Tinaroo Dam, Atherton Tablelands

Tinaroo Dam, Atherton Tablelands

We have spent the last four days in the Atherton Tablelands, the mountains behind Cairns, at Tinaroo Dam. Absoloutly stunningly beautiful spot. Peaceful and serene, gorgeous weather. The locals warned its cold and will need jumpers, but their version of cold is very different to ours and the only time we needed a jumper was at night if we weren't near the fire. We still swam everyday, in the dam, the freshwater crater lakes and in the waterfalls.
The highlight of the trip would have to be seeing a platypus in the wild, and seeing dusky rat kangaroos, the only place in the whole world you can see these is between Innisfail and the Daintree. But all this pales in comparison to our early morning fishing trip in the dam. We got up at 4am and paddled the canoe along the bank of the dam, after about an hour and a half of fishing with no luck we decided to head back. When WHAM! I thought my lure had just hit a brick wall, it just stopped dead, then there was a giant splash as the barra launched itself out of the water. Judging by the splash it left i knew it was a decent fish. It pulled out line and bent the rod tip over until it touched the water. It fought like this for quite a while. I think Lee and I might have woken every camper on the dam with our laughing and screaming! When at last it tired and rose close enough to the surface for us to get a good look at him we were shocked. He did not give up just yet though, he took one more run before i got him to the surface again. Lee gaffed him in the lip and stood to pull him into the canoe, at this point we really realised how heavy he was because the canoe nearly tipped as lee took his weight. We got him in the canoe and he filled the floor space. We spent the entire paddle back to camp looking at her and shaking our heads, repeating, holy sh** its a big fish!
We measured her and she was 116cm, and would have weighed about 28kg. An absolute stud fish!



While in Atherton we took a drive to Yungaburra, a tiny little town. We tried two different places to try and buy a decent coffee, and tipped both out. We had a picnic down by the river and went spotting for the elusive platypus. Thinking it would be pretty unlikely to see one, we actually spotted two, both of which we sat and watched for about 15 minutes as the came to the surface then dived for fodd, and came in and out of their burrows. We were well and truly stocked to see such an amazing animal in the wild.
We then headed to Lake Eacham which is one of two fresh water crater lakes formed by a volcanic explosion 65,000 years ago. After the explosiion the hole solidified and the crater has since filled with rain water. They are both about 65 meteres deep and the water is crystal clear. The temp was a little fresh but by no means too cold for a swim. We went for a snorkle hoping to spot some freshwater turtles, we didn't see any but did spot a good size, tasty looking red claw, a local crayfish.
Next stop was Lake Barrine the second of the two crater lakes. We were advised to visit here for the scones, which have one many first place prizes in local shows. The tea house which sits right on the edge of the lake has been owned and run by the same family since the 1920's. And yes the scones were really really good.

Each night we built a fire and cooked damper and roasted marshmallows, Lee taught the kids to whittle, and they sat around the fire at night trying to whittle snakes out of branches.

The next day we drove to Milla Milla, about 35 mins away to take the waterfall tourist drive, visiting three waterfalls. They were all beautiful, my favourite probably being the first with its jagged verticle, mossy rock formations and over hanging vines, it looked like something used in a movie.

Our last day we took the drive around the top of the dam to the dam wall, we did not take a wrong turn because i was giving the directions, we did not drive down a bumpy, narrow dirt track that led to the dam with no room to turn around, and it was not then rather difficult to try to turn the caravan around in space only wide enough to do a three point turn in a car! None of which was my fault!!!

We had a great trip, definately a place worthy of spending at least a week at if you ever have the chance. Wildlife and scenery five stars.
The first few pics are below, stay posted as i will add more from this trip asap.

one very happy girl!!

Palm Cove, Tropical North QLD

Palm Cove, Tropical North QLD

We are currently staying in a small caravan park across the road from the beach at Palm Cove, which is about 30mins from Cairns, we are only paying $20 per night for a non powered site, while 500metres down the road, guests at Pepper's resort are paying $400 and more per night. So what if they have a fancy pool, we still got to use it, and we are all a step from the same beach.

 It is really beautiful, we have been getting up each morning and going for a big walk and then spending the day laying on the beach and swimming. Finding it hard to leave because it is so pretty and so relaxing.

We went for a drive a few days ago to the Daintree National Park, Mossman Gorge. While there we swam in the fresh clear water flowing down through the rainforest. I will admit that the water was very refreshing! It looked too nice to resist a swim even though it was pretty cold. A very beautiful place in the world.

On the way to the Daintree we drove over a bridge where people were fishing, so of course Lee decided we should stop and throw a lure. There were some locals at the river, lying on the riverbank sun baking. I refer to the scaled kind. We counted 3 but after looking back at the photos we spotted a fourth poking its eyes out of the water next to a big one! They were across the river on the opposite bank, however, one got a little inquisitive when Lee was fishing, you can see it swimming up behind him while i took a photo of his catch. i was trying to quickly take the photo while screaming at him that the croc was coming!, It got within about 3 metres of us then disappeared, a few minutes later it popped its head back up then just cruised away. Pretty freaky but very cool to see our first crocs in the wild!

Today we went to Port Douglas for a look around, had a nice picnic on the water front under the palm trees. Not much else there other then shops, we had a bit of a look around but it is pretty expensive resort type stuff.

To see photos click on link

https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/PalmCoveTropicalNorthQLD?authkey=Gv1sRgCJrew8DnusiJdg

Kuranda railway and skyrail trip

click here for pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/KurandaRailwaySkyrail?authkey=Gv1sRgCKimucnfz7eaPQ

Incorrect photo LInks

If you have been trying to click on the photo links they were not working, sorry, i have fixed this now and will all be working again. Make sure you check them out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/home

Cairns Part 2 August 2011

Great Barrier Reef

Click on the link below to see more pics

Tuesday 9th August we headed out to the Great Barrier Reef aboard Reef Magic.
Well what can i say, i think our smiles say it all. The crew said we had the best day they have seen all year. The water was crystal clear, cobalt blue. On the trip out we saw dolphins and whales. As we traveled the water just got bluer and bluer the further out we went, when we began to approach Marine HQ the water was so clear, we looked over the edge and could see the bottom and the suns rays were cutting through the water, it was gorgeous.
We couldn't wait to get in the water. Even though Tyler had gotten sea sick on the way out and was coming down with a cold, he still got geared up for a snorkel, while he seemed unsure to start with once he put his head under water and looked at the reef for the first time, any fear went out the window. As i snorkeled around with him i could hear him saying wow, and look mum through his snorkel. His eyes were like saucers.

Jas and Cooper took to the reef like a fish to water (ha)! Just like Tyler they were astounded when they looked down at the coral and the trevally and wrasse swimming around underneath them. We were hardly out of the water all day. We saw heaps of beautifully coloured parrot fish, huge trevally and huge wrass as well as loads of small reef fish. We all went for a ride to the 'drop off' and the outer reef in the semi submarine. While out there we saw large schools of trevally, a white tip reef shark and a turtle.

Later in the day Lee and I went on an adventure snorkel to the drop off and outer reef, we drifted around the edge of the reef for 45 mins. The fish life and coral were different to the inner reef. We saw schools of massive red bass, trevally a metre long, barracuda and Lee and  I saw a couple of cruising mackeral. We also spotted a white tip reef shark down on the sand 30 metres below us, and yes the water was that clear. On the way back in we spotted some anemone and clown fish, Lee saw some giant clams but i somehow missed them.

In the afternoon Tyler slept where ever he landed, be it on the ships seats or the deck of the marine station. While Jas, Cooper, Bailey and I snorkeled for hours. Jas and I were officially the last out of the water, hoping to grow gills and be left behind!

Jas and Cooper's eyes were like saucers all the way home, they were bursting with adrenalin.
Our day at the reef got voted number one on our list of awesomness!!! Can't wait to do it again one day.

Click on the link here to see more pics.

https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/CairnsPart2August2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCI797MDt_-CApgE

Cairns

Cairns August 2011

Click on the link at the bottom of page to see more pics

The Butcher's have flown to Cairns for a holiday, we figured it was silly that we were only down the road (so to speak) and not catch up. So we jumped in the car and headed to Cairns. Almost 9 hours drive from Bowen and we arrived. We are staying at the Cool Waters Caravan Park which is very nice. Our site backs onto a freshwater river along which there is a walking track leading through a pretty forest.

We spent the first day just hanging about and having a look around. We met the Butchers at the Esplanade pool and the kids all had a swim, after a coffee and a walk around we headed to Muddies playground. A really great playground with lots of water play incorporated, we were able to sit at the cafe and chat while we watched the mist roll down off the mountains and the kids played. It rained on and off through the day but in between the sun came out and we would have had a top of about 26.

Sunday; we caught the Kuranda railway up to the hippy town of Kuranda. The railway was built 130 years ago, by hand. It weaves its way up the mountains, through Barron Gorge, passing some beautiful waterfalls along the way. We spend the day in town looking at the markets and went to the butterfly farm.
At the end of the day we caught the skyrail down the mountain. Riding in cable car/gondolas above the rainforest for a total of 8kms. We had unsurpassed views of the rainforest, the falls and then as we neared the end, Cairns itself. It was a real highlight and the kids loved it.

Kuranda photos, https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/KurandaRailwaySkyrail?authkey=Gv1sRgCKimucnfz7eaPQ

Monday; Today we had a relaxing day soaking up the sun and swimming at the Esplanade. After lunch we all headed to the Cairns Botanic Gardens. These would have to be the most beautiful botanic gardens i have ever visited. Full of so many beautiful plants, and so many plants and trees we see in Southern QLD, only here they seem to be supersized. Well worth the visit if you are ever in Cairns. It covers a massive 38 hectares.

Click on link to see all the pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/CairnsPart1?authkey=Gv1sRgCMnE5K_VsrWzSg

Townsville

Townsville

While staying in Bowen we took a drive to Townsville, just for a day trip as it is only 2 hours from Bowen.
When we arrived we did what any sane person does; went in search of coffee! We found a lovely little coffee shop and they made the best coffee.
After that we had a bit of a wander through the shops and then headed to Marine HQ, Townsvilles aquarium. As aquariums go it wasn't the best we've seen, however some of the reef fish were different to those we had seen before, being more tropical. They also have a marine turtle hospital and we were able to look around that and see some of the turtles being rehabilitated. They showed the kids the xrays taken from a patient that had swallowed fishing line.

At the aquarium there is an imax theatre, not quite like the one in Sydney, this one is a huge dome. The seats are reclined right back so that you are looking up at the dome and the movie is projected onto it. This means the movie is from the floor, over your head and to your right and left, you really feel like part of the movie. We watched an underwater/ ocean film. It was really quite cool.

By the time we left the aquarium it was 4.00 and we hadn't even had lunch. We headed to the shopping centre to grab a bite to eat and have a quick look around before driving back to Bowen.,

We didn't get to explore too much but will probably go back when we are back in Bowen.

Click on the link to check out the pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/TownsvilleAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqez8TMqrXDfg

Bowen/Airlie Beach

Photos on link below 

After our trip to 1770 we headed towards Mackay, stopping overnight at Carmilla Beach. We stayed at a free rest stop right on the beach. At low tide it was a desert and at high tide the waves were lapping at the walkway. We stayed long enough to do some exploring along the beach and Lee had a go at fishing, with no results. We headed off at lunchtime towards Mackay, arriving there at 4pm we decided to keep heading onwards to Bowen. We arrived in Bowen at about 7pm and headed straight to a friend's house. Scott, Mel and their lovely kids invited us to park the van on their driveway while we are in town, which is great; thanks guys.

We arrived here on Sunday night, yesterday we had a look around town, not much here, great skatepark on the foreshores though! Kids had a ball. Went out for dinner at one of the pubs with scott and Mel and had an awesome feed. Rib steak on the bone smothered in prawns in garlic cream sauce, I had a prawn and scallop pasta and there was more seafood in it then pasta! Very yum and totally unexpected for such a small town.

Tuesday: Today we borrowed Scott's tinny and headed down to Airlie Beach, postcard beautiful. We headed out from the boatramp and wove our way along the edges of nearby islands fishing. I caught a golden trevally, parrot fish, coral trout and a flathead. Lee spent most of the day driving, untangling, desnagging and rerigging either me, the kids or himself and as a result caught bugger all!! Soon he will teach me how to rig up myself so he has more time to fish!

We saw 5 turtles throughout the day, they were everywhere. Once we got hungry we headed across the bay to Long Island and pulled up into a deserted little beach to have a picnic, then it was back in the boat throwing lures again. We worked our way along the edge of Long Island and came to the Long Island Resort. We were pretty thirsty from all that work reeling in fish so we pulled into the beach and anchored the boat and headed ashore to the resort bar on the beach. We sat back admiring the view and having a cold beer, then decided because no one seemed to care that we were there we might as well experience the resorts amenities and hopped into the spa. Of course it has ocean views so we kicked back and relaxed watching the sun dip in the distance. We finally had to drag ourselves out to avoid heading home in the dark.

All up a great day. Didn't get too many photos of the area but will be heading back down again in a few days.

Check out the photos by clicking on this link.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/OnTheRoadAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCIeK_JH3r_GZqwE

https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/AirlieBeachAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJOb4u-Mk-a3Bg

Central QLD adventures

Gladstone/ 1770

Today we went for a drive to the town of 1770, (so named because that was the year Captain Cook landed there). It is about an hour and 15 mins drive from Gladstone, through dry empty paddocks, i was beginning to wonder where the hell we were going. When we finally caught a glimpse of water we were all blown away, absolutely beautiful!! We walked up to the headland and were once again blown away. From the point 180 degree views of crystal clear sapphire blue water. We climbed down onto the rocks and had a picnic lunch. After a look around we were sold, so we dropped by the caravan park and booked a site for 2 nights, drove back to Gladstone and will head back tomorrow with the van.

We have now been in 1770 for the last two days, it has been just beautiful. We have been fishing loads, and have caught some great flathead, cod, barracuda. It is such a gorgeous spot to relax. Every afternoon the entire park congregates on the beach, because it is situated in a bay the sun sets over the mountains in the distance which actually looks like it is setting over the water.
leaving here tomorrow to head to the Whitsundays.

 Click the link below to see all the photos.

https://picasaweb.google.com/100249554386212106658/1770July2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-Um4WMz_rC9wE