Day 16 Hartley’s Croc Farm & Yorkey’s Knob Boat Club. 70 km
Another reasonably early start with the alarm set for 7:00 so that we can be on the road by 8:00. We made it and headed north again towards Port Douglas stopping at the Croc Farm about 30 minutes up the road. It actually took a while to get on the highway as we struck the peak hour traffic at the roundabout but once past all the roundabouts heading north the traffic thinned out considerably.
We arrived at Hartley’s Croc Farm at about 8:30 and this meant we got on the first boat cruise for the day. Joy had a quick cappuccino. We have been told that this is the best cruise as the crocs are more active early in the morning. It was also good as there were only about a dozen people on this cruise.
After the cruise we headed down to the Cassowary Feeding. This was followed at 10:00 by a short tour of the croc farm itself although we did not see much we got to see the concrete pens with some 3 – 4 year old crocs and also to pat a 14 month old croc baby (another first for both of us). The skin on its belly is actually quiet smooth and soft.
After this we went to see the croc feeding. By this time there was many more people and even though we got there first other people then tended to just stand in front of us even when asked to move by both us and the fellow feeding the crocs. It was an entertaining display. After they feed the Estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles they moved onto the freshwater ones but we gave this a miss as there were too many people.
We then wandered around some more of the park checking out the other ( croc and non-croc) exhibits.
and at 12:10 had lunch on the deck overlooking the lagoon which houses some of the crocs. Joy had another cappuccino and Les had a strawberry slushy plus our sandwiches. We then headed back home arriving at 1:30 and started to do some packing, check emails, loaded blog, etc.
Had a quick shower and off to Yorkey’s Knob Boat Club for a 6:00 dinner. (Yorkey’s Knob is the next suburb heading south towards Cairns). Had a nice meal on the deck overlooking the marina and the ocean. Watched the ships going up and down the coast and the planes flying in over the club to Cairns International Airport. Warm Country Loaf followed by -Joy had Seafood Marinara and Les had Seafood Basket and then Joy had sticky date pudding and Les has ice-cream.
Home to the cottage for the last time arriving at 8:30.
Day 17 Cooktown. 329 km
Woke to a cloudy day (well there were a few clouds, just a few). Out of bed about 7:30 to finish packing and move on from the wonderful accommodation called Bluewater Bed and Breakfast. This is a place we would definitely stay at again and would recommend it to anyone wanting to stay near Cairns.
We headed off at about 8:45 hoping to miss the peak hour traffic today …and we did. There is something for every type of tourist in Cairns.
Headed north past Port Douglas and arrived at Mossman Gorge at 9:55 making good time. We did the walk to the river/gorge and then to a lookout. We then decided to do the loop which was 2 km long. It was warm and humid and by now we were both sweating freely. We made it back to the car park at 11:30 after having walked a total of about 3.5 km.
When we arrived at the car park and met a couple that had been at Paronella Park when we did the night tour. They are travelling around the world on a motorbike and have been away for 14 months and have another 22 months or so to go.
After a quick cuppa we headed off again as we are now well behind schedule as we had not originally planned on doing the long walk. From Mossman Gorge we headed into Mossman and got money from the ATM as the motel we are staying at tonight has no EFTPOS at the moment. Les managed to remember his PIN for his new card!!! We then headed up the mountains to the hinterland,
with the road being quite windy (as in many turns, not lots of moving air), and “interesting” when meeting the cane trucks.
Headed north again stopping for lunch at 1:05 pm at McLeod River 19 km north of Mt Carbine township. It was one of the very few rivers or creeks along this road that had flowing water.
Moved on again at 1:35 with a quick photo stop at an un-named lookout
and Black Mountain which was very spectacular.
We arrived in Cooktown at 4:00.
How big are the cows in Queensland?
Day 18 Cooktown. 7 km
Woke to a brilliant sunny warm day. Late rise as we are not going anywhere today other than a look around Cooktown. After breakfast did a bit of packing to prepare for tomorrow.
At 9:30 we walked into town and along the main road, checking out the touristy things.
There are a few old buildings but unfortunately not many and they are not in the best of order but just need a bit of TLC.
There was a cool “musical ship” – parts of the ship were musical instruments that you could play, making sounds with either hitting them, or forcing air through them.
We stopped for a drink at ‘The Jackey Jackey’ Café which is run by a Chinese gentlemen (probably called Jackie!!). We then continued down to the Fisherman Wharf which is on the river. The water looks very inviting but not a good place to go swimming. Then wandered back to the motel arriving just before 12:00 but decided (foolishly???) to walk to the top of the lookout. It is steep and was about 1.7 km to the top. Great view!!!
and arrived back at 1:15 and had lunch in the breeze on our balcony.
After a rest walked to the Cooktown Botanic Gardens which has a very varied selection of plants and some very weird fruits.
But most importantly, they had a Cooktown Orchid (floral emblem of QLD) in flower.
As the café was closed no cappuccino for Joy so we walked home again (return trip of about 2 km) and had afternoon tea in the motel.
Lazy afternoon and then went back to the lookout (driving this time) so we could watch the sunset and take lots of photos.
When we were at the lookout, who should ride up but the English couple on the fancy motorbike that we met at Paronella Park, then again at Mossman Gorge – are they stalking us?
Mango anyone? These trees are everywhere in this part of the world, and not just in mango plantations.
Day 19 Cooktown to Yungaburra. 346 km
What a shock it was this morning to wake to clouds! It wasn’t cold, in fact it got quite hot during the night, and this morning it was quite humid, but we haven’t seen so many clouds in quite a while. Mind you, they didn’t last for long – by the time we had gone about 30mins down the road from Cooktown, it was back to the usual – sun, sun, more sun, and a whisper of a cloud every now and then.
We were on the road by 8:30am, and after first stopping at our most northerly point for this trip
heading towards our next long stay – a week in Yungaburra, which is just up the road from Atherton. We could take our time getting there, since it was only about 310km.
Our first stop was at Annan Gorge, which was only about 30km from Cooktown. We drove right past it on our way into Cooktown because the parking area was crawling with caravans and motor homes, and there was no way we could have fitted in. The gorge is pretty easy to see, as the road goes right across it. The crossing is a combination of bridge and causeway – any reasonable amount of water going down and the road would be cut.
It is quite an impressive gorge – all sharp rocks and waterfalls, so Les was happy taking photos.
Morning tea was at the James Earl lookout, about 20km south of Lakeland. We had stopped at the lookout on the way in to Cooktown, so no photos of the view required today. But Joy took a photo of the information board that explains the ban on alcohol in many of the Aboriginal communities on Cape York. She found it interesting, and wondered if the ban was forced onto the communities, or if they wanted it. The fines are pretty stiff for ignoring the bans.
As we’d been driving along, we had noticed quite a few trees with what looked like fluffy yellow flowers. We’d assumed they were wattle, but we were wrong – they are grevilleas! We found this out because we found a safe place to stop, and went wandering in the bush to find the trees and check them out close up. The trees are very tall, and the flowers a very pale yellow.
We had a bit of excitement along the way when the car in front of us surprised a wedge-tailed eagle that was feeding off road-kill. They are such large birds it takes a while for them to get going, and by the time we got close, it was still only just up off the ground.
Another noticeable thing along the way was the number of ant hills. For most of the way, they were pretty much everywhere, and were these little pointy things in amongst the trees. But as we got closer to Atherton, they got much bigger – maybe the ants close the Atherton like to build mansions.
Lunch, at about 12:30pm, was at Mareeba, in the Rotary Park. There were a couple of groups of Aboriginals in the park, enjoying themselves. They weren’t causing any trouble, but I did see one guy later walking along the path, and he was having trouble keeping on the path, so I think he may have had a drink or two (Mareeba isn’t one of the places where alcohol is banned).
Since we couldn’t check into our accommodation until 2pm, we went for a walk in the park, around the lake. There were lilies, ducks, geese, tadpoles, and some other birds we could hear but not see, so couldn’t identify. We also found some geese that had goslings following them around – so cute!
Once we arrived at our accommodation in Yungaburra, we could check out what sort of cooking and fridge facilities there were, which pretty much dictates what sort of meals we can make, and therefore our shopping list. We made a few adjustments to the menu, then headed off to Woolies, and were back in time for a little relax before going platypus-spotting.
Dusk is the best time for spotting platypus, so at 5:30pm we walked down to the creek and prepared to wait.
Our patience was rewarded – 3 platypus (or is that playpi?). We now have photos
and video of them, but the video isn’t very good, as Joy was in charge of that, and she needs to practise a bit more. Lucky we are here for a week, so we can go to the creek every night if we like – that way we might get some good footage.
That koala was a bit of a poser!
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