Category: 9th Adventure – Around Australia

The Big Lap of Australia travel Adventure hugging the coast and avoiding 2020 winter.

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Home 😊 (Monday 5th October)

For the record…

Total travel duration: 8mths, 1 week

Total distance travelled: 27,741km (car) / 18,725km (caravan)

Most distance travelled in a day: 480km

Water: With research & planning, we were always able to access potable water. The quality did vary eg high calcium content, silt content, taste etc. Bought an additional, different inline filter (therefore 3 in total) in Darwin which made a worth while difference.

Gas: Refills proved more challenging and expensive the more remote we were. Cheapest-$20, Most expensive-$50 (Derby WA).

Fuel (Diesel): Most expensive-$1.97 (Nullarbor), Cheapest-$1.05 (Perth)

Accommodation: Most expensive-$65/night (Inverloch VIC, Broome WA). Average estimate including free camping- $30~32/night. Longest stay in one location: Olive Hill farm- 10wks+1 day.

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Paronella Park

Having heard about this FNQ attraction from many it was always on the travel itinerary. We are staying very close by in a beautiful, peaceful “paddock” (extension to the attraction’s caravan park). It was an extraordinary experience, particularly the night tour.

A brief history… JosĂ© Paronella arrived in Australia from Catalonia in Spain, in 1913. For the next 11 years he worked, cutting sugar cane initially, then purchasing, improving, and reselling cane farms. In 1924 he returned to Spain and married Margarita in 1925. The trip back to Australia was their honeymoon. JosĂ© first saw this 13 acres of virgin scrub along Mena Creek in 1914. He eventually purchased it in 1929 for ÂŁ120 and started construction. JosĂ© Paronella’s dream was to build a castle. He chose a special part of Australia and created Paronella Park. On 5ha beside Mena Creek Falls he built his castle, picnic area by the falls, tennis courts, bridges, a tunnel, and wrapped it up in an amazing range of 7,500 tropical plants and trees (now a lush rainforest!).

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Bullet dodged

Fuel filters checked (as a precaution) but had to be replaced during 60,000km service. Asked for this to be done following “bad” fuel bought while in lock down and subsequent issues. Fortunately this issue I thought had been sorted but there must have been some bad fuel left in the tank… even though the tank was drained in Geraldton WA. Travelled over 15,000km without a problem. BTW… filters don’t normally look this colour even after usual replacement (every 40,000km).

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Skyrail to Kuranda

Approximately 30 years ago we visited Cairns and took the train on the return trip to Kuranda. With a little hesitation we decided to visit Kuranda again, this time via the Skyrail.

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Port Douglas

While based in the Daintree we travelled south to spend the day in Port Douglas. Coffee, a swim in the ocean on the EAST COAST, PD lookout, lunch & a walk 😊.

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Daintree

A “top 10” location (visited over 80 so far). Lush rain forest with endless shades of green; peaceful; commercialisation in a few areas only; creeks flowing with clean, clear water; variety of morning bird calls and much more experienced over 5 days. Road from ferry to our caravan site was narrow with many twists and turns!

Daintree river ferry crossing

Thornton beach

Discovery Centre

Boardwalk through and above the rainforest

Bloomfield Track

Challenging 4WD road (steep eg max. was 31% gradient / up & down sections), north beyond Cape Tribulation & up to Bloomfield. On the way up we swam in Emmagen Creek… sooo refreshing. Picnic lunch at Bloomfield. Good fun, great day.

Another day in the Daintree south of the Cape

Morning sounds