Entry 12 – 2023 – June – Babinda, North Queensland.
We left Jardine Station nearby the Savannah Way taking two days to travel a couple of hundred kilometres. We were in no hurry. We stayed a night at another station stay with a nicely painted amenities block.
We were planning to head towards the coastal regions for a period. On the way the road passed through the southern regions of the Atherton Table Lands. This included travelling past Innot Hot Springs caravan park with its six different temperature pools. We thought it most appropriate for a last hot spring water experience to finish off our 2023 Atherton Table Lands experience with a √. It had been about 51 days since we had last experienced the beautiful hot spring waters. There were a lot more people about with the busy tourist time now upon us. We still managed an evening session in one of the pools almost to ourselves.
The following morning, we decided to have a last parting dip. After about 10 minutes in the lovely comfortable hot pools, our bodies were appreciating the good feel effect on our bodies provided by the therapeutic water-based minerals. Mary said; “we can stay another day,” and we did.
It seemed we would spend about an hour and a bit, in the various pools, back at the caravan for about an hour and then back into the pools. Both days were very busy where we prioritised our focus on getting our well-beingness in good order compliments of the hot spring waters. It was a fabulous sensation to the effect we were oblivious to lots of people about.
Though the pool waters did provide a happy environment with lots of conversation between occupants. At one stage Steve was chatting with one of the local people whom said it was raining at home so he decided to spend the day in the hot pools. This provided Steve with the opportunity to question the possibility if there was a local business to help with our caravan gas issues and we were provided with some positive guidance.
The following morning, we were in the pools around 7 am, all to ourselves. Back at the caravan around 8.30 am. Time for breakfast, a fast pack up and back in the pools by 9.20 am. This time round, we decided it was time to move on. We drove out the caravan park at 10.05 am. Only 5 minutes past the allocated departure time.
About 40 kilometres down the road, we decided a couple of nights at the town of Ravenshoe would be good.
Ravenshoe was Queensland’s highest town and it seemed to be regularly shrouded by low lying cloud or dropping misty rain upon us. It had once been a major timber supply location.
We took a quick drive of about 50 kilometres to the town of Atherton where we obtained our required gas parts. Back at our caravan Steve fitted the new parts to no avail. Grrr. At least we had eliminated those parts as our problem. Next port for investigation was our gas cooker which Steve thought might have had an issue with a safety switch. A qualified gas technician knowledgeable of its intricacies was the only person permitted for this job. Grrr. Sorry but that was double Grrr. Where to find a person qualified to fix this specialised equipment. The gas cooker was fitted at the caravan manufacturer factory two years prior. We had an appointment at the factory in August and we were grateful they were able to accommodate the additional request to address this issue. Steve let them know we would be the thin couple as we would have been living on bread and water till then.
We do enjoy our caravanning lifestyle, travelling the vast continent of Australia. It is very rewarding, agreeable with our well-being senses. It can be annoying when there is a hic-cup caused by those un-planned elements. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything was just perfect all of the time. Thus.
It was time to resume our focus on those feel-good activities.
We visited the nearby Millstream Falls with a good flow of water. Then we visited Little Millstream Falls which we thought provided a magnificent sight. Water seemed to be flowing from many different directions creating several different water falls. Both water falls provided an awesome roar as the water plummeted into its base.
We spotted a large sign to Tully Falls. We hadn’t seen any information on Tully Falls or heard any mention of it. We thought this is what we do, go exploring where we can. About 26 kilometres later along a scenic drive through dense rainforest along a narrow scary road, more so when there was a vehicle approaching you, we came across a lookout. No sign of a waterfall, though the lookout was positioned over a very large deep gully. There was some faded signage providing a description about a fabulous waterfall. But the waterfall was no more. All the waters had been redirected to a hydro-electric station.
We had spent the best part of 1 ½ days working on our gas supply issue at Ravenshoe. It was time to move from the high peaks shrouded in clouds down to the coastal region. There was a stop at one last look-out along our route and then we seemed to plunge down a rather steep Palmerston Highway. We spent a fair amount of time with our tow tug locked in first gear, helping to slow our decent speed aided by lots of braking to maintain a safe speed around many sharp bends. It felt much like a roller coaster ride with the both of us being extra vigilant, monitoring our travel route.
Once down at ocean level the ambient air temperature rose by about 8 C degrees, providing a daytime temperature of about 26 C. Unfortunately, the weather forecast was for rain periods during the next 3 days. We were aiming for a small free camp called Babinda Boulders. It was located in a slightly elevated region near the town of Babinda. As we got closer, we could see the peaks up above Babinda Rocks covered by clouds. Grrr.
We had previously experienced the pleasure of camping at Babinda Boulders. It is a popular location with large crowds of day visitors. There is an adjacent camp ground with a steady flow of vehicles driving through it. When a camp site becomes available it becomes re-occupied quickly. On previous visits we found the more likely time to obtain a camp site was to arrive early morning and park up waiting for someone to vacate a camp site. It was near mid-day when we arrived at Babinda. We thought why not go check out Babinda Rocks campground to assess its present status. When we arrived, there was a vacant camp site. Wow. It felt good to have such luck. Adding to our excitement we had our own personal site alarmed security, with some Bush Stone Curlews screeching loudly when we backed in.
We set camp and drove back to the township of Babinda. Our first port of call was at the town’s information centre where we obtained plenty of information about local destinations of appeal to us. We like to support information centres, purchasing quality products from them when we have a special need. In this instance we were looking for a special unique present for our grand-daughter’s pending birthday. Of interest the Babinda information centre was devoted to purely, information and pamphlets. We were directed to an appropriate store after being provided with some additional treats from behind the counter for our grand-daughter.
With the birthday parcel in the post, we thought it best to send a text to our son advising of the postal delivery and notification he would receive of its progress. Steve was driving back to camp while Mary was typing up a text message. Just as she sent the text our phone reception dropped out. We drove past our camp site entrance into a nearby carpark to turn around and head back down the hill to obtain the required phone reception. We spotted a flash of movement on the other side of the carpark. A Cassowary. Wow. This was the first time we had seen a Cassowary at this location and our first for 2023.
To our grand-daughter. When you get to look at our latest travel pictures with some very special photos of a wild Cassowary bird, we hope your birthday present from us has arrived. Happy Birthday.
Babinda Boulders is a popular location. It is in a magnificent rainforest setting. There is a creek with sections of fast flowing waters gurgling through large rocky boulders providing some awesome viewing.
There is a most pleasing walking trail through the rainforest. It follows the creek with some viewing platforms where you can be mesmerised by the ferocity of the fast-flowing waters cascading through huge boulders. It felt like we were enveloped by the rainforest with our necks straining up-wards searching for a glimpse of the upper tree canopy. The rainforest setting tingled all your good feel senses.
Adding to the all-round appeal of the Babinda Boulders with its special rainforest setting and fast flowing waters bubbling across rocky sections, it also had a large calm pool area for people of all ages to enjoy a swim in its cool waters. We enjoyed several refreshing swims in this pool.
Another day we spent time, exploring some other near-by locations. Some notable locations for us. North there was a walking trail at Behana Gorge but when we arrived it started raining. Another location to explore next time round. Bramston Beach was good to visit with a nice setting. We saw a Jabiru bird and some Sooty Oyster Catchers there. Eubenangee Swamp had a nice walking trail to a lookout. At one stage Mary was stopped in her tracks, yelling out in pain. A thin vine covered by barbs had latched onto her arm as she passed by. Josephine Falls was another grand setting. There was a very popular rock surfaced slippery dip, where you disappeared into a deep pool at its base. It had a magnetic feel about it, calling out to you to give it a try. It was tempting, oh so tempting, but we were in need to recognise the lack of flexibility our bodies no longer had. Another opportunity missed. Aging can be a bugger at times. We did look at some of the area’s other camp locations but for us, we thought the Babinda Boulders campground to be a more pleasing setting.
Steve got up early one morning for a walk along the nearby Goldfield Walking track. Mary felt comfortable in bed, staying put. Steve started out with a one on one with the Cassowary. It was consuming blue berries lying on the ground. Next, he came across a fast-flowing creek crossing and removed his boots. It was slippery under foot and he nearly went crashing in. He continued on for a bit over a couple of kilometres. It was a lovely walk-through dense rain-forest. On his return trip, when back at the boot removing creek crossing, he decided to use a different strategy. He decided to throw his boots over the creek first. Throwing them flat and far the first boot landed perfectly. When the second boot landed it bounce up high backwards landing in the flowing creek waters. He didn’t get to say a word of protest as he watched his half-submerged boot quickly float away.
Poor Steve was so stunned with his predicament. He put one boot on and started walking again. Luckily the rough track surface was on the other side of the creek. He found an opening in the forest where he could look back up towards where his boot might be. Alas no boot was sighted. Once he was back at the track entrance near the carpark, he decided to remove his remaining boot to diminish his odd look and wandered back to report in to Mary. It was pointed out how expensive those boots had been. At least he got a few years out of them. Steve didn’t mention one of his $50 socks also went down with the boot. Oh my!
With our permissible time limit at Babinda Boulders expired we relocated down the road a bit to Kurrimine Beach staying in a low-cost caravan park for a couple of nights. It was a lovely friendly caravan park. We even were allocated a site with views over the ocean.
We enjoyed our time at Kurrimine Beach walking along a trail along the edge of the beach amongst the local bush.
With our caravan batteries appreciating some good charging input and our washing up to date we were ready to head bush again.
