North toward Cape Tribulation

 Car Ferry into Cape Tribulation

This is my third visit to this tropical Paradise that always reminds me of places like the Hawaiian Islands, or Bali with its mountain range on my left and the ocean on my right on my way north th Cape Tribulation.  On both of my previous visits I have been blessed with sunshine, something I have mostly taken for granted, so this time around the road to the lovely campground is not dusty as I remember, but wet with some muddy puddles in places.  Never the less, its a good spot, just a few metres from the beach, separated from the water only by a fringe of tropical rain forest.

About Cape Tribulation... 

The weatherman had forecast rain for the Cape York Peninsula (but having come now for thousands of kilometres from the more central parts of the continent, the last rain I had experienced has been on the drive toward Tom Price near Karijini National Park, many weeks ago), rain is not an important consideration.

 Road into the Rain Forest

This morning I awake with rain drumming onto my roof, a nice feeling being in a dry and warm place while listening to the sounds of heavy tropical rain outside.  When I get up and look outside I can see that we are surrounded by water all around us, water standing on the lawn, our floor mats outside afloat.  More rain on the way, according to the radio.  Now we all know why this area is also referred to as The Wet Tropics.

 In the Wet Tropics all plants flourish

We decide to leave the area and head for the hills of the Tablelands where we hopefully meet blue skies yet again.  The rainforest is lush and wet, the river crossing on the returntrip to the ferry now carries about 30-40cm of water across the road after last night's rain.  The road back toward Cairns is mostly wet too, even though the sky looks as if it wants to clear for a little while.  When I stop at a shopping centre I get drenched just walking about 20 m before I get under cover again.  I head back to Mareeba where I am to meet Eck and Suki again.

Life (they say) Goes On.

Karumba is a small coastal town, primarily geared to the sports fishermen that come into town to cast their lines into the local waterways, usually from small Aluminium boats with outboards mounted at this stern, commonly referred to by Australians, a Tinnie.  Nice and relaxed atmosphere with a cooling breeze near the ocean, so I stay for 3 nights.

 The beach at Karumba with a large sandbar a little way out

Lots of birdlife in the shallow ponds by the road.  A big Brolga on the left.

My journey east takes me back from Karumba to Normanton and from there to the town of Croydon, yet another Gold mining town of yesteryear.  The area I am travelling in is called The Goldfields and most of the townships here have their origins from the Gold Mining days back in the 1880s so there is also a bit of history on display from those days.  I stop again at Croydon for 2 days before driving on to Georgetown both Gold mining towns.

more...

Back to warmer climate again at Normanton and Karumba

After all that broken glass, our next stop was Barkly Homestead, our last stop for now, as I am driving west to Camooweal, just inside the Queensland border.  I am looking forward to having my windows replaced at the mining town of Mount Isa, but put in a stop by the river at Camooweal.  It turns out another rather cool night requiring that extra blanket to keep me warm during the night.

The following morning I am on the road again heading for Mount Isa.  Naturally, my first stop is at a company that can replace my windscreen, unfortunately they are unable to replace my rear window (1650 x 800mm) which is quite large.  After calling the company in Sydney, that manufactures my Motorhome, I am advised that this glass panel would have to be brought in from New Zealand!!  That certainly is not a workable option.

I am advised though that another company nearby could replace it with a plastic alternative, all work to be done in the morning.
 More about Mount Isa...

I leave Mount Isa around 12.00 noon after I pickup my vehicle and re-fuel at a more 'civilised' price ot $1.29 per litre of Diesel.  I am always amazed at the often huge differences in price here; yes, I am driving in some pretty out-of-the-way places, but still can't see that on a main highway the price of fuel can be $1.99 per litre, particularly when you note that the road trains carrying the fuel go right by their front door every day anyway...

I briefly stop at Cloncurry, the old Gold Mining Town to top up my fuel tank before continuing to Normanton.  I must say that every person I met at Mount Isa was friendly and courteous, lots of smiles from everyone.  Cloncurry seemed to have the exact opposite: grumpy and unfriendly the lot, obviously not a great encouragement to wanting to stay.
More on Cloncurry...

I have planned to stop somewhere by the roadside but its difficult to find an area that is not right along the highway, so I keep going on to Normanton and from there, after 2 nights rest to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria.  Its nice and warm again, which I really love.
more about Normanton...

Scherben bringen Glueck!! (I hope)

If you can't read German, the heading above means that broken glass will bring Good Luck.  The last 300 km or so have been on one-lane highway (the Tableland Highway) that goes south from Heartbreak Hotel to the Barkly Homestead on the east/west Barkly Highway.

Very little traffic on that road (just as well) because you need to make way for oncoming as well as passing traffic to avoid collisions.  I was just settling into my driving routine, about 50km south of Heartbreak when I saw two  4-wheel drives come up in the distance behind me.  As they were going a bit faster than I was, I moved over to the left onto the dirt to let them pass, which they did at quite a pace.  They had also moved onto the dirt on the right, throwing lots of rocks sideways.  I did hear the click in the back and another pang as a stone hit my windscreen, resulting in a crack running up from the bottom centre about 20cm long.  When I looked into my rearvision mirror before going back onto the centre lane of highway, I discovered that my large rear window had totally disintegrated, smashed into thousands of little pieces.  Nothing I can do about it now, hundreds of miles from any township, so I keep going and pull out at the next rest area, about 70km down the road where I wait for Eck and Suki.

 Just after the smash...

The temporary fix until the window gets replaced

...and Thank you Eckhard for being there!!

Lucky for me, he has a large tarpauline which we cut and glue it over the hole with packaging tape where once glass had filled in the window.  Also, Lucky its not raining!!

I intend to be at Mount Isa in a few days and hope that everything can be repaired there

Toward Borroloola

We leave Pussycat Flats on Tuesday morning driving south to Katherine once more to collect mail and to re-stock the fridge.  As it turns out, the mail was not there but shopping was successful with enough cold beer back in the fridge, vegetables, meat etc. all done.  Monday has been apublic holiday in the Northern Territory (Darwin Cup Day), therefore slow mail delivery.  We are staying at the "Red Gum Caravan Park" again before going to the local RSL for dinner, a reward from Eckhard to me for having done a lot of cooking for all of us.  Thank you Eck, it was an excellent Barramundi dinner!!!

 About Borroloola...

The following morning when I go to the Post Office again, I have resolved to have my mail forwarded to Mount Isa, surely plenty of time until I get there in a few weeks.  As it turns out, my mail has arrived, all is sweet.

The sky is overcast this morning as I drive south west toward Daly Waters where we are planning to spend the night.  It is also much cooler than the last few weeks, a perfect day for a comfortable drive although some drizzle rain at various spots but not lasting.  There is blue sky again on the southern horizon and by the time I get to Daly Waters Pub the sun is back.

 Little River campsite

After a nice and cool night I leave the Stuart Highway and turn eastward on the Carpentaria Highway toward Borroloola.  About half way, this Highway is single lane, which means, only one vehicle can drive on the bitumen going either direction.  When I encounter oncoming traffic, I have to move over onto the dirt with my two left wheels, the oncoming vehicle doing the same, so there is plenty of space to pass.  Because you are both on the shoulder of the road, there are usually lots of rocks in your path, so its important to slow right down as you pass to avoid windscreen damage.  I pass about a dozen 4-wheel drive vehicles coming the other way as well as 3 Road Trains which have to stay on the bitumen.  Naturally you get right off the road to let them pass.

 The road to Borroloola and 'Backburning' by the roadside

Roadtrain approaching I am waiting by the side of the road

There has also been quite a lot of backburning done with plenty of black, often still smoldering tree trunks by the roadside.  I must say, I quite enjoyed today's drive, away from all the traffic on the main highway.  By early afternoon I pull out at "Little River Rest Area" about 10km west of the "Heartbreak Hotel" at Cape Crawford.  The Rest Area is by the side of a Billabong, really peaceful, perfect to sit and read after a more difficult Sudoku.