With work pretty much upon me for another year, I wanted to get out for a day trip to just enjoy ourselves for a few hours. I had worked out that a run up west of Innisfail (far north QLD) to Mamu would be the perfect day away as it would provide the kids with a little bit of learning at the same time.
A slightly late departure at 0700h saw us heading north on the Bruce Highway, getting some valuable km’s under our belt nice and early. There really wasn’t much to report, other than I was very pleased with how the Landy was running after the recent work.
We pulled into Ingham just after 0800h where they have a great playground in the middle of the main street. The advantage of this is it’s still in the shade during the earlier hours of the morning, and there’s a bloody good BBQ just to the side to boot.
So out came the bacon and eggs, plus some tomato sauce and bread rolls and I got to work sorting out a late breakfast whilst the kids burnt off some energy at the park. It actually worked well as we hardly heard boo out of them for about an hour afterwards!!!
Without bragging too much, there is nothing like freshly cooked egg and bacon rolls when you are travelling. No matter how often I buy them from a shop, they never compare to the ones slapped together on a BBQ in the middle of some place while you are away from home.
Continuing on came across some roadworks at the Cardwell Range, although there was really no delays to speak about. It is a really short ascent and descent that shouldn’t trouble anyone even if they are towing a decent load.
The ocean looked too good to pass on by at Cardwell, so we stopped for a few minutes to just enjoy the view. It was a little hazy looking across to Hinchinbrook Island but that was mainly because a few people were burning the remants of their cane fields at the time.
Leaving Cardwell we cut across through South Johnstone to meet up with the Palmerston Highway. My first though was Darwin as there’s a suburb called Palmerston up there (good markets by the way). However I later learnt that it was named after an explorer who surprisingly enough explored throughout that particular area.
We arrived at the Walkway just after 1100h and proceeded to pay the $60 entry fee ($20 adult/$10 child/$50 family comprising 2A and 2C). In short the walk was fantastic. I learnt a lot and the kids were just spinning from the combination of information and the ‘fun’ walkways.
It was quite interesting learning how the Johnstone River used to be just that – one river. However due to volcanic activity it split into two rivers (North and South) and joins again in the town of Innisfail. The highway actually runs along approximately where the original river used to run.
With it now approaching 1300h we decided to make a move back down the road to have a bite to eat. For a change of scenery we continued past the turn-off to South Johnstone and took the slightly longer route through Innisfail itself.
However before we reached the town we found a great little rest stop where the Palmerston Highway meets the Bruce Highway. Similar to Ingham this morning there is a playground for the kids and a BBQ to cook lunch on (this time snags and sauce in bread).
With this completed it was back onto the road where we showed the kids were the two rivers join. Makes it easy that a bridge runs pretty much smack over that particular junction. On the highway run south I continually got frustrated by innattentive drivers. I really can understand to a certain extent how road rage happens.
One minute they’ll be doing 100km/h, then 95, then 100, then 85, then 100, then 90 and so on for the whole bloody journey. However any overtaking lane and there attention is right on the money then. I ended up pulling over a couple of times just to take a breather as it really wrecks a great day out.
Anyway we stopped again at Cardwell for a few minutes and then again at Ingham for some Bundy long necks – I was getting thirsty. We decided to take the kids to Big River (approx 45km’s south of Ingham) for a soak in the swimming hole.
On an earlier trip we had climbed up to Paluma and swum at the Little River area which was bloody freezing cold – I still remember it vividly!!! However the opposite was the case here. It was absolutely fantastic. I took a long neck down and soaked in the water enjoying every last bit of it.
However home beckoned and it was starting to get late, so I surrendered the drivers seat and set about polishing off the last two long necks whilst Michelle drove us home. It felt really weird to sit in the passenger seat of the Landy that’s for sure.
And what bloody happens!!! Well all day I had been driving and I saw not one other Defender. As soon as I get out of the drivers seat and the last 40km’s to home and two of the bloody things come along. Not happy Jan!!! 🙂
We arrived home at around 1830h tired, but extremely happy that we took the time out to do the run. There was no 4WDing whatsoever which is a change for us, however it was worth every second. The Landy ran like a dream using about 55 litres for the 500+ km round trip.
It got a tad warm in the early afternoon without air-con, however the front vents really do work a treat. The airflow nearly makes up for it except at the hottest time of the day. Makes for an interesting though when you see some of the older retired blokes sitting under a tree during those hours instead of driving…..
Cheers
Chris