Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Ross and Gabs Travels
The drive to Cooktown was a very scenic one. Ross and I comment on several occasions. "That is beautiful! Awe inspiring! Unbelievable." The road in parts was like the big dipper again with lots of twists and turns. Fortunately for the most part the Mulligan Highway is a very good surface. We were able to take one lot of photos at a lookout, but as for the rest of the spectacular scenery we couldn't get photos as we couldn't stop since the roads were double lined in these places.
The caravan park is quite nice. We are not crowded right next door to each other so we have plenty of room around us and lots of tropical trees and bushes as well.We have been bombarded by falling tiny little mango's from the trees around us they are about 25 mm in diameter but sound like they are house bricks when they hit the van roof. We were warned on checking in to make sure that we lock up everything at night and also if we go somewhere. There is also a police message in the laundry making sure we got the message.
Wednesday
Very quiet day today. Went down to the wharf to have a look and to also have some lunch.The wharf was interesting and picturesque for a small town like Cooktown. We also called in to the tiny Bowling Club as they advertised meals for lunch and dinner. We might go tomorrow or Friday, probably Friday as they have an early bird special board. We stayed a little while and watched a few people playing bowls, We also took a drive to see what we could see and came across a sign Old Chinese Gardens Workers Quarters. Now to us that meant " here are some Chinese gardens which are very old and which also were Chinese workers accommodation from the past. After driving down some unmade roads and following the signs we could see nothing except some rubbish and some really unkept back gardens. A lady saw us and came out and asked if we were lost. .We said no we are looking for the old Chinese Gardens. She said oh that's here. This is where I live and the Workers quarters (just some demountable type cheap buildings) are up the front for the workers who can't get accommodation anywhere else. We looked at the garden it was full of pots and buckets and other stuff. Ross said "It's a wonder she can move around in it." She said they were Chinese Gardens once. Well there was no evidence of it now although the signs we followed were official looking (council). We figured that maybe the council hadn't checked lately. It may have been an historical site but there was nothing to indicate this. Very strange!!!
We might have look at the Cooktown Botanical Gardens tomorrow.
Thursday
Today we went to Grassy Hill Lookout and the lighthouse. We felt like mountain goats when we had to walk the last 60 metres up a very steep incline to get to the look out but it was worth the view once we got up there we could see for miles - all over the town, the river, the Coral Sea and the mountains in the background. It was really impressive. Then we drove 25kms out of town, back down the Mulligan Highway to take photos of the Black Mountains which we passed coming in to town but we couldn't stop because we were towing the van. The mountains consist of huge boulders of grey granite, which have been blackened by algae growing on the exposed surfaces. They are very unstable and should not be climbed, as rain causes the boulders to fracture, break and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively.There are many stories about the mountains too, with tales of people, horses and whole mobs of cattle disappearing into the labyrinths of rock, These mountains are something I have never seen before and they do have a bit of a spooky feel to them so viewing them from a distance is quite enough.
On the way back we had a look at Quarantine Bay which is a nice quiet pretty little inlet but the signage( Beware crocodiles! Do not swim) meant we didn't stay long, even though it looked like a really nice place for a picnic. We also had a quick look at the golf course which is a 9 hole course with 2 different tee off positions making for an 18 hole course. It is a very attractive course consisting of lots of small hills and dales. It looks difficult with lots of trees and out of bounds opportunities. After the golf course trip we headed back to the van for a late lunch.
Friday
Car cleaning and washing day. It all has to be done sometime There are some things that just don't go away!!!
Sunday
Today we left windy Cooktown to go to Wonga Beach which is about 277km south. Did I mention that the wind never stops blowing in Cooktown? The days in cooktown are measured by windy, very windy or extremely windy and most days seem to have all those elements, so we weren't really that sorry to leave all that wind behind.
The caravan park is quite nice. We are not crowded right next door to each other so we have plenty of room around us and lots of tropical trees and bushes as well.We have been bombarded by falling tiny little mango's from the trees around us they are about 25 mm in diameter but sound like they are house bricks when they hit the van roof. We were warned on checking in to make sure that we lock up everything at night and also if we go somewhere. There is also a police message in the laundry making sure we got the message.
Wednesday
Very quiet day today. Went down to the wharf to have a look and to also have some lunch.The wharf was interesting and picturesque for a small town like Cooktown. We also called in to the tiny Bowling Club as they advertised meals for lunch and dinner. We might go tomorrow or Friday, probably Friday as they have an early bird special board. We stayed a little while and watched a few people playing bowls, We also took a drive to see what we could see and came across a sign Old Chinese Gardens Workers Quarters. Now to us that meant " here are some Chinese gardens which are very old and which also were Chinese workers accommodation from the past. After driving down some unmade roads and following the signs we could see nothing except some rubbish and some really unkept back gardens. A lady saw us and came out and asked if we were lost. .We said no we are looking for the old Chinese Gardens. She said oh that's here. This is where I live and the Workers quarters (just some demountable type cheap buildings) are up the front for the workers who can't get accommodation anywhere else. We looked at the garden it was full of pots and buckets and other stuff. Ross said "It's a wonder she can move around in it." She said they were Chinese Gardens once. Well there was no evidence of it now although the signs we followed were official looking (council). We figured that maybe the council hadn't checked lately. It may have been an historical site but there was nothing to indicate this. Very strange!!!
We might have look at the Cooktown Botanical Gardens tomorrow.
Thursday
Today we went to Grassy Hill Lookout and the lighthouse. We felt like mountain goats when we had to walk the last 60 metres up a very steep incline to get to the look out but it was worth the view once we got up there we could see for miles - all over the town, the river, the Coral Sea and the mountains in the background. It was really impressive. Then we drove 25kms out of town, back down the Mulligan Highway to take photos of the Black Mountains which we passed coming in to town but we couldn't stop because we were towing the van. The mountains consist of huge boulders of grey granite, which have been blackened by algae growing on the exposed surfaces. They are very unstable and should not be climbed, as rain causes the boulders to fracture, break and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively.There are many stories about the mountains too, with tales of people, horses and whole mobs of cattle disappearing into the labyrinths of rock, These mountains are something I have never seen before and they do have a bit of a spooky feel to them so viewing them from a distance is quite enough.
On the way back we had a look at Quarantine Bay which is a nice quiet pretty little inlet but the signage( Beware crocodiles! Do not swim) meant we didn't stay long, even though it looked like a really nice place for a picnic. We also had a quick look at the golf course which is a 9 hole course with 2 different tee off positions making for an 18 hole course. It is a very attractive course consisting of lots of small hills and dales. It looks difficult with lots of trees and out of bounds opportunities. After the golf course trip we headed back to the van for a late lunch.
Friday
Car cleaning and washing day. It all has to be done sometime There are some things that just don't go away!!!
Sunday
Today we left windy Cooktown to go to Wonga Beach which is about 277km south. Did I mention that the wind never stops blowing in Cooktown? The days in cooktown are measured by windy, very windy or extremely windy and most days seem to have all those elements, so we weren't really that sorry to leave all that wind behind.
- comments