19th August

First stop this morning is The Archways. This is a walk through a semi open caves system. Discovering open top caves where the sunlight streams through and small dark tunnels and crevasses. We walk through, under (on our hands and knees ) and around spectacular formations and gaze skyward to see openings shaded by trees, bright blue sky and patches of calcite and cave coral decorating the walls. Very impressive cave system. Back down the road we stop at the aboriginal art site before turning west and then north heading for Palmerville station and on to Maytown. For the first part we travel through limestone bluffs like those that surround Chillagoe then it changes to more open land, creek crossings, river crossings, cattle grids, gates, and Station homesteads. The further north we get the more rugged the terrain.

We stopped for lunch by the side of the Mitchell River. A beautiful spot with large paper bark trees, sand banks and quite a well flowing small river. We enjoyed a tailgate lunch watching the river and enjoying the quiet and solitude.

Just after the Palmerville homestead we turned east onto the Maytown Road. This road has only recently been graded and so is easy going. It follows the top of the ridges as we wind our way into the old town. Up and down, left and right, the road rises steeply in front of us and we have to almost stop at the crest to see which way the down side goes. We reach a T Junction with no signs. Which way to go? We know we have to cross the Palmer River, one Crossing is pretty rough and one is easier, but no signs means we are not sure. We turn left and almost immediately drop down to the riverbed. Mmmm guess we are taking the rougher crossing. Philip slips the truck into 4WD and we take it pretty carefully. No water over the road but big rocks, dips, sand, trees and then a hill climb to get out the other side. Once over the river we are at the Maytown township site and spend some time reading the signage, signing the visitors book and checking out the kerb and guttering that was put in place 150 years ago. Amazing how well it has lasted.

Again there is minimal signs to point us to the campground, but we wind our way round past old ruins, over more creeks and washouts, over some pretty rough tracks and finally down to the Upper North Palmer River Campground. Only one other camper here so plenty of spots available. We find a spot up on a bank under some paperbarks with a view of the river, and set up camp. Philips first job was to light the Cobb and get the lamb shanks on for dinner, then we organised everything else. Once set up we walked down to the river for a swim to wash off the days dust. It’s not very deep but enough to get us wet and refreshed. After dinner we lay our chairs back and watch the evening sky, picking out constellations and satellites and listen to the night critters and the quiet around us. What an awesome end to the day.

20th Monday

We woke to a chorus of birds and the sun glowing off the cliffs on the opposite side of the river. After enjoying this for a while we breakfasted and packed up ready for a day discovering the old ruins around Maytown. This town was in existence between 1874 and 1920. During Queensland’s largest gold rush, sparked by the discovery of alluvial gold, 30,000 people descended on the Palmer River area of which Maytown was the major settlement. The area is covered with ironwood, and blood wood trees and paperbarks fringing the creek beds. It is rough and rugged country. The mind boggles as to how the early settlers here survived and lived in such harsh conditions. Today there are still remnants of the old mining works scattered about.

We spent the morning looking at the ruins and the Chinese Cemetery (18,000 Chinese population during the mining period). Then at the Comet Mill and Battery and the Queen Mill, all very interesting and each area a bit different.

Once we had done our exploring we took the road back out over the Palmer river (this time the easy crossing) and drove east, again along the ridge tops stopping at The Granites for lunch. This is a lovely Lilly fringed lake In the middle of harsh dry country. Cows wading into the water and eating the reeds, birds perched on dead branches over the water and a gentle breeze blowing. What more could you want for a picnic spot.

This road we are on connected to the Peninsula Development Road and heads us back into Mareeba.

(P- or Cooktown and Cape York if we turned left and Headed North— I was tempted but thought it wise not to put it to the “vote”!)

21st August

We were going to have an early start this morning but by the time we got away it was after 8.30. Our plan is to head down to Herberton and then link up with the Irvinebank, Petford Road. Well we started out good, got to Herberton and turned onto the above road and drove for about 5 k. Then there is a sign that says Heritage mining Trail Mt Garnet. Split second decision and we change our direction. I’m never really sure where we will end up. This is a nice drive following a well maintained gravel road, crossing creeks, driving alongside creeks (all mostly dry), over hills and down hills and round hills. There are signs of mining along the route and lots of small mining areas still operating. The road links up with the Kennedy Highway just out of Innot Hot Springs where we stop for a wander down to the creek. The water here is warm in places and you have to dig yourself a hole In the sand and the warm water bubbles up through the sand. Looks pretty dirty and gritty and we decide to give it a miss this time. Just up the road is Mt Garnet and we stop here at the visitors centre and have a chat with the lady there. She gave us a few tips on the road that we want to take and had a pleasant chat with us. Just west of Mt Garnet we turn off onto the Lappa Junction Road. This road is about 55 kilometres long and follows the old railway line for the majority of the road, winding through the old cuttings ( originally cut out by pick and shovel), over old culverts and past old bridge sites. The line was privately built in 1902, and was taken over by the Queensland government in 1914 and was finally closed in 1960. It’s is a great drive and again reminds us of how people lived and travelled years ago.

(P- I stop and chat to a station owner and his father from Almaden who had stopped for lunch on the track. They give us a few bits of info about the area and the type of season they are having “not too bad up here” he says. They had 6 x 1000 litre Totes of Molasses on board- he was saying they do the 8 hr round trip every 10 – 12 days, the Molasses adding vitamins to the native vegetation the cattle graze on. An 8hr round trip every 10-12 days in a very Smokey old Mitsubishi truck without Air Conditioning would be hard work in itself!).

From Lappa Junction we are back on the main road to Chillagoe and return to the caravan park to pick up our van.

We have had a wonderful couple of days exploring some remote areas and enjoying some interesting history of this area.

(P- I am amazed at the condition of the Mining relics. Some of the boilers were installed in the late 1800’s – they are still in original situation, the lack of good roads into the area may help with their preservation! Tomorrow’s another day I guess as we leave the camp area a snap decision will be made as to if it is a Left or Right turn down the track we take ! IF we turn right it’s over 650 klm to the next fuel stop and settlement of any type ( apart from the odd Station Homestead). Hmmm this is the first I’ve heard of this detour.

16th August

After a week relaxing in Cairns after our flying trip we are on the road again. Our time in Cairns was filled with relaxing, doing some research and unlocking another “missing link”into Philips late fathers war service on the Atherton Tablelands, visiting a few tourist spots and a few not so tourist spots and then organising to head off again. In all a totally enjoyable week.

17th. And we are off. Not sure where to, but our first stop will be Chillagoe, up over the range and heading west. We are amazed at the agriculture west of Mareeba. Mainly sugar cane with a sugar mill at Aguirre for processing, also mangoes, pawpaws, avocados, table grapes and essential oils. This makes for some very pretty agricultural scenery. There is also a massive wind farm being constructed on the hills in the distance which adds to the views.

Part of the road follows the Savannah Lander train line before turning south at Almaden. This train is now just a tourist ride from Cairns to Forsayth. This is considered one of Australia’s iconic rail journeys and is definitely on our bucket list. It winds up the Kuranda Range from Cairns, through the wet tropics to the Savannah lands of Forsayth and return over a period of four days while travelling in a “silver bullet” rail motor. Several years ago we had a taster of this, doing a short trip from Forsayth and return of several hours. We stopped for a wander at several of the old stations along the route.

Closer to Chillagoe we pass several old marble quarries. Great blocks of marble (20 tonne blocks) were mined here at over 40 different locations with varying colours from pure white to pinks and oranges. Chillagoe is a quaint little town with only four shops, two pubs, a fuel station and two caravan parks/hotels and a few houses. Population is 192. After parking we unleashed the push bikes and went for a ride round town. Stopping at the cafe for an iced coffee, the hardware store, which has a bit of everything and across the road to the general store, where the owners live in the back of the store. This has everything that the hardware store doesn’t, except ice creams, which we we going to get except all the packets in the ice cream fridge were empty, we are still not sure why they were keeping the boxes frozen. We also visited the info centre and booked a tour of one of the local caves. There are several tour options one of which is done in the dark with torches. Guess which one Philip wanted to do. But no, we booked Trezkinn cave tour for tomorrow, thankfully.

(P- shhhhh – see what tomorrow brings as the self guided Cave is my agenda in the morning!)

After returning to the caravan we went for a swim and then had a delicious dinner while sitting outside enjoying the gorgeous evening. No breeze, still 25 degrees at 8pm and a glorious sky. We could have wandered up to the outdoor movie screen to watch Star Wars, but as neither of us like this movie we just enjoyed the evening.

18th Aug. Saturday.

A leisurely breakfast and the housework (P- fairly sure that took all of 10 minutes)- this morning then we drove to Trezkinn Cave for our tour. This cave is one of a series of caves on the outskirts of Chillagoe. The Stainless steel catwalk circles a huge mass of limestone with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, shawls and a very impressive stalactite cluster called the “chandelier”. Inside the cave there are 250 ladder like steps to ascend and descend. Quite impressive. After the tour we talked to the ranger about the road that we want to take over the next few days and got some great tips from him.

(P- it was quite amazing the difference in the predominantly dry Limestone Cave colours and features compared to our very wet Tasmanian Limestone Caves.)

From the cave we drove round the road and after a short walk through some pretty specky scenery we found the Balancing Rock. A massive limestone rock balanced precariously on another outcrop. There are many limestone outcrops or bluffs throughout this area and it makes for some great vistas. After a recommendation from the ranger we stopped at the Post Office Hotel and had a delicious hamburger for lunch.

After lunch (P- I am sure there may have been a drink to wash the burger down that Judith omitted to share), we drove out to the old smelter, just out of town. The slag heap here is the largest slag heap left in Queensland. The smelter operated during the early 1900’s. There are three chimneys still standing, the Pre Treatment chimney, the Powerhouse Chimney and the main Smelter Chimney on the top of the hill. Between 1901 and 1943 The smelter treated 1,250,000 tonnes of ore and produced 60,000 tones of copper over 37 years, 50,000 tonnes of Lead over 25 years, 6,500,000 ounces of silver and 175,000 ounces of gold.

Back at the park we cooled off with a nice swim in the pool before cooking roast lamb for dinner and preparing some gear to take with us for the next couple of days. We are leaving the van here and tenting so we can go into some more mining areas which aren’t suitable for vans.

Again we have a beautiful evening, no breeze and still 29 degrees at 6pm.

Another great day in this wonderful country.

(P – a very pleasant change to our time in Cairns -although we do enjoy a short visit there. Great to be amongst country people, more yarns and stories to be swapped and way more to learn about our history)

Return to Myalup -The Home of the Plane.

Port Hedland, Carnarvon, Geraldton and Myalup

After take off today we passed over the port area of Port Hedland. The infrastructure here is massive and the boats waiting to enter the port are numerous. And not only are the boats waiting here, further down the coast there are more waiting to enter another port at Dampier.

It makes quite a change flying along the coastline rather than over land. The water has as many changes in colour and features as the land. The colour changes, channels are easily discernible, mudflats run far out into the water and reefs and sand islands are dotted everywhere. Before landing today we cross the Gascoyne River which has little water in it now but has caused some major havoc when it floods. The river supports a large area of agriculture along its banks where tomatoes, capsicum, egg plant, strawberries, and more are grown.

(P- the river is dotted with pipe spears that are actually shallow bores (wells) which the farmers pump their irrigation water from the aquifer under the sandy river bed. Whilst it is a seasonal vegetable production area that produces when more southern areas are dormant, it would be one of the untidiest production areas I have seen with weeds and junk machinery laying around everywhere!)

Our last night is spent at Carnarvon. So a look around town and a drive along the river to view the crops, lunch and dinner at the pub and a wander around a town centre where every second shop is empty.

Tuesday 6th

Last day flying today as we head to our first stop (loo break) at Geraldton. Then continue on to Myalup, the home of Pete’s plane. It’s clear flying but the temperature is dropping. Not sure why we are heading south. Again it’s very pretty flying along the coastline. And then as we get closer to Perth the agricultural area starts to bloom. Paddocks of wheat, canola glowing bright yellow and various other crops. Then the urban sprawl begins, new subdivisions built on pure sand, main roads and then the outskirts of the city, the swan river and high rise buildings, Fremantle and then as the sprawl fades away we get back into the countryside and ag areas. Finally we fly over Peters property at Myalup and come in to land on his strip. Peters wife, Rad, daughter-in-law Vanessa and grandson William are our welcoming committee and it’s great to see them. It has been an awesome trip.

9700 kilometres,

44 hours flying

(P- 3 weeks of great food (I check the menus before we decide which towns we visit! No good food NO VISIT), new experiences and good company have made for yet another great sector of our “Aussie Adventures” – how lucky are we!!!)

Saturday 4th Aug

Today started with a FaceTime call with Joanne and Hugh. After some time Philip was talking to Hugh and was showing him some photos off his phone. Philip mentioned that he had a beautiful lady with him in the photo of Peters Plane. Philip moved the camera round to show me, and Hugh said. “Pa—That’s not a beautiful lady pa, that’s just Ma”! (P- we all laughed and I am sure Judith’s ego was a little deflated!)

Windjana and Tunnel Creek Loop.

Leaving Derby early this morning we are heading out to Windjana Gorge to walk before it gets too warm. The first part of the drive is on the Gibb River Road and the first 150 kilometres is now sealed, once we turn on to the Windjana road it’s unsealed and pretty rough. We are out to the gorge soon after 8.30 ready to walk. Right at the beginning of the walk was a bower bird adorning it’s nest with bright white stones. Pretty awesome to see the bird and nest so close to the path. Further on we get some pretty good views up the gorge with the walls towering over us. There is a huge sandbar part way up the gorge which we walk out onto and can spot about 30 freshwater crocs sunning themselves at the edge of the water. We can get pretty close and watch as some catch fish and some just cruise around the waters edge.

From Windjana we continue on to Tunnel Creek, (Philip collapsed and is fast asleep after the walk, not even a corrugated road would keep him awake!) a rock Tunnel/cave about 1 km long. After climbing over some large rocks and squeezing between more rocks we dropped down onto the sand. The tunnel opens out into a large cavern with a creek running through. Several areas of water that we have to wade through the deepest above our knees. Philip and Peter walked right through, I stopped at the deep water and while they were gone watched the 1 metre crocodile swim about. Back out to the car and we continued along the road to the Great Northern Highway and our return to Derby. Along the way we spotted some great Boab Trees. And Philip is asleep again! .

(P- once on the Great Northern Highway we put the UHF radio in the Hilux to Good use. Once when we met a Truckie Peter knew from Bunbury and a few minutes later another couple he knew from Harvey, both from near where Peter lives. Once back in Derby I went for a walk to watch the sunset, I wandered across the local Mud Crab Races, well attended and popular with the tourists – the prize being the actual winning crab freshly cooked onsite for your dinner! I wonder what happens as a prize at the local Horse Races???)

Sunday 5th

Today’s trip takes us from Derby to Shalimar Station where we landed to visit a farm that produces watermelons, corn and beans. Then continuing onto Port Hedland. Some great scenery again today, starting with Shalimar Station part of which is Lush green irrigator pivot circles with sweet corn and green beans and acres of watermelons. Our guide and farm manager, Josh picked us a watermelon, dropped it on the ground to split it open and we picked out some fresh cool and very juicy sweet watermelon. It was delicious, I’ve never tasted any better watermelon. Then we tasted some fresh sweet corn. No need to cook this stuff it’s so tender and very sweet. All this farm is surrounded by nothing. It’s a case of just add water and fertiliser and some preparation and you have good cropping land.

Then it’s on to Port Hedland. This is where Philip takes over the commentary with all the stats he can come up with.

(P- Port Headland— well it could be said I have travelled to one or two industrial towns in my life BUT Port Hedland would be the Heaviest Duty Industrial Town I have come across for its size.

(Population approx 14,000). It is the exporting hub of the massive Pilbara Iron Ore mining area.

It exports over 1.3 million Tonnes of Iron Ore a DAY an excess of 30 x 300m long bulk ore ships, with the ore being transported from several mines by some of the worlds largest Rail trains, Biggest road trains and loaded at one of the largest bulk loading ports! Fortunately we hired a car and spent the afternoon wandering around roads and streets that may or may not have have been meant for public access. This place is so full of Big trains, planes, helicopters, ships, loaders, dozers and trucks, it is basically a town of “Big Boys Toys” that deserves a longer visit another time!)

Katherine to Kununurra

Our flight today took us out of Katherine and up over the Victoria River towards Bullo River Station, (Sara Henderson fame) (P- A beautiful Station homestead that we have previously visited and dined at) then north to Lejune Station before heading to Kununurra. We left Katherine about 8 am and arrived in Kununurra about the same time after a 90 minute flight, due to the time changes. After picking up our car we headed into town for a drink and a wander. Peter met up with Bevan, a guy he knows who offered to take us on a tour round stage 2 of the Ord River Scheme. We checked into our accommodation, a beautiful apartment at the Freshwater, before meeting Bevan and his wife for lunch and then heading off. (P- stage 2 of the Ord irrigation scheme consists of 10,000ha of land that the government has established an infrastructure of irrigation channels, dams, roads and electrical supply. When completed the land was put out to tender, some existing local, successful farming families tendered for some land, a predominantly Aussie consortium bid for it and the Chinese— Yes the Chinese were the successful bidders @ a total of $5.00 yes $5.00 a year rent with a 75 year lease – sure there is millions to be spent laser levelling and internal farm infrastructure but surely some of it should have been retained by or for Aussies.. well done to our politicians!!)

Back at our unit after the tour we relaxed for a while before going to the Pumphouse restaurant (a restaurant in the original irrigation pumphouse complete with pumps etc still in place) for dinner.

Peters daughter and son-in-law and granddaughters were staying in the caravan park across the road so we organised for them all to come over for breakfast before we each headed our different ways.

(P- I was very fortunate that by time we returned from our tour of the irrigation area the Argyle Diamond Store was CLOSED – so I guess Judith has missed out -AGAIN! Maybe just maybe some other time!!)

Home Valley Station

Today is just a short flight about 20 minutes, it took us and hour and a half as we side tracked to the north to fly over Berkeley River Lodge at the head of the Berkeley River. We decided not to land there for lunch as there was a $350 landing fee and a $50 per person fee to drive us from the landing strip to the lodge, less than a kilometre for lunch. Just a bit excessive.

(P-Judith omitted to mention the $2500.00 per night accomodation charge, plus dinner, flights, breakfast, fishing guides and whatever else you may require! Little wonder we just flew by!)

We landed at Home Valley Station and were picked up from the airstrip by Alfie, a very exuberant indigenous young man who had a love for this country and gave us a running commentary as we drove to the homestead. We have a lovely Cabin here overlooking the river and they have two pools which we made use of during the afternoon. Dinner was in the open air dining area and was very nice.

(P- some of the film “Australia” was filmed at Home Valley and the pastoral lease was once owned by the Durack family famous for their pioneering of the Kimberley Cattle Industry. It was awesome to see and experience an indigenous managed and operated enterprise where they take such pride in their properties and business. A huge contrast from many of the other communities we have visited that are littered with rubbish, trashed housing and unkept people. )

Ellenbrae Station to Derby

This morning Philip and I were up early to walk to the Cockburn Range Lookout to watch the sunrise. It’s a lovely morning, clear and warm and the sunrise was gorgeous. Back to the room and then over for breakfast before organising our ride back to the airstrip for the short hop over to Ellenbrae Station for morning tea. Ellenbrae is well know for its Scones and jam and cream and we couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Logan, the manager of the property picked us up from the airstrip and delivered us to the homestead where we enjoyed our drinks and scones. After a quick run back to the airstrip we took off for Drysdale Station. Logan had rung them to see if we could land, but on our way we decided to continue on to Derby without stopping. As we flew over we had no phone range at all. By the time we reached Derby, Search and Rescue had been contacted because we hadn’t landed at Drysdale and they had rung Logan to see if we had left and they hadn’t heard us fly over so they were concerned for our safety. We were totally oblivious to this until we landed and Peter had several missed calls and Rad had been contacted. It took a few minutes to sort out but all was well.

(P- the Scones, Jam and Cream May well be the most expensive morning tea we have ever had if you took into account fuel, plane running costs and of course the $24.00 for the actual morning tea)

Tonight we are in a motel catering for the mining industry, a slight downgrade from Home Valley and lacking the special charm of Cape York). We have a “mine ready” Toyota Hilux rental vehicle so Philip and Peter decided we should backtrack and drive some of the “Gibb River Road “ in it whilst we have it. There is always an adventure around every new dawn!!!!

Transport to the Northern Peninsula Airport this morning at 8am. We packed the plane and took off for a fly over “the Tip” before heading south. It’s so different seeing these places from the air. Gives a totally different perspective. After doing a circuit of the Cape we turned and followed the coast past Loyalty Beach and Seisia and then turned our nose towards Karumba.

Seeing this area from the air I am amazed by the huge river systems, mud flats and sandbars. As we near Weipa the Bauxite mining leases come into view and they cover a huge area. There are several barges in the river and boats out to sea. South of Weipa there are huge mud flats with streams that form intricate patterns in the mud as they drain out.

We land at Karumba and walk to our accommodation, store our bags and head to the pub for lunch, then back via the shop to buy some prawns for afternoon snacks. Then back to the park for a swim and a snooze before dinner.

We walked along the beach towards the hotel as the sun starts to set. By the time we have drinks the sun is low in the sky and turning pink. It’s another awesome sunset and dinner was pretty good as well. It’s so nice to be able to sit outside until after dark in just shorts and t shirts and still be warm. We wander back to the cabin and have an early night.

(P- at the Pub we catch up and yarn to people we have met previously on our Wanderings. Always great to swap stories! We get some looks of disbelief when we say we travelled from Cape York to Karumba in a day!)

Monday 30th

Today’s flight is from Karumba to Katherine, via Mataranka Resort for lunch. After a leisurely walk to the plane we stow our gear and it’s my turn for a front seat ride first up.

( P -Evidently I am delegated to the back seat as I criticised the Flight Attendant catering service yesterday! Anyone would think Judith had Peter and I on a diet!!!!)

It’s a different view from here, (actually facing forward). Again the shore line is impressive. Mud flats are massive with great patterns made by the creeks and waterways. Our first stop is Burketown to refuel just a 40 minute flight. After refuelling and a toilet break we are back in the air for the 2 hour hop over to Mataranka Resort, flying over McCarthur Mine Site (zinc) and the Lost Cities at Limmen NP.

Very impressive and a spot to put on our Bucket list to visit. The airstrip at Mataranka is right alongside the cabins and caravan park. Pity the poor campers who had washing out because now it is covered in red dust from our landing and takeoff. We had a great early lunch here before our last short hop to Katherine’s Tindal Airbase.

(P- During our approach to Tindal which is also a RAAF base we were preceded and followed by Airforce planes that were Taking part in an international joint excessive “Pitch Black”. We are dwarfed in both size and speed by the Military aircraft.)

We are supposed to pick up a hire car here but Thrifty were too lazy to bring the car to the airport so we had to cadge a ride from a government employee in a government van back into town to pick up the car. (P- he wasn’t supposed to take unauthorised passengers so it was very kind of him! I call it recouping some of the many Tax Dollars we have paid so didnt feel guilty). Then out to our Accommodation for a rest and swim before dinner.

Tuesday 31st. Today I cruised up the Katherine Gorge, while Philip and Peter had a lazy morning. They have both done the cruise before. They dropped me out at the Gorge ready for the Three Gorge, 9am cruise. I quite enjoyed the trip although it’s not the most spectacular Gorge I’ve seen. The colours in the rocks and the formation of the gorges was interesting. There was a short walk between each Gorge and a change of boat then back for a stop at the second Gorge for a swim and some lunch before returning to the visitors centre. Peter and Philip were actually on time to pick me up and after a stop In town for a drink we drove out to the Katherine Hot Springs for a swim. The water was nice and warm and crystal clear. It’s was lovely floating down the stream under the palm trees. Back to our rooms after another good day.

(P- well the day hasn’t ended yet and will get even better after I have a Rib Eye Steak and Prawns for dinner at the Golf Club, then it will have been a GREAT Day!!!!!)

Friday 27 July

We packed up early this morning and picked Peter up and headed up to Mareeba to return the hire car and head to the airport. Our mode of transport for the next ten days will be Peter’s Beechcraft Bonanza single engine plane. I am joining Peter and Philip as they return to WA via a very disjointed route. Today’s destination is Northern Peninsula Airport, (Bamaga), Cape York area and our accommodation is at Loyalty Beach Lodge. Departing Mareeba we fly northwest away from the coast and the clouds reaching about 4500 feet. Pretty smooth flying with great views out over Mareeba and surrounds. As we fly north we fly along the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range passing Mt. Carbine, Lakeland, Old Laura and Battle Camp Road (which we drove three weeks ago) and round the shoreline of Princess Charlotte Bay. Then further north we followed the Peninsula Development road and did the Old Telegraph Track, checked out the Jardine River Crossing and onto Bamaga to land.

An awesome flight. 2 hours 45 minutes. After refuelling we tied the plane down and were collected from the airport by Graeme who drove us out to our accommodation at Loyalty Beach. We pulled up in front of a two storey, very basic building and were told this is our lodge. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this. Four bedrooms each with two beds, a kitchen and a large deck with table and chairs. No doors, no windows, basic lighting, fans in each room, almost no internal walls and a bathroom and shower downstairs with no door and walls up to my shoulder! It’s really awesome and part of the experience. Our view is straight out over the sea and the islands where we can watch the boats and people on the beach. Rustic is a word I would use to describe this place.

After a few nibbles to stave off the hunger pangs (we missed lunch) we decided to walk along the beach to Seisia where we watched the ferry from Horn Island berth before walking around the road back to the campground. About a 7 k round trip.

Dinner was at the restaurant on the beach front and we all had great steaks, eventually. Our booking was for 7pm and Philip went to order our meals but it was only 6.56 and he was told he would have to wait until 7. By the time he got back to order there we 20 people in front of him. Some meals were sold out and we weren’t served until 8.15. Not that it really mattered, we enjoyed a drink watching the evening darken and listening to the sounds of the other guests. After dinner, back to our rooms and showers. White lipped green tree frogs shared the bathroom with us. Two in the vanity one in the washing machine. They are beautiful green, hand sized frogs.

The bathroom, shower one side, toilet the other with a fly wire door in between. Water from the shower and basin run straight outside onto the ground.

We all slept really well and Philip woke us about 5.30 to get up and watch the blood moon and eclipse (if you think HIS photo is awesome don’t believe it as I am sure he borrowed it off the internet! (But that is what it looked like awesome!). The Milky Way was very clear and we also saw satellites, jets and falling stars. Awesome.

Saturday 28

This morning we are off on a tour to the Tip. Cape York here we come. Graeme is our driver and we head first to the airport to pick up 11 others that have flown in on an Air Adventure tour. Two of whom are in their 90’s. Our first stop is at the old Pajinka Resort. Now only ruins. This was originally built and owned by Reg Ansett and was a 5 star exclusive resort before being handed back to the local indigenous people. It was then destroyed by fire and now only the reception area and the pool remain in a state of disrepair. From here it’s just a short hop to the Beach, morning tea and a climb up over the headland and down to the northern most tip of Australia. Another tick off the bucket list. We walked back round the headland and then through the shallows back to the bus and enjoyed some time relaxing before boarding the bus and heading to Somerset.

This area was founded in 1863 and was to be a town to service the islands but was abandoned when the services moved to Thursday Island. Captain Jardines home was built at the top of the cliff overlooking the harbour. In the tropical climate here remains of the homes deteriorated quickly and now there is nothing left but the graves of two aboriginals and some aboriginal bones that were returned to the site 132 years after they had been sent to England.

The last couple of stops were the Croc Tent, full of tourist stuff for sale and then the DC3 plane crash site just before the airport. After dropping the air tour people back at the airport we made another stop at a WW11 Bomber crash site and then stopped back at the DC3 site to get some photos before heading back to Loyalty Beach. 7 hours of touring, now for a rest before dinner.

Thursday 26 July

After two weeks at home looking after Lilly, Claire and Hugh for the school holidays we have returned to Cairns and some warmer weather, both returning by different routes. Philip had a shorter time at home and then flew to Western Australia and down to Peter and Rad’s in Binningup for an overnight stop before boarding Peters plane for the trip across Aus via Kalgoorlie, Warburton, Alice Springs, Lark Quarry, Winton, Chillagoe and Mareeba, where they parked the plane and then drove down to Cairns. Taking a week to make the crossing. I flew from Launceston via Sydney to Cairns on Tuesday and met Philip and Peter, Mark and Amanda and the girls. We have a couple of days here together before we take off and Mark and Amanda head home.

Yesterday, (Wednesday), Philip and I looked after Emily and Kaley for the day while Peter, Mark and Amanda flew to Karumba for lunch, just a short trip (1500 Km for a seafood lunch). We took the girls down to the Esplanade and Muddies playground where they played at the waterpark and playground for a while and then we had lunch before heading back for Kaley and Pa (Philip) to have a sleep. After their sleep we went back to our Caravan Park for a swim and to change before going out to dinner.

Today Peter. Philip and I have been on the Kuranda Skyway. Great views and a lovely clear day for the ride. Not much water at Barron Falls though.

The photos following are just a few from the “Across Australia Flying (and eating) adventure.

We have had a great few days in Cairns with Mark and Amanda, Emily and Kaley. The girls have kept us busy at the swimming pool, the jumping pillow and the splash park. Amanda, Emily and I found time to all have a pedicure and all have lovely painted toenails. Em sits up and takes it like a pro now that she has had a couple. All of us apart from Philip spent an afternoon at the Aquarium checking out the wide variety of fish, snakes and lizards on show. While Mark and family went to the crocodile park, Philip and I caught up with some friends from WA who were also visiting Cairns. And we all ate seafood, lots and lots of seafood. Prawns, Coral Trout, Prawns, Barramundi, Prawns, Whiting and Prawns.

Now we are flying home for two weeks to look after Lily, Claire and Hugh (P- plus 2 or 3 Canines, cattle and sheep while their owners are either working or on vacation) for the school holidays before flying back to Cairns to continue our Caravaning.

(P- not sure if Judith mentioned the SEAFOOD! It is worth a second mention — and a third! I didn’t get to see much of Cairns and surrounds the last few days between a little Vehicle routine maintenance, a Siesta each afternoon and a little time teaching Emily and Kaley some tricks, tell them a few stories and spoil them with (sugar filled) sweets (just before they go back to Mummy and Daddy) it seemed to fill in my time. We will spend a few days sightseeing around the area on our return. Not sure about the 17-20 degree temperature drop we will experience as we go back to Tassie!)

Our track so far. 4500 k and 2800 k on gravel/dirt/station roads.

We have had a lovely few days at Elim Beach. Water front site, light breeze, very few neighbours, great walks on the beach and a fire each night to cook dinner. What a way to relax. Did I mention that we had some rain. Was glad that we had a caravan and not the roof top tents or camper trailers that others had, because we had a few heavy downpours. We had a couple of families camped either side of us who had just been to Cape York. Philip talked to our first neighbour, who is a regular at this site and told him to grab his crab pots from his boat and try to catch some crab. Philip didn’t need to be told twice, so he found the pots and raided the freezer for some bait and set the pots just off shore near the mangroves and waited till morning. Well “blow me down” he managed to catch 4 crabs, all undersize so he had to throw them back, but at least he caught some. More than others were doing. (P- that’s because I waded out in knee deep slimey black Mud to select what I thought was the correct location! All the other crabbers wanted the crabs to walk to their pots all but on the beach- didn’t matter they were undersize it was a fun exercise regardless).

The highlight of our stay at Elim was our walk along the beach to the coloured sands. The guys that run the campsite told us it was pretty impressive and kept asking if we had been yet, so we thought we best make the effort. It’s about a 3 k walk. We chose to walk the first part along the road (easier than the sand for Philip) and then the last kilometre along the beach. As we came off the track onto the beach there is a vehicle on its roof and quite rusted, no doubt serves as a warning for those that try to take their vehicles along the sand. It is quite a pleasant walk along to the coloured sand cliffs and very impressive once we get to the main area. You can take a Track off the beach right up into the gorge where the coloured sands tower over you. The sand colour varies from white to gold to deep red. Unfortunately it teemed while we were there so the drone photos weren’t the best. It would be wonderful on a sunny day.

While we were camped at Elim and it was raining Philip decided to wash the van. Why does he do it when it’s raining and we still have dirt roads to travel.? It looked clean for about 36 hours. Then we drove from Elim towards Cooktown. They have been doing roadworks. Gravel roads, red dirt/clay/sand equals a very dirty car and caravan again. Oh well it gave him something to do for a while.

This morning while I was still in bed, Philip tried to put the front window shade down, (we have been having a bit of trouble with it for a while), it wouldn’t go at all and he decided to fix it. Well within about 15 minutes he had the whole frame and screens and everything out and apart, oiled cleaned spring tightened and ready to fit back in again. Now it works great, thank goodness.

We are now in Cairns at the Cairns Coconut Caravan Resort for a few nights. Looking forward to Mark and Amanda, Emily and Kaley arriving tomorrow.