Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
What? Another magnificent day? Surely not, that would make too many in a row... But, it's true. We have genuinely had another magnificent day!
It started much earlier than usual this morning. I was up at 6am, trying to make as much noise as possible to rouse everyone else, so we could get away before they shut the highway at Port Douglas for the Ironman Comp. I could tell immediately that the weather had come out to play, because even though the sun wasn't yet up, the sky was already that deep rich blue colour without a cloud to be seen. What a shame we didn't get this yesterday for our reef cruise, but not to worry, the only thing you get from thiunking like that is regrets...
We were out the gate before 7.30am, and we were looking forward to the trip further north. Today we were entering unchartered territory, as neither of us has ever been this far up the coast of Qld before, and didn't know what to expect. It was only 260km away, and we figured it should take about 3 hours, including any breaks. And we were pretty much spot on. We had a short stop at the Mighty Palmer River Roadhouse for a cookie and a cuppa, and we arrived in Cooktown just after 10.30am. The BIG4 park here is absolutely beautiful, and very peaceful and tranquil. They don't get too many families through, and their main market is the traditional nomads, so there's not the facilities that Jeremy and Dylan are looking for, but their grounds are gorgeous and the park design is stunning. Of course, with this climate, it should be. Stick a palm in the ground at the beginning of the wet season, come back four months later, and it's a full grown tree...
We were escorted to our site, and set up the caravan while the kids went to the pool for a swim. They don't mind if the kids aren't supervised at the pool, so long as we're comfortable they can swim satisfactorily. There's quite a few other vans in, and it's close to the beginning of their peak season, and they're getting more and more arrivals each day. Now that the weather has cleared up, they reckon the nomads will start to move again, and things will soon be hectic. Our neighbours are friendly, chatty people, and they happen to drive a Pajero. They love theirs too...
The weather today has been superb. There's no wind, just the beautiful blue sky and the warm, bright sunshine. Cooktown has totally caught us by surprise. I'm not sure what we were expecting, maybe something a little more rough and basic and coarse. But it's not! It's a quaint, coastal little village, with lovely gardens, very green everywhere, and a lovely touristy feel about it. Considering it's the last civilisation before the wilderness of Cape York, which I think is what gave us reason to expect much less, we've been very pleasantly surprised. The character and history of the place would leave many larger towns and regional centres green with envy. Primarily though, they thrive on their history associated with Captain Cook and Joseph Banks, and the grounding of the Endeavour in 1770. There's monuments, statues, dedications and plaques about all the different areas and things that happened during the course of their seven month stranding all those years ago. We did the town heritage walk today, and drove up the local lookout to take in the area. This was the same mountain that Captain Cook climbed to survey his surroundings and to plot a path out of the river and through the reef once the Endeavour had been repaired. We met our neighbours up there, and had another chat. There's a lighthouse there, which is dedicated to Captain Cook, and a plaque to let you know that he stood in this spot to view the coast and the reef. It's a truly amazing view from up there, and on such a wonderful clear day, all the individual reefs were perfecly visible. The coastline is so mountainous and green, and lush with rainforest, but as you look inland, to the west, it changes and becomes more harsh and brown and dry. More forested grasslands. We the went and visited the Cooktown Botanic Gardens, which are amongst the oldest established gardens in Australia. These are more dedicated to Joseph Banks (Cook's botanist) and Daniel Solander (his scientist assistant). They still carry some of the original species of plants collected and described by Banks on his journey with Captain Cook, and his diaries and memoirs were very detailed and descriptive. It's a lovely spot, but without the connection to the past, there's not really anything special about them. There's many Botanical gardens I've seen that are showier than these, allbeit not as old. Funnily though, we met our neighbours there again, as well... We had a quick chat to the lady at the botanic gardens, which is also the visitor information centre, and out of curiosity, asked her what the road to the cape was like, and told her our original plans to drive up and back in 4 days. No problems was her response. The graders have been on the road for over a week, and it's smoother than the Bruce Hwy (wherever that is?). You'd do that trip easily, but in four days, you'd miss everything the Cape has to see... b*****!! Foiled again!! This time though, it really is ok... We're committed to returning for a special Cape tour...
By this time, most of the day had gone, and we returned to the park for a laze around and a swim in the pool. It was a nice swim too... We had dinner at the local Bowling Club, on recommendation from the lady in the office, and are about to sit down and watch a dvd. We've got plans for tomorrow, but if I tell you those now, there won't be anything to share then, so you'll just have to wait. I can tell you that by all reports the rain has gone for at least a week, and that gives us something to look forward to. It should be sun, sun and more sun for a while...
- comments
Aunty Min Top Stuff!!! Make sure you pick everyone's brains for info about Cape Trips. Anyone there that does tag alongs? About the rain, you can thank me for that, I braved the freezing temperatures & did a nudey dance so the gods cry above here & leave you high n dry ALL the way up there!!! Have fun. Sounds like you better slip slop slap kiddies. Xx