Cairns to Rollingstone

Hi everyone. We are back.
We arrived back in Cairns on 29th September. We caught up with everyone at home, had the doctors appointments and did all we had to do.
We had a couple of days in Cairns to do some shopping and we left there on Thursday 2nd October.
We had a leisurely trip and stopped at Innisfail for lunch overlooking the river.

There appeared to be a moderate sized fleet at Innisfail. All fishing for Spanish mackerel at the moment

We had a pleasant hour or so here before heading on to Paronella Park. We got to Paronella Park early afternoon and were directed to our camp site where we just managed to fit in. We wandered down to the office to book in for a tour that night. The place was pretty packed but most people leave after dark and only the people who are staying the night go on the tour.

I will give you a short history of the place as it is very interesting.

Jose Paronella arrived in Innisfail in 1913 having sailed from Catalonia in Spain. He planned on having a splendid life for himself and his fiancée who he had left in Spain. For 11 years he bought, improved and sold cane farms. During this time he found a virgin rain forest at Mena Creek beside the Mena Creek Falls. He thought this place was perfect for his dream. He went back to Spain to get his fiancée but she had married another. He was determined to have a bride so he proposed to his fiancées younger sister Margarita and one year later they headed back to Australia.

This is Mena Creek which Jose had seen and thought was a great place for his dream

This is the waterfall on Mena creek.

By 1929 Jose had purchased the land. He then started on his dream.

 First he built a 47 step staircase to move building materials between the upper and lower levels

Then they built a stone cottage and moved in on Christmas Eve

This is another view of the staircase looking down. It is still as structurally sound today as when it was built in the 1930's.
Over a period of time they built an entertainment area which transformed to a ballroom. They planted 7000 trees including an avenue of kauri trees. He built North Queensland's first Hydro - electric plant.
And they built a castle like the ones he remembered in Catalonia in his childhood. They had some ups and downs with cyclones and floods.
Jose passed away in1948 leaving Margarita and two children. The daughter and her husband ran paronella until the husband died in 1972 when the daughter sold it. In 1993 Mark and Judy Evans bought it and have restored it back to the original even though it was devastated by Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

 The fountain near the entertainment area

The avenue of kauri trees which Jose and Margarita planted

A view of the castle

Me sitting on the deck of the cafe

Another view of the castle with beautiful fountains in front

Teresa falls. Jose named these falls after his daughter

Ray standing in the avenue of kauri trees.

When we did the night tour it was quite spectacular. The lights were on around the castle and when we walked around the edge of the water the fish and eels came around looking to be fed. It is an amazing place and it is definitely worth a visit.

The castle lit up at night

The eel looking for a feed as we walked past

The water fountain at night.

















The next day after going for a walk in the day time around the park we headed south to Cardwell. We made a quick stop in Tully where it was busy as it is cane cutting season and there are cane trains everywhere and all of the sugar mills are working flat out.
We went to the Beachcomber Caravan park at Cardwell and after a couple of tries we found a site which suited us. After setting up we went down the street to get some lunch. We had fish and chips. The choice of ordinary fish was Spanish Mackerel, Barramundi, Red Emperor or Coral Trout. So I had Coral Trout and Ray had Red Emperor but they over cooked it and it was a bit dry.

Cardwell is a lovely town. It copped a lot of damage during Cyclone Yasi during 2011. All of the boats in the marina were blown on top of one another and all of the shops in the main street sustained massive damage. But as is the way with the Australian spirit everything has been rebuilt better than ever. There is a wonderful new marina and the government has spent $32 million building new barriers along the seafront incorporating a 3.5km walking track, exercise area and kids playgrounds and it looks fantastic.

When building the walkway they have exposed the aggregate into various shapes relating to the flora, fauna and recreation activities in the area. This is two red tailed black cockatoos.

Looking out from the walkway to the Hinchinbrook Passage

A curlew. These are prevalent in the area and you can hear them calling to each other at night. A really spooky call. They also stand under the street lights at night to catch insects.

A fisherman throwing his net which by the way is legal in Queensland but not in NSW.

Looking across Hinchinbrook Passage to Hinchinbrook Island

Looking back at the walkway from out on the jetty

Another early morning view of the lone fisherman and Hinchinbrook island

A Turtle

The view south along the waterfront form the jetty. Huge retaining walls have been built to ensure Cardwell is less damaged if hit by another cyclone.













We stayed at Cardwell for the long weekend and the park was very busy. A local ham radio group was staying so there were all of these people running around with huge aerials on their cars and vans,
We left on the Monday morning to head to Rollingstone which is about 50km north of Townsville.
On the way we stopped at the Tyto wetlands at Ingham. A great use of marshy ground.

Beautiful purple water lilies at the wetlands in Ingham

One of the water lily ponds. While we were walking around someone on the walkway up above told us to watch out as he had just seen a snake. That's it, walk over.












We arrived at Rollingstone just before lunch and initially picked a spot beside the lake as it was very windy up near the beach front. The park is lovely. Palm Island and Orpheus island are just opposite and you can see Magnetic Island to the south.
On the Tuesday we drove into Townsville and got ourselves new camera and I got a new phone. Townsville seems very big and we didn't go right into town. It is the capital of Far North Queensland and is quite busy.
I have a friend in Townsville and we made arrangements to meet for coffee on Friday so we decided to have a couple of quiet days.
On the Wednesday it was very hot and there was no breeze at all down by the lake so we went to the office and organised to move up to the beachfront. So we packed the van up and moved. Ohh heaven. The breeze is lovely and the view magnificent. We get the morning sun and the afternoon shade so it is a perfect spot.
I have been attacked by sand flies so the site up here with the breeze is keeping them at bay a bit Sand flies used to love Ray and not me but this has changed. He reckons it is the Vitamin B for beer which keeps them away from him.
Ray went fishing on Thursday and caught a Remora fish but you can't eat them.

This is an old piece of driftwood just in front of the van. The tide is out in this photo and it is quite rocky in places.

This is a view of the van on the right taken from down on the beach at low tide. Very tropical.

This is the spot we were camped first down on the lake. It was lovely but no breeze.

This is a picture of the magnificent sunrise. Ray took this shot with his new camera.

Another view from the van with the tide starting to come in. That is Magnetic Island in the background.















On Friday we went into town to meet Belinda. First we parked at The Strand and went for a stroll.

A car carrier coming into port

And again but this time it is just docking. It seems to be a quite large working port.

Looking back along The Strand from the C Bar where we had morning tea.

Looking out to Cleveland Bay from the walkway along The Strand.

A view of the port.
















After meeting Belinda we drove up to Castle Hill Lookout. It is 3km straight up and up to 1000 people walk and run it each day. When we got to the top the local police academy trainees were running up and down the steps to the top lookout after having run up the hill to the lookout. They are going to be fit.

This is the view looking out at Cleveland Bay from the lookout


This is a panorama shot capturing Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island and part of Townsville.

Looking towards Townsville Port and marina.














The following photos are just some shots taken around Townsville and Rollingstone

This is a sculpture called Bazza and Shazza cast in bronze and on the waterfront on The Strand. Incredible detail . C'mon Wollongong you need to be looking at things like this for our wonderful coast walk.

The detail in the piece of driftwood beside the van. Looks like a prehistoric beast.

The red moon eclipse half over.

The night of the eclipse and the moon rising over the ocean.

Another beautiful sculpture on The Strand at Townsville. a turtle.
















Well that is enough blogging for now as it is fairly big. I will do more in a week or so. We will be heading further south on Wednesday.