Yungaburra

 12 -13 November 2025

We set off from Port Douglas to return to the Atherton Tablelands. As usual we made a stop at Abattoir Swamp for morning tea and some birding, before heading on to Yungaburra to set up for the night. We chose to stay at the caravan park at the lake so we would be close to our possible new temporary home. 

Families of curlews make the caravan park their home

We had arranged to meet to discuss renting a guest house on a semi-rural property at Lake Barrine while we waited for our new house to be finished. When we arrived we were gob-smacked by the view - and the very well set up guest house. Arrangements were made to move in the following day.

We went back to the caravan park and re-organised things in the camper trailer so that we would have everything we needed at hand. We would be able to unpack the trailer properly over the next few days and then it would be stored in one of the farm sheds.

We were a little bit excited and more than a bit relieved at the prospect of having a roof over our heads and headed over in the morning ready to move in.

Port Douglas

 10 - 12 November 2025

Mick was keen to go to Port Douglas to find a bird that he didn't have on his "life list" yet so we contemplated spending 5 nights there, but in the end settled on two. This was a good decision for a number of reasons - it was getting hotter and more uncomfortable in the camper trailer, we had a chance to move into temporary roofed accommodation in a few days, and the bird he was after was found dead the day before we arrived!

We made it to Port Douglas by mid-morning after a relatively short drive of just over an hour. We settled into a caravan park out of town, in a really nice setting. Unfortunately our spot didn't have the sort of shade we had hoped for, but the pool was close. There was also a water park which meant that the pool was generally kid free which was a nice bonus.

We went out to the spot where the bird had been located as there was a report that a second one may have been seen, but we weren't hopeful, and we didn't find it, if it was there at all. Later in the afternoon my friend, Liz, called in on her way home from work in Port Douglas. We really enjoy catching up with friends when we travel.

We enjoyed a nice walk by the water

The following day we went into "town" for a look around and to do some shopping. Tourist season was winding down and it was too early for the school holiday crowd so it was fairly quiet. We walked out on to the jetty and around the shops, stopping for a coffee before heading home. We returned later in the day to spend some time working in the library, but realised when we arrived that Mick had left his laptop back at the caravan park! Instead we stopped at Warri Park Wetland on the way home for a bit of a look around. This small wetland is nestled behind a residential area.

We had arranged to meet with our prospective new landlady on Wednesday afternoon so packed up and set off for Yungaburra, where we would, hopefully, spend our last night in the camper trailer for this trip.

Cairns

 2 - 10 November 2025

We packed up at Kurrimine Beach and headed back to Cairns for what we hoped would be our last week in the camper trailer. We didn't book this time as we knew the caravan park wouldn't be full as all the southern tourists had retreated from the hot and wet conditions. Once again we scored a spot near the creek  - and once again we spent plenty of time in the pool.

While we were in Cairns, our daughter Jo let us know that she would be stopping in Yorkeys Knob for the day so we arranged to go and meet the catamaran "Eviota" when she arrived. This was a research trip for Reef Life Survey that would take them from Airlie Beach to Darwin and back to Thursday Island. Quite an adventure for someone who had only ever been out on day trips.

As they made their way up the coast Jo kept in touch and we arrived at the marina at the same time as the boat and her small crew. Jo had been tasked with doing some shopping while the others refuelled the boat and carried out other essential tasks. We drove her back to the big shopping centre at Smithfield so she could get groceries. Dropping her back, Jo gave us a tour of her temporary home. She certainly seemed to be loving the experience and was learning a lot about sailing.

Jo has really taken to live on the high seas

For the rest of our time in Cairns we continued our regular visits to the library to work and also did some more birding - of course.  While we were on the Esplanade one day we also went to the Art Gallery. 

We were starting to get a bit anxious about returning to the Tablelands and continuing to camp in the camper trailer as the wet season approached. There had been further delays to our new home and it was doubtful that we would be in before early December. We felt it was time to consider our options and look for alternative accommodation. As luck would have it we saw an ad for short term accommodation at Lake Barrine that might suit us so we made contact and arranged to meet once we had met all our commitments on the coast. We had already booked to go to Port Douglas for a couple of nights so wouldn't be back on the Tablelands until mid-week.

Kurrimine Beach

 30 October - 2 November 2025

With a reasonably short drive ahead of us to Googarra Beach we left the caravan park in Cairns right on check-out time, and headed south. We turned off towards Tully Heads and Googarra Beach. We had chosen this spot because the caravan park is right next to the pub and we thought it might be handy to have a meal there. We were also wanting to check it out as a possible venue for the next "boys weekend". 

We drove past the caravan park and were unsure if it would be as nice as we thought, so we continued down to the beach and found a picnic area to have some lunch while we made up our minds. In the end we opted not to stay - the park was too far from the beach and there wasn't a whole lot of shade. Instead we decided to go back north to Kurrimine Beach.

Kurrimine Beach has always been a bit of a favourite, the caravan park is attached to the pub, right on the beach and with a nice pool and some shade. We checked in initially for one night but ended up extending that to 3. We had dinner at the pub on the first night and had a lovely relaxing holiday - swimming in the pool and walking on the beach.

Dinner and drinks with a view

While we were there, youngest daughter Jo was travelling up the coast onboard a catamaran, on a work/volunteer trip surveying reef life and she let us know they would be stopping briefly in Mission Beach to swap crew members. We thought we might be able to time a visit to coincide with this but it just wasn't going to work out. We hoped we might be able to catch up in Cairns instead. 

We made the decision to return to Cairns for a week, hoping that our new home would be ready soon. Of course, we went back to our favourite caravan park again.