Etty Bay

22 – 24 July 2024

Etty Bay is well known for its resident cassowaries and there is a small caravan park so we set up camp there for 2 nights. The sites are laid out in such a way that we could see the beach even though we didn’t have a beachfront site. Mick was hopeful of getting a cassowary photo after missing out last time we visited. That time we didn’t see one until we were on the road just over the hill when leaving Etty Bay. Unfortunately photo opportunities were limited that time.

We enjoyed long walks along the beach and in the adjacent rainforest, but there was not a cassowary to be seen. Mick thought that maybe the time if year was to blame, with adults tending eggs and therefore not wandering around as they usually do. We would just have to come back again at a different time of year. It was a lovely spot for a few days anyway.

This stunning sunrise almost made up for the lack of cassowaries

Tully Gorge National Park - Tully Gorge Campground

20 – 22 July 2024

We were aiming on this trip to revisit favourite places but also to visit new ones, so Tully Gorge was next on the “new” list. Another national park campground so we booked online when we stopped in Ingham to do some shopping, before continuing north. We were sticking to our plan of travelling slowly, taking 10 days to get north of the Cardwell Range – about 2 ½ hours from our starting point in Townsville.

We drove up to Tully Gorge campground, another one without marked spots and, being a Saturday, it was quite crowded. Despite the number campers, we were still able to get a spot that suited us. I definitely pays to arrive early in the afternoon.

Once again, we enjoyed the surrounds, especially once the crowds started to thin out during Sunday. There was lots of opportunities to photograph birds, as well as the beautiful Tully River. There is even a short "Butterfly" walk through the rainforest - a lovely walk even though we didn't see any butterflies.

No Butterflies on the walk,
 but lots of palms 

There had been reports of a resident cassowary, but we didn’t get to see it so we decided that Etty Bay would be our next stop – a place where cassowary sightings are almost guaranteed.

Abergowrie State Forest - Broadwater Campground

18 – 20 July 2024

After three days at the beach we headed back inland a short way to the Abergowrie State Forest, still within the Ingham district. We’ve camped at Broadwater before and booked for a couple of nights. The campground is spacious with no marked sites. We travelled along the back roads and arrived fairly early so were able to select a good site.

There are a few walking tracks, and of course plenty of birds to photograph. The campground is beside Broadwater Creek, and you can swim. We chose not to – it was too cold for us. 

Even though it looked inviting,
we knew it would be too cold to swim

Fires are allowed in the designated fire pits so we took the opportunity to use some of the firewood we had purchased down the road at Crystal Creek. The nights were cold so it was nice to cook some bread to have with homemade pea and ham soup, and sit by the fire as night fell.

We decided that our next camp would be in a National Park - this time Tully Falls.

Lucinda

15 – 18 July 2024

When I was an Education Advisor I went to  Lucinda many times to visit the school staff but we had never travelled there on holidays. With that in mind, we made Lucinda our next stop. The caravan park was almost full, and we seemed to be the only ones there without a boat. Despite that, we found it to be a very friendly place to stay – visitors and locals alike were happy to stop for a chat.

We enjoyed walks along the beach and onto the fishing jetty where there was always a few people casting a line. One of Lucinda’s main attractions is the longest service jetty in the southern hemisphere. The 5.76km jetty services the Lucinda Bulk Sugar Terminal. There is no public access onto the jetty but you can walk underneath along the beach.

You can walk under the jetty but not on it
 - but beware, you are in croc country

While in Lucinda we had lunch at the beachside café with friends who were staying at Rollingtone, as well as dinner with friends who were staying at Macknade. It was good to catch up and share travel stories.

We were tempted to stay longer but decided to keep moving towards Cairns – with a few more stops before getting there.

 

Paluma Range National Park - Jourama Falls Campground

12 – 15 July 2024

We’ve camped at Jourama Falls a couple of times before and it is a bit of a favourite. There is a large campground with unmarked spots so, after booking online, we were able to select a spot that provided some shade. Of course, Mick spent most of the time wandering around the campground and down to the creek, looking for birds to photograph. Because of his recent foot surgery, the hike to the falls was not on the agenda for us. We enjoyed spending time in and around the campground, chatting to other campers and soaking in the sounds of nature.

The campground is beside Waterview Creek

Even though we love time in National Parks, we do need to go to caravan parks for proper showers and to do washing so we decided to move on the Lucinda, still within the Ingham district.

 

Crystal Creek

 10 - 12  July 2024

Having sold the house, we needed to make our way north to find a builder, but we wanted to enjoy  some “down time” first, after the last couple of crazy months. We decided that Crystal Creek would be a good spot for our first couple of nights on the road so we booked into the caravan park. We found a well-maintained park with lots of greenery separating sites.

We were glad to just relax and spent some time walking down to the creek and enjoying the peaceful surrounds. We also went for a drive up to Big Crystal Creek in the Paluma Range National Park and Little Crystal Creek campground, just for a look. We drove down towards the mouth of the creek too, just because we’d never done that before.

Big Crystal Creek Bridge is a very popular swimming spot

Suitably refreshed we moved on after two nights, but not before a stop just a few minutes up the road for an ice cream at Frosty Mango.

Happily Homeless v2

I am writing this retrospectively as I hadn’t planned on documenting this adventure this way, but changed my mind. So… we had spent months living in Townsville again while we renovated a house with a view to selling it in a couple of years, but our plans changed when we became aware that we might be able to achieve a good price if we sold sooner rather than later. We made the final decision when we found a block of land at Atherton in a location that suited us both. We committed to buy the land so also needed to sell the house. The sale was much quicker than we had anticipated so the last few weeks were a whirl of selling unwanted items, arranging storage for the things we would keep and packing up – for the second time in 3 years.

We had downsized again but still had lots to put in storage

Finally the settlement day arrived and we set off on another grand adventure – this time until we could have our new home built. We knew there would be some challenges, but had no idea what lay ahead.