Mon Repos, Bundaberg – Turtles and Taking to the Skies

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The opportunity to spend time in the beautiful backwater of Bargara in Central Qld Coast, on the Bundy shoreline, is something not to be passed up. What draws us to the region is the nesting of the turtles. Mon Repos, is a precious mainland turtle rookery, active between November and March. This is truly something special that we enjoy visiting when we can. From the labouring of the mums… to the hatching of the clutches, sprinkled up and down the beach at the National Parks Turtle centre near Bundaberg in Qld.

The Wet Season in Far North Queensland

It’s approaching time to head south, its time to leave the rainforest and our safe little camp nestled into the ridge. The monsoons have arrived and the Wet season is promising to settle in. All across the inland the water is at last beginning to flow after a long drought and it is gunna get damp in FNQ. I know this because the ants are on the move and small spots of mould are starting to appear into the crevices in the van. I spend a few minutes each day spraying and cleaning these pesky reminders of living in the Wet Season in the Far North Queensland Tropics.

The Gateway to the Frontier Territory – Camooweal

Having crossed the vast coloured ombre’ plains of a thousand ochre shades, we are now taking a moment to rest-up on the banks of the Georgina. We are at the top end and far West in the Gulf Country. Next we will be venturing into the central deserts of the Northern Territory though they are not deserts as you would imagine them. Savannah and grasslands of vast flood plains would better describe the land where we are headed.

The Old Gulflander – A train to No-where

We caught a train this week, one that is the most unusual and the most isolated in the world. It travels between Normanton and Croydon and that is the only place it travels. It’s affectionately known as the Gulflander and it’s been in operation since 1991 on a narrow gauge rail that is in itself unique. The rail line is completely made of iron, the sleepers, the line and it has no need of ballast.

The train was a true charmer, an old lady of a past era with no windows but blinds, leather bench seats and quaint detail right down to the brass passenger bell and chord. It also has a crank petrol engine… I did say it was unique and it truly is. In Australia, the like can only be found at Australind in WA and Puffing Billy in the Gippsland of Victoria.

Normanton – Home of the Biggest Damn Croc’ in the World

The sleepy little town of Normanton is a step into history. It is a lovely inland port along the Norman River and the town offers many of the amenities that the Gulf community needs. Its greatest claim to fame is it was the home of Krys a croc’ and also the home of the magnificent Gulflander… a train leaving from somewhere and going to nowhere but what a wonderful ride!

The Aussie Savannah – Across the Top

We have been on the Savannah Way now for a week and I have learnt one thing. That is that I love the Gulf country of Queensland. I have always considered the country that travels across the Top of Aus to be very similar. Stretching from East to West it is some 4,000 klm of remote regions and seasonal monsoonal rains that can bring with it vast sheets of flooding water, and long months of baking sun. Not to mention the challenges the Outback can deliver. In some ways the terrain is similar, but in many ways it is made up of many totally different regions I have discovered.

Undara’s Volcano – Kalkani Crater

Kalkani, a place of no water. It sits quiet now; a volcanic cone born in the Dreamtime, one weathered to a shadow of its former self. Once it was a mighty volcano, which scarred the earth across great distances leaving lava flows that today attract those adventurers and travellers who are curious and excited about these things.

If the Croc’s don’t get you … the Trees will

As we prepare to depart the Cairns region, and head west there are a few things that I have learnt and many things that I will miss. While on the other hand there are some things that I am very much looking forward too… actually quite a few things.

Gateway to the Tropics – Cairns

We’ve been living in the sun in Far North Queensland, hiding from the chill weather fronts of winter passing over southern Aus. these last weeks and it has worked well. The tropic is a great place to be in an Aus. winter and there is a heap of things to keep us busy. It is tourist season up here and people abound everywhere you go. I know over the humid Christmas of Aus. this place is largely left to the locals, not many can deal with the high humidity and the strong cast of the sun. We too will be outa here by then but in the mean time it has been a lot of fun.   

A Mans Dream of the Old World – Paronella Park

There is one place that I have always had a yen to visit. It’s a castle, up on the tablelands near Innisfail FNQ. Paronella Park has always represented for me the determination, the dedication to family and the efforts in dynastic building, which many of our early emigrants bought to Aus in the last 150 yrs or so. They bought with them their dreams for a better future and this should be celebrated.