6. Cairns – Cape York Q

Our inability to buy a new spare tyre due to rubber shortage (pesky 18” rims) meant that we took a tour instead of driving ourselves.  Turned out to be a great decision and an amazing experience!  We can thoroughly recommend Heritage 4WD Tours, especially their 7-Day Cape York Fly/Drive Budget Accommodated Safari.  Very handy travelling with a local who knows the tracks, extra places to see, who can cook really well and is using his vehicle on those roads.

Woohoo!  We made it to the most northern tip of mainland Australia.  Major highlight and another item ticked off the Bucket List.

$88 for the short ferry trip across the Jardine River is mandatory – because there is no other way to go north to “The Tip”.

Fruit Bat Falls was another major highlight.  What a pristine and beautiful place.

Swimming here was awesome and going through the falls most excellent.

One of the smoother sections of the Old Telegraph Track.

The “gentle” approach to the Cockatoo Creek crossing.

Spen boarding up for the Cockatoo Creek Crossing – pretty deep & fast flowing.  The bus had no probs crossing this one as well.

So many beautiful sights – this one is the Wenlock River.

Sunset over the water and beach at Weipa.

The Archer River was also very photogenic.

Spen at the Lion’s Den Hotel near Cooktown – great old pub, live band and a 1.5m black-headed python which was allowed to slither across the arms & shoulders of 'volunteers' . . . . but not this little black duck! 

This is the new 4WD bus which took us home from the Cape in air-conditioned luxury.  It’s on Grassy Hill Lookout at Cooktown – great views.

We’re wending our way home slowly (via Longreach to pick up Toby) and will post a few more pix along the way. 

Best wishes and stay safe until next time.

Spencer & Rhonda

5. Charters Towers Q – The Lynd – Lava Tubes - Innot Hot Springs – Mareeba – Cairns Q

We left Charters Towers and headed north along the

Gregory Development Road

– beware of any road which includes the word “Development” in its name!!  It’s also known as a beef road and this means that there is often just one very narrow lane of tar (sometimes with very crumbled edges) and dirt verges.  The idea is that you pull right off the road when you see a Road Train in the windscreen or rear view mirror.  Some Road Trains have 4 trailers – they are huge.  Stone chips or worse can be your reward for trying to force one of these things off the road (although that’s not how we earned the star in our windscreen)!

Here’s the latest update FYI:

We went on an interesting tour of the Undara Lava Tubes and were told that the Undara volcanic eruption produced around 23 cubic kms of lava (enough to fill Sydney Harbour more than 3 times). Apparently, the outer surface of the lava flow cooled enough to form an insulated “pipe” through which molten lava continued to flow and the lava just drained out when the flow stopped – pretty much like water through a hose pipe.  Occasionally, a top section of a lava tube collapses revealing huge “pipes” like this one in Road Tube.  The floor has become silt-filled and water level in the tubes indicates the level of the water table.

The Undara Resort has a railway theme with accommodation in old railway carriages.  The same theme carries over into the restaurant and it took us back years!  The beautiful pool did look enticing, although we did not stay in the caravan & camping area, preferring to press on to Innot Hot Springs.

This is the most expensive diesel we’ve discovered so far – at Undara Lava Tubes Resort, miles from nowhere.  

Rhonda loves hot artesian springs and couldn’t wait to try out the pools at Innot Hot Springs.  Artesian water comes up at 85degC and is fed slowly into the pools.  Great for the health, skin, etc., & seriously good just to sit in and chat away the hours.

The sands on the bank are hot in spots and generate quite a bit of steam in the early morning.

We came upon this 20-turbine wind farm near Ravenshoe in the Atherton Tablelands.  Impressive, big, noisy!

No trip to Tolga would be complete without visiting the peanut man.  Locally grown, big variety, bought lots!

We liked these pretty Snowflake Bushes in FNQ (Far North Queensland) and saw many good specimens.

The Baron Falls at Kuranda are impressive from any angle. There was much more water flowing last time we were here when we followed Cyclone Larry up the coast. 

The final descent into Cairns provides a great view over the coastal plain.  Cairns city is off to the right and a cable ski park is centre right.

We shared Sunday morning at Cairns Pres Church & appreciated both the message & friendship.

Rhonda spotted this tropical tree in the Botanical Gardens as we drove by and we stopped for a closer look.  The flower buds contained the next batch of leaves which emerged soft and light coloured.  Fascinating!

We changed a worn tyre at The Oasis roadhouse (with Pierre’s help) and then tried to buy a spare in Mareeba and in Cairns.  Sadly, we found that there was no 18” Cooper ATR or BFG available in Queensland.  We decided not to try to drive to Cape York with a dodgy spare – way too risky!  So, we have booked on a 4WD Bus tour which leaves early Tuesday morning and hope to have some interesting pix for our next update in a week or so.

Until then, stay safe & God bless.

Spencer & Rhonda