Woolworths, Crocs and the Atherton Tablelands
Thursday dawned bright and sunny, which was good as I’d arranged to meet Kerry for lunch. The Council offices in Mossman are just across the road from Woolworths, which I took a picture of just for the older readers.
We went to a local café which does Thai food, and it was very good. Cooked fresh and as mild or hot as you want, and at a really good price. Kerry brought half of hers away as there was enough for 2 lunches and they are happy to let you have a takeaway box. I think the one I chose was a bit smaller…
I went home via the supermarket in Port Douglas, which just took the Honda over 1000km since I arrived. I’ll get a few more on yet, weather permitting.
Tea was going to be chicken and chorizo pasta, but I forgot the chorizo so had to improvise with some prawns we had in the freezer. It turned out ok and all got eaten, so maybe I should have said it was planned that way all along!
Kerry was off on Friday so we went into town in the morning to pick up some bits for the proposed camping trip at the weekend, and get some Christmas presents from Kerry and Conor that I could take back with me. It felt a bit odd buying Christmas cards and wrapping paper in 30 degree heat, although I’d already bought a box of mince pies a couple of days ago!
Later we took Murphy for a walk via Beach Shack and the Tav. We didn’t win anything in the raffle, but saw a mint 1967 Mustang at the Tav where Conor and I each had a pint of Guiness and both ‘split the G’. We discussed the planned camping trip for the weekend, and also a ‘plan B’ as the weather radar was looking a bit iffy.
Which was just as well as we had heavy rain on Friday night / Saturday morning, and even though it had stopped at around 9.30 when we took Murphy for a walk the roads were wet and there was a strong possibility of more rain later. So we headed to the Daintree River to go on a croc spotting cruise instead.
At this time of year the water’s warm so the crocs don’t need to bask in the sun to warm up, so as it’s mating season and they can stay underwater for up to around 7 hours at a time they’re not as easily visible as during the cooler months. We saw one watching the boat, barely breaking the surface of the water, and the photo shows how difficult they can be to see in even very shallow water. We also saw a very young croc, and again there’s a picture below.
Afterwards we took a drive part way along the CREB trail. CREB stands for Cairns Regional Electricity Board, and the trail was originally built as a service and maintenance access track for the old electrical power lines running from Cairns up to Cooktown. It’s 71 kilometres long and winds through the World Heritage-listed Wet Tropics of Queensland, starting just north of Daintree Village and heading toward Wujal Wujal and Cooktown. It’s no longer used for active power line maintenance (as lines were moved elsewhere), and it is now famous as one of Australia's most rugged and challenging 4WD and adventure trails.
We drove as far as the first river crossing in the hope of spotting some more crocs, but instead came across a group of motocross riders and watched them navigate the river crossing before moving on.
I drove the Ranger for part of the journey back, the first time I’d driven anything for 4 weeks but it all went well. While on the journey some friends of Kerry and Conor’s, Gerhard and Heather, texted to ask if we wanted to go round for early evening drinks at their house. It’s in it’s own grounds with the backdrop of the rainforest behind it, and when they bought it 15 years ago it was a small run-down building set amidst gardens so overgrown they didn’t initially realise there was an outdoor pool. Over the years most of the original building has gone and in its place stands a lovely home built and fitted to a high standard.
Whilst there’s still work to do, the end result based on the evidence so far will be worth the wait.
Gerhard’s a biker and has 2 Moto Guzzis. Heather took lessons without him knowing, and when she announced she’d passed the Australian equivalent of our CBT they went and bought a 2-year-old Honda CB125 which had only 53 kilometres on the clock, so is basically a new bike for 2200 dollars, or about 1100 pounds! It was a great bargain which she only got the day before and was looking forward to riding.
Gav, who I met on my last trip, and his wife Annie also came round, and we enjoyed a couple of hours of drinks and nibbles before going home where Conor cooked linguine for tea.
Conor and I had planned a big ride for Sunday, and as it was dry and bright we set off for the Atherton Tablelands at 8.30am, stopping for a brew at Ellis Beach on the way. We followed the Captain Cook Highway to Cairns, then the Bruce Highway until just before Innisfail where we turned onto the Palmerston Highway to rise through the rainforest to Milla Milla. The scenery as you reach the sign welcoming you to the Tablelands is amazing as you just see miles and miles of fertile countryside in every direction.
We stopped at Milla Milla – which is where my bike came from – for a short break and a beer, before going on through Tonga, Jungaburra, Mareeba and Kuranda, stopping at Macalister Brewery for a break before the run back home. All in all we covered about 400 km (250 miles), and managed to avoid all but two light and brief sprinklings of rain in the morning, enjoying sunshine, good roads and light traffic for most of the day. With the start of the wet season not far away we saw a lot of other bikes out with the same idea.
It's been a full few days and a busy weekend, and it’s not over yet!
There’s a few pictures below, and I’ll post some videos separately later of the Tablelands ride.
Comments