cattle homestead and has been thoroughly enthused to finding more of these well preserved fossils. (He is also the owner since all these finds were on his property.)

He explains that the Pliosaur was discovered by him while mustering cattle, the tip of the head sticking out of the sand of the river bank, in fact, he tells, that his brother gave it a good kick which broke off a chunk but lead to them taking a closer look and discovering there was more. A team from the University came to dig it out, the most complete vertebrate fossil ever found in Australia.

Richmond is a tidy town, lots of friendly and motivated people that live there. Obviously, tourism is a source of income Richmond is also catering to, when the town established a man-made lake for swimming and other water sports.

Lake Fred Tritton at Richmond before sunrise


The road from Cloncurry to Charters Towers is flat savannah, golden grass to the horizon. Cattle country with the occasional bunch of horses.

Horses in cattle country, some where near Charters Towers


Even though I enjoy the wide open spaces, it also tends to get monotonous, hour after hour of unchanging views. I assume that a lot of this flat country gets flooded during the 'wet' (rainy season) as there are countless floodways forever crossing the highway. The state of the road is also quite bad with many dips in the road that only become visible at close range,so not enough time to slow down sufficiently. Result, quite often the feeling of total lift-off with subsequent bounce that stretches my vehicle suspension to the limit.

I take myself all around this Gold Mining Town on my bike. A lot of Gold has been recovered from there, the Mine still being operated today, albeit with modern methods and technology.

When I leave this morning, its on to Townsville, a bustling city in the Tropics. As I drive east, mountain ranges appear, the vegetation appears much more colourful, indicating a larger amount of rainfall as I get closer to the east coast. The trees that grow on the mountain ranges are quite green, growing right to the very top of hills which look a lot like the backs of giant dragons. It reminds me a lot of Hanalea valley on Kauaii where I once spent some time on my travels.

When I arrive at Townsville I visit the wife of an old mate George, who passed away a short time ago, to say hello and catch up. By 11am I am on my way again to drive to Ingham, about 100km north of Townsville.

The soft light at Ingham, the smoke is from the sugar mill.

It is mild and balmy, a breeze coming in from the Ocean, its partly cloudy, the light soft, not like the glare I have experienced in the interior of Australia.

The road eastward, Katherine to Three Ways and Camooweal in Qld.

Kimberleys, on the road to Katherine

I re-filled my tank at Katherine as soon as I arrived, then checked in at The "Red Gum Caravan Park" where I have now stayed several times since I started my travels across Western Australia. Lisa at the reception remembers me, gives me a great site in the shade of a big tree, naturally with power. It is quite hot and surprisingly, also humid, so my aircon is going to keep me cool till nightfall, thanks to available electricity. I have also bought a bit more food as I intend to leave early before the head of the day sets in.

I am on my way by 6.30am on the highway that will take me south toward Three-Ways, where the highway going West - East meets the Highway going North - South.

Driving out from Katherine

I have planned to stop at Daly Waters Roadhouse, about halfway down the North - South. I fill my tank again and decide to continue further south as the place looks like a real dustbowl with the wind kicking up red clouds of bulldust.

On my way north in June/July I had stopped at a Homestead Banka Banka that I thought was very nice. When I get there two hours later, I find out that they had a fire with two burned out vehicles in their caravan park. They were closed so I had to find another stay. Forty km south is Three-Ways Roadhouse, so I decide to drive on and book myself in for the night. I am quite surprised to find my Telstra phone and Internet working, so at least I can stay in touch. The drive south has been uneventful, except that I saw a Wallaby mother with her baby behind her, both hopping across the road ahead of me. The baby was quite small but seemed to bounce across just like mum.

The road south is lined on both sides with medium sized trees, perhaps 10m tall, then undergrowth and yellow dry grass. As a result there is no view and driving does become tedious as the picture around me does not change much at all. What I had planned as a three hour drive then had turned into six and a half hours by the time I got to Three-Ways.

Again I leave about 7.30am even though it had been a rather cool night.

On my way to Camooweal Qld.


The scenery along the highway east is similar to yesterday, except there is more yellow grass and the bushes a bit shorter, a slightly better view then yesterday. About 120km west of Camooweal the land opens out into vast Savannah grassland, fenced either side of the road, occasionally cattle also become visible but its yellow/golden grass as far as I can see in any direction.


Slowly turning into cattle country...

About 60km west of Camooweal there is an accident where a Caravan has come off the road. Several vehicles have stopped. I ask, as I pass if I can be of any help, but am told everything is under control.

When I arrive at Camooweal I book myself in at the roadhouse, yes, will need electricity to keep cool.

Broome, Fitzroy Crossing and again at Kununurra

Before leaving Broome I visit an Auto Electrician to have my House Batteries checked as they sometimes seem to not hold enough power, but they came up looking good. I leave Broome at 8.30 in the morning. I am a long way north on this continent, so by about 10am its time to wind up the window and turn on the air conditioning. Fitzroy Crossing is located on the Fitzroy River that seems to still have water. I stop for the night at a now almost empty caravan park that had been overflowing on my way through west two months earlier.

View from the road looking south east near Fitzroy Crossing


Well, its getting too hot up north and most travellers are heading south. I am going east, want to cross the continent again before the buildup to the wet. Darwin, I am told has already had some rain, so its a good thing I am not going there on my return trip.

I leave Fitzroy Crossing early next morning for Halls Creek, where I stop to re-fuel. It turns out they have a powerfailure at the only Petrol Station, so I wait (with quite a few other travellers) as we are told it will be fixed in ten minutes. They forgot to add that its ten minutes Halls-Creek-Time. So after waiting 2 hours I decide to drive on to Turkey Creek, another 170km ahead and I know I have enough fuel to get me there. Its very hot at Turkey Creek, so, after topping up my tank I decide to keep going all the way to Kununurra.

As I had left early that morning I also see two Kangaroos crossing the road ahead, then sitting by the side of the highway, watching me go past. A bit further up the road a snake has decided to stop smack in the middle of my side of the road. I try to avoid her and can see it in my rear vision mirror disappearing by the side of the road. Lots of cattle crossing the road too in several places as I continue on. Always wise to slow right down when I see cattle by the roadside, as they are quite unpredictable how they behave.

I am glad I decided to drive on to Kununurra as I get great views of the Argyle Ranges in the afternoon light, quite a spectacular sight, only available in the afternoon light from the westerly sun.

Getting closer to Kununurra, Argyle Range

I arrive at Kununurra mid afternoon at the familiar campground by the lakeside, with a great view through my rear window from my spot. My vehicle is very dusty again from the trip down to Eighty Mile Beach and from the many detours from road construction sites along the way. There is plenty of clean water, so next morning, before the heat of the day sets in I give it a good solid wash, then spend the largest part of the day at the pool.

View of lake before sunrise at Kununurra from camp ground.


After the long drive, the day before, I decide to spend 3 nights to rest, before travelling on to Katherine in the Northern Territory.

Finally, Back on the road

Even though I really enjoyed my stay in Sydney, visited friends and places, being in great company at all times, it was also exciting to get back to my Motorhome at Karratha.

The flight from Sydney to Perth took well over 6 hours due to strong headwind (6.5hrs. as against 3.5 hrs from Perth to Sydney.) The sky was partly cloudy coming across the Great Australian Bight, dappled small clouds forming black shadows on the water below, making it look like the patterns on a Leopard's fur.

14 Degrees at Perth, still partly cloudy, the connecting flight to Karratha left about 2 hrs later and as we gradually traveled north, the clouds got less and less, finally having the usual blue skies. As we taxied in from the runway I could see that my vehicle was still where I had left it a month ago, albeit a bit dustier then when I left. After re-connecting my vehicle battery, the engine started up just like every other day. I drove straight to Dampier to secure a spot for the night, then back to Karratha Woollies to re-fill my food supplies as I had left no food while I was gone.

The next day I do a bit of house cleaning and also wash away the dust outside - amazing to see that it is actually white underneath.

As I need to be back in Sydney in December for some medical treatment I decide to head east again before the wet season, toward Cairns, the Table lands and so much more of Queensland that I have not seen as yet. From there it will also be a much shorter distance to travel back to Sydney when the time comes.


Eighty Mile Beach just before sunset


The Beach is littered with sea shells


Spectacular sunsets on Eighty Mile Beach are an Every-Day-Scene.

I have stopped over at Eighty Mile Beach and arrived at Broome yesterday for a couple of day's rest before continuing on.


Heat Haze ahead on the horizon going toward Broome

Still seamless blue skies, Cable Beach looking as bright as I remember from my stay here in July. Temperatures are in the mid thirties every day but cooler at night, its great to live again in Shorts and sleeveless shirts to keep cool.


As you can see, this Fathers Day, water temp is 26 degrees C.