Author: Gary

Bloomfield Track & Lions Den Adventure

The Bloomfield Track was only opened 3 weeks ago following the devastation cyclone Jasper inflicted on this region. Kathy, Mal, Jennifer & I started the dirt road challenge through Wujal Wujal, Bloomfield and then onto the Lions Den Hotel where we met Bruce & Nerrilee for lunch. Departing 8.30am we arrived at Midday to be entertained by a local pub band. We were reluctant to swim in Emmagen Creek due to poor water clarity ie not able to spot a crocodile! At our morning tea stop we came across a camper van stuck on the riverside. Fortunately he was safely retrieved by an experienced man with a strong winch. The devastation caused by Jasper was everywhere to be seen. It was a great day!

Our trip was uneventful, departing around 8.30am it took 1.5hrs. This included a 10 minute delay waiting for the ferry and another 10 minute traffic stop due to road works. We have a beautiful unpowered spot for 3 nights. And we’ve just seen our first Ulysees butterfly 🦋.

Hooka A Barra Farm

Great experience, educational and fun. After being shown around the farm we were given some tuition on how to cast and catch a barramundi followed by lunch

Could this be the best passionfruit ever? We think it is! Sooo sweet, juicy, full of fruit and cheap (33 cents each). Bought from a farmer’s roadside store less than 50m down the road from where we are staying.

About 15 minutes north from Mossman and nestled amongst tropical and rainforest trees is the Daintree Beach Resort (Wonga beach). Lovely, peaceful area (unpowered section) with only a small number of campers and 50 metres to the beach. Swimming would not be recommended due to crocodiles.

Attempted to capture the Kuranda train snaking its way around the mountain. Unfortunately my relatively low Home Point meant it was not possible to fly to the necessary height.

Revisited the restaurant where we celebrated my 70th birthday 😊

We drove up the mountain, through Kuranda to Barron Falls Lookout. A beautiful treetop walk through the rainforest, down to the Barron Falls Station brought us to spectacular views of the falls.

We arrived in Cairns, camping by the Barron River at Lake Placid. The better weather meant a few loads of washing and drying. After grocery shopping, we settled in and anticipated the balmy evenings to follow for the next four weeks.

We were shocked to see the impact of Cyclone Jasper along the river. Massive trees and branches lined the banks on both sides. We were prevented from walking up the river by washed out and crumbling pathways.

We are based at the base of Queensland’s highest mountain on a small property in the rainforest… and yes, it has been raining & it is forecast to rain for the next week ☔️.

With solar production expected to be negligible over coming days and the batteries at 84% capacity on arrival the property owner very kindly offered 240v power when needed! We’re set for a 4 wet day stay 😊!

It was difficult to position “dishy” as it’s affectionately called for it to have an unobstructed view of the southern sky. Dishy’s usual placement is on a pole fixed to the side of the caravan. With the extension cable connected and using the ground support all areas around the van were tested without success. The only solution was to mount dishy on the car’s roof rack resulting in some but intermittent reception. Still rather impressive when considering the rainforest all around, the heavy cloud cover and that there is next to no 4G/5G coverage.

On such a wet day we made a short drive to Babinda where we bought pies for lunch 😁

The tropical wet weather is developing

Another 1st class off grid site… and all for a $10 donation per night. This 2 night site was in reasonable proximity to Wallaman Falls (the highest, permanent, single-drop waterfall in Australia); TYTO Wetlands & wall mosaics (Ingham) and Lucinda Jetty (The jetty is 5.76km in length, the longest in the southern hemisphere). The 1st day was a perfect sunny day allowing the drone to capture the Herbert River, Macknade Sugar Mill in operation and fly over the surrounding cane fields.

Some of the driving hazards you come across in North Queensland and never in NW Sydney 😁

Enjoyable stay about 30kms south of Townsville on a property owned & operated by a lovely Christian couple. During the 2 days we… revisited Castle Hill; enjoyed a great seafood lunch on the Esplanade to celebrate my birthday; did a big shop, sorted out a minor caravan aerial issue and attended the local Uniting Church Sunday service following an invitation extended by our hosts Jean & Brian.

The freedom, flexibility, choice, peace and cost savings staying at “off grid” sites is our preferred way for travelling around Australia. Adequate electricity production (solar) and battery storage is an important prerequisite for travelling this way. Our caravan has a total of 1,060w of solar panels on the roof which is complemented with a portable solar panel (200w). This portable solar panel is being replaced with a larger 300w panel to help with production during the winter season ie short daylight days. This level of solar production supports many electrical uses ie all the usual 12v applications (lights, TV, sound system, water pump, personal devices recharge) plus with the inverter, many 240v appliances eg induction cooking; washing machine; air conditioning; Starlink; microwave and if there is enough power generated, heating our water instead of using gas.

Pushing further north and the temperatures are rising 😁! Couldn’t resist stopping at the Big Mango at morning tea stop to buy a mango sorbet… Yum! 😋

What a little gem… spacious, peaceful site and the bonus was the presentation, exotic fruits/ bush tucker tasting and tour given by Nick (property owner). We also bought some of the yummy produce!

Welcome to QUEENSLAND…