Day 186
Sunday
2 July 2017 –
Cairns – Babinda – Innisfail – Bramston Beach – Babinda
(Camps 8 QLD #10)
The rain has set in I fear. This morning was the heaviest we
have experienced, not jus the usual sprinkle but a downpour, just what we don’t
really want when having to pack up and move on, but nothing we can do to fix
it.
We actually were quite lazy for a moving day, not getting
out until 8.30am, but then it was full steam ahead. I felt bad as Paul was busy
loading everything up outside in the rain and was soaked through before too
long. Meanwhile, I stayed dry as I sorted the inside of the van and then went
for a shower. I emerged to see the van passing me and heading out to the road,
so I followed suit.
The rain had taken a brief break, so Paul could get the car
on and then he was off to have a shower. I finished off with things inside and
before long we were making our way from Cairns and heading south on the A1,
Bruce Hwy.
The first half of the trip was over familiar ground as it
retraced our initial run towards the Atherton Tablelands, but instead of
turning off, we continued on the road, making it to the small town of Babinda
for 11am. We located the free camp area and pulled in to survey the scene and
find a good spot to pull in.
With our patch pegged and me closely guarding it warding off
other potential squatters, Paul removed the car and then reversed the van into
our spot, home for the next couple of days.
We set ourselves up as the rain began again. The ground on
which we are camped is mostly loose gravel but the area behind is grass, well
would be grass if it wasn’t so wet and was more suited for wallowing pigs.
We had our lunch and thought about what next before dashing
for the car and heading out to the Babinda Boulders. We drove through the small
town and on to the national park, grabbed the rain gear and then followed the
path to a waterhole that during finer and warmer weather would probably be
quite lovely.
From there we walked the path to two lookouts. Where the
watering hole had been quite calm and serene, the river turned into a torrent
and was soon squeezing water between massive boulders. The platform didn’t
offer the ideal viewing area and I longed to jump the fence and move closer,
but the signs indicated it wasn’t wise to be on the slippery rocks.
After completing the path we returned to the car, just as
the rain set in again. We were glad we had our brolly to keep us a little less
soggy. Once in the car we drove on to Innisfail, a small town on the banks of a
couple of rivers. The tourist books say the town has the largest concentration
of Art Deco buildings and it was certainly evident when we drove in.
We parked near the North and South Johnstone Rivers, glad
the sun had come to play and did a walk by the wharf admiring the boats and the
Jubilee Bridge before moving through the town to admire the architecture. There
were obviously middle-eastern influences as well. There wasn’t much happening
in the town itself being a Sunday, but that made it easier to wander about.
With the loop of roads complete, we made our way in the
direction of home, but took a right towards the coast to check out Bramston
Beach; this place had been mentioned to us by Rob yesterday, as a good place to
stay and we just wanted to check it out.
We parked next door to the community run caravan park and
did a walk around the perimeter and watching people fish from the beach. It
appeared to be quite a sleepy little beachside town.
With our reccy complete we drove back to Babinda, passing
two jabiru standing in a paddock, that we stopped to take photos of.
We made it
back for 4pm glad to see it was a little sunny. Paul settled in with his book
while I sat on the computer. When I had had enough sitting around, we went for
a walk around the free camp area and across the Babinda Creek that runs
alongside the free camp area.
Paul wasn’t feeling that great so we didn’t walk
for far before returning and having our dinner.
It was then our usual quiet time, though it started a little
earlier than normal.
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