You see some weird stuff in these small country towns.
When we drove through Georgetown the other day after coming out of Forsayth, there was a kangaroo hopping along the main road through town. Just like the Americans expect happens in every town in Australia.
We left Pinnarendi Station this morning and headed towards Cairns. As I think I said yesterday, it was only a short run – a bit over 200km, but it took us several hours to complete.
And took a couple of years off my life đ
The first township that we went through this morning was Mt Garnett (population 532). As we drove through the main street, there were 4 horses grazing in the little public park in the centre of town.
We werenât quick enough to get a decent photo – youâll have to trust us on this – because it kinda caught us by surprise.
Thatâs the best that we could do as we drove past. Poor Elsie is so dirty, but I promise you there is a horse in that photo ⌠right hand side, head down and eating.
One of our goals on this trip is to stop at as many little towns as we can and have a poke around. Look in the Op Shop, buy a coffee, go to the bakery ⌠that kind of thing.
Or just stop and use a dump point. How hard is that?
But so many of these little townships make that really difficult.
You actually donât realise how hard it is to stop and have a poke around until you have a van on the back, and you are looking for somewhere to park that is at least 13 metres long, and off the street so that you are not blocking traffic.
And you donât want to be taking tight corners or going over bumpy intersections.
And having something signed towards available, and dedicated RV parking is even better.
But so many of these small towns lose that opportunity because they donât cater to the grey nomads.
So we got away from Pinnarendi Station nice and early again this morning, around 8.15am. That was partly due to putting in the awning and packing away table and chairs last night.
There is about a 2km driveway from the highway into Pinnarendi Station and it is all really fine, red dirt and dust.
We stopped long enough to put on the weight distribution hitch (WDH), then hit the road.
I have to tell you, that dust gets into everything!
So we rolled through Mt Garnett and – other than the horses – there was nothing that interested us and nowhere to easily stop.
So we kept on rolling.
The next township that we hit was Ravenshoe ⌠which caused a bit of stress on the marriage, I have to say.
Not because one of us wanted to stop, and not because we missed something important. It was because we couldnât agree how to pronounce the name of the town.
One of us (MBW) thought it was pronounced âRaven-shoeâ, while the other one of us (moi) believed it was pronounced âRavens-hoeâ.
At the end of the day, I know that Iâm right and thatâs all that matters ⌠right?
We were keen to stop in Millaa Millaa for only one reason – we were looking for a dump point because Percyâs toilet light had come on. And you know what my mate Jack Reacher says about the toilet light coming on âŚ?
So we got into Millaa Millaa and MBW announced, âOops, sorry. The dump point was in Raven-shoe. We missed it.â
Nice đ
Most of these places are just a spot on the map and it is difficult – as Iâve already indicated – to stop in many of them.
There are a couple of ways to get to Cairns (well, Fishery Falls just south of Cairns, to be precise), and going through the Tablelands means travelling down some windy and steep roads that are not really suitable for a caravan.
So we took the turnoff towards Innisfail and started the climb, and the descent, and the climb, and the descent âŚ
At one point we went through a small floodway and through some water (maybe a few centimetres deep) and then hit a very ⌠I mean VERY ⌠rough patch of road that caused Percyâs stability control to think we had just been involved in a serious accident and he locked on the brakes and wouldnât let go.
The GPS told us that we reached a maximum altitude of approximately 1150m above sea level, and once we had come down the range, we were at approximately 150m above sea level.
So we dropped almost a kilometre in a very short period of time, down a very tricky and twisting road.
And having a bus right up my clacker all the way down the hill didnât help my mood any. Arenât trucks and buses supposed to use low gear going down steep hills?
It was quite astonishing how quickly the scenery changed.
When we left Pinnarendi Station, it was all red dirt, dust and brown grass. By the time we were going through Ravenshoe (âRavens-hoeâ), it was like driving through Maleny – rolling green hills, fat cattle grazing, and much cooler weather.
We got into the Fishery Falls Caravan park just before lunch (11.45am) and set up. A quick bite of lunch and we needed to go out and restock and refuel. And I need to get some oil for Elsie.
We are running seriously low on groceries. You may recall that the last time we saw a supermarket was in Mt Isa, and it was closed as it was a Sunday. So before that was ⌠Darwin?
And that was weeks ago.
We have been surviving on urgent bits and pieces anywhere that we can find a supermarket that doesnât require a kidney as financial security.
So we got our groceries at the âfresh food peopleâ just outside Cairns, and Iâm pleased to report that I can confirm that Gingernut biscuits are different in the NT to what they are in Queensland.
In the NT they are labelled âFirm and crunchy with the perfect balance of delicious ginger aroma and subtle sweetnessâ, while the Queensland ones say âDark and crunchy with the delicious ginger aroma our Queenslander locals love.â
Now I just have to figure out how to get someone to send me some Gingernuts from the remaining states âŚ
Before we took off shopping, I gave Else a quick hose down. Poor Elsie – she had so much dust and dirt on her that I wasnât sure whether I needed to get a GVM upgrade done, or to plant potatos. But the hose down fixed all of that.
But Elsie is looking a bit sad with that big crack right across the windscreen – something to address when we get back home.
Nothing much close to Fishery Falls in the way of a Supercheap or Autobarn, so we did a run up to Cairns city and got what we needed, then looked around Cairns city.
We are doing the Kuranda Scenic Railway (KSR) on Wednesday, so we thought it prudent to figure out how to get to the train station ⌠so we just did a bit of a drive around and played tourist.
All of these dual lane highways and cars parked in the streets. Itâs doing my head in after weeks of quiet country towns.
Groceries were done just south of Cairns and we were back at Percy around 4.00pm for coffee and a rest.
The thing that we have noticed the most is that Cairns is surrounded by mountains. I probably knew that, but itâs not until you get here and see it for yourself that you realise just how high they are.
Thatâs about it for today. Fishery Falls is a very pretty and private caravan park and we are surrounded by âpermanentsâ who are well and truly established. You wonât be moving some of those vans any time soon!
Tomorrow we are planning a bit of a trip back up into the mountains to have a closer look at some of those places we passed through today, then we are possibly meeting someone in Cairns tomorrow night.
Then Wednesday is the KSR.
Iâm looking forward to buzzing around and seeing some of the sights around Cairns, particularly since there has been so much nothing after leaving Darwin.
Great big chunks of absolutely nothing, and no townships for hours at a time.
Iâm sure that you have picked up by now my frustration at the difficulty getting decent mobile reception since heading into the NT several weeks ago. I have been looking forward to getting to Cairns and on the east coast to finally get back into the 21st century.
And guess what?
Almost no mobile reception here at Fishery Falls, so the misery continues. No MasterChef for MBW tonight đ
On the bright side though, I have already done a covert reconnaissance of the menâs toilet block and I have already picked out my new favourite shower cubicle. Iâll be heading over there shortly.
Celebrate the small wins, hey?
Ciao
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