13 - 2023 - June - Innisfail to Ingham, North Queensland

 

Entry 13 – 2023 – June – Innisfail to Ingham, North Queensland.

After an enjoyable couple of days at Kurrimine Beach we headed south, stopping at Tully for a bakery fix. We had previously explored the Tully region about four years prior and were still content with our Tully experience. We continued on. After travelling about 80 kilometres for the day we arrived at our next destination, Girramay National Park where we set camp at Murray Falls camp ground. Another beautiful setting.

The camp ground felt like it was shrouded in a constant back-ground noise, provided by the roar of water cascading down the falls. There was a viewing platform of the waterfall, accessible from the camp ground along a 300-metre board walk. We suspected at times with a greater volume of water tumbling over the falls the camp ground would be saturated from the spray produced by the water falls.

The waterfalls tumble over huge granite slabs of rock with many large boulders nearby the base of the falls slowing the speed of the flowing water. Not far along from the Murray River Falls there are several water pool areas where you can enjoy a dip in the cool waters.

The constant noise produced by the water falls smothered most other nearby noise in the campground, including the human generated noises.

We enjoyed daily cool dips in the river pools, trying a different pool/setting each time. The cold water felt invigorating enticing us back into its waters a few times each day. Though, we didn’t stay long in the water. It was cold.

There was a walking trail through the rainforest leading to another lookout, providing an impressive view of the valley below with a viewing platform from just above the falls. It was a grand trail. It provided a different perspective of the large boulders scattered along the water way slowing the speed of the water generated by the waterfall.

 

At Murray Falls camp ground, we would regularly sit outside enjoying our scenic surrounds. There was the regular activity of the bush-turkeys scavenging about searching for any remains of food. Late into our third afternoon we noticed people from the other camps were suddenly congregating together with their phones out taking pictures. We got out of our chairs for a closer inspection to see what all the fuss was about. A Cassowary was wondering purposely through the camp ground. After a while of watching the movement of the Cassowary we returned to our chairs sitting under our awning. We could see in the distance the Cassowary was rummaging through a camp set up without any people present. It suddenly turned and made a direct line towards us. It was pacing quickly keeping its head raised looking at us. We seemed frozen in our chairs, mesmerised by the Cassowary’s stare. We didn’t speak a word, it felt like we had been put in a trance. When it reached the edge of our awning it suddenly turned away and we both felt as if the spell had suddenly broken. All of a sudden, we both started speaking again. One of those moments where we had an upfront personal experience with a wild Cassowary. Unscripted and unanticipated. Daunting and fabulous at the same time. Wow. 

Day four at Murray Falls campground our lovely peaceful environment suddenly changed with a constant flow of people moving about for a look. Our little patch we had been enjoying all to ourselves was invaded by other groups of people setting camp nearby. Generally speaking, we are mostly unaware of actual times or what day of the week it is, such is, retirement life. A day check showed it was a Saturday and adding to the influx of people it was the first day of school holidays. There were kids racing about on push bikes with parents utilizing various different means to entertain their children.

We spent 5 nights at Murray Falls campground and could have easily stayed longer. It’s fabulous setting provided our bodies with a relaxed disposition. The chilly, body cooling waters in the river pools were quite addictive. It was time to move on to seek out another location with a longer period of available day time sunshine to provide our caravan batteries with their required solar input. Direct sunshine at Murray Falls campground was hindered due to it’s large tree canopy.

We ambled along taking around 6 hours to travel about 70 kilometres for the day.

There was a stop at the Cardwell information centre, with a walkabout along the Cardwell foreshore with Hinchinbrook Island in the distance. Travelling down the road a bit, we spent time admiring the views from a different perspective of Hinchinbrook Island at a road side lookout. There was another stop at the Ingham information centre where we introduced ourselves to a couple whom we had never met before. They were also at the information centre carpark and just happened to be standing next to a year-old caravan almost identical to our initial thoughts for our planned new caravan. We spent about an hour chattering, including a couple of trips exploring the inner sanctum of their caravan before we finally made our way into the information centre. Ingham was a good-sized town with a Woolworths and Coles supermarkets providing us with an opportunity to complete a decent restock of our pantry.

Ingham Information Centre had a good display area and provided all the local information we required. We decided to set camp at the nearby Forrest Beach RV Park. We had previously stayed at this RV Park in 2013 which was just a patch of dirt. At the time we were the sole occupants, thinking it was just an ok stop over, with no highlight pictures to show-case. Our 2023 experience was very different. The camp ground was still the same size. That was where the 2013 and 2023 similarities finished. 2023 there was a great amenities block with hot showers, we managed to squeeze into the last available space at 2 pm. It was packed with other campers. There was an enforced 72-hour maximum stay limit. Permits were required to be obtained from a local business at $15 a night. It was a grand setup providing the perfect incentive, getting people to stay at this out of the way location, helping with a boost to the economy of a small community. 

Forrest Beach was the only safe swimming beach in this area of north Queensland, (crocodile country.) We enjoyed our daily salt water immersion experience, something we had been missing which we take for granted elsewhere in Australia.

The beach was about 200 metres from the camp ground, an easy stroll. Along the beach front there were several free gas-powered hot plates for cooking. Due to our non-working caravan gas cooker, each evening we would load up a bag with our evening food and walk to the beach, take a seat at one of the many beach side seating areas with an overhead shelter and cook our meal on the hot plates. It was a fabulous setting with all our good feelings creasing our faces into a permanent smile. 

Our 72-hour limit for camping at Forrest Beach RV Park was up. We packed everything away in the caravan and headed down to the beach for a final salt water immersion. Back at the park we showered and were on our way to our next destination. After a drive of 20 kilometres, we set camp at Tyto Wetlands RV Park. Late afternoon we decided to sit under the shade of a tree overlooking part of the wetlands. We invited some of our neighbours whom all participated in a happy hour gathering. There was a fair bit of jovial verbal sparring happening. The majority of the small camping area = 3 x Bushtracker Caravans and 3 x Jayco Caravans with an ongoing discussion about the relevant caravan positives. There was a lot of laughter.

Of interest the following night the camp ground was occupied by a different group of people, with most not making eye contact or acknowledging greetings, keeping to themselves.

We enjoyed walking about the trails of Tyto Wetlands. It was very special.

 

We were in easy walking distance of the central business regions for the town of Ingham. We attended a few shoe stores but unfortunately none had any walking boots to replace Steve’s lost boot. There were many nice arty structures about.

We were in sugar cane country, with paddocks and paddocks of sugar cane about. We were in need to watch out for sugar cane trains moving about transporting freshly cut sugar cane to the processing mills.

Travelling along the coastal route south from Cairns towards Townsville the volume of vehicle traffic accompanied by many people about was noticeably busy. This included the location of free camp sites under the control of Townsville Council. There was a requirement to pre-book on line a spot at these free camp sites. We found ourselves needing to plan ahead not only for pre-paid locations but also for no cost locations. This was a first in over 10 years of travelling Australia, including previously visiting some of this same section of coast line.

Whilst in the Ingham area with it’s good phone/internet access we were in need to plan ahead along our route. There were some locations we would have liked to visit and if possible, an opportunity to stay for a period. With the imposed restrictions with requirements to book ahead even for unstructured non-cost locations we found our normal freedom of movement had suddenly become restricted. We have always tried our best to act in a proper manner, showing respect and consideration for future travellers.

In this instant we booked in advance a camp site at Balgal Beach RV Park a free camp ground, bypassing some locations we normally would have liked the opportunity to explore.

It felt a bit like we were living in a busy city with its many imposed restrictions and the need to book ahead or miss out. It was frustrating.

Adding to the current mix of events - there was a rare weather front approaching, from the western regions of Australia. It was an uncommon phenomena for rain in this region at the forecast level during this time of the year.

 

 When it was time to leave Ingham, we were feeling anxious about what we would encounter between Ingham and Townsville. It was a Saturday and the road was busy. When we arrived at Balgal Beach the sign posted designated camp ground was best part full of locals whom had parked their cars and wandered off for a walk or gone fishing in the nearby river. We managed to negotiate between these vehicles, obtaining a spot with difficulty. Other campers arrived with many becoming frustrated and leaving.

We had booked Balgal Beach campground for 2 nights but left after 1. It had good potential but due to the human factor we suspect this will be another location added to the scratched list. Some further pictures showing Balgal Beach and its beautiful setting.

Down the road a bit was the Mystic Sands Golf Club offering cheap camp sites. We had heard some positive comments and had attended. Unfortunately, this was another location unappealing to us with caravans packed in like a tin of sardines.

We were still hoping for an opportunity to explore a little bit further afield around our current location.

We found ourselves in unfamiliar territory, opting to stay in a caravan park located on the main highway called Crystal Creek Caravan Park. Other than paying for things we had no need for, we found this caravan park to be one of the more appealing caravan parks we have experienced. Basically, we couldn’t fault it. 

One of the main publised locations in this area was Little Crystal Creek Bridge, the last standing bridge of its era in Queensland, built 1932. Once we had set camp, we were off to the bridge. What wasn’t mentioned was the kilometres of narrow windy road with an unprotected straight drop into the depths of a seemingly endless descent. At one stage we met another Landcruiser the same as ours travelling in the opposite direction. We both had to drop our wheels off the edge of the bitumen to safely pass with millimetres between our mirrors. It was a road testing your nerves. A road we would prefer not to travel again.

Back down on the plains there was the publised Big Crystal Creek Campground. It was crowded, even late on a Sunday afternoon. There was the nearby rock slides and Paradise water hole.

The following day the rain arrived. We kept occupied harvesting rainwater flowing off the caravan roof. It was nice to have our caravan water tanks filled with fresh rain water.

One of our nearby caravan park people mentioned they thought it was a long weekend, providing a feasible reason for the large volume of people about?

The following day we enjoyed an outing to Jourama Falls. We could both remember camping nearby Jourama Falls in the national park but couldn’t recall what the falls looked like. First there was the signage and flood-ways to negotiate.

Once we got to the first water crossing on the falls walk, we remembered the uniqueness of the trail along the creek bed.

We were shrouded in misty clouds, creating light precipitation all helping with the water supply for the waterfalls. It was an awesome sight and could have been a delight if there had been a blue sky with the sun shining from the right direction for that perfect photograph. 

The large town of Townsville was located about 60 kilometres down the road and we had previously by-passed it, seeking out less crowded and more natural settings. This time we thought it to be appropriate to explore Townsville and had been researching some of its locations of interest to us. This also included the possibility of obtaining some new hiking boots for Steve.

A phone call was made, enquiring about a caravan park site. None were available as our timing had been when there was a big motor sport event, “The Super Cars.” This would also coincide with plenty of street closures and lots of additional congestion.

Townsville was to be by-passed again. It was time to research further down the road.