2022 Christchurch to the Atherton Tablelands

 

Sat 7 May – Gary very kindly took us to the airport for our 9:15am flight to Brisbane. Masks on from the time we entered the airport. We had a 3 ½ hour layover for our flight to Townsville in which we caught the bus to the domestic terminal, had lunch, and bought something for breakfast the next day. The plane taking us to Townsville turned out to be broken so all the passengers had to walk around the terminal to another gate and plane, delaying our departure by 40 minutes. Eventually we arrived at Townsville at around 6:00pm local time and caught an Uber to the storage yard to be reunited with Andy, our camper and take off our masks. We had decided to spend the night there (not strictly allowed, but who was to know on a Saturday night!) We put the bikes outside and checked for no unwanted guests. The inside was all ok but outside was filthy, a job for tomorrow. We had a whisky, cobbled together some food from our stores and went to bed. A bit hard to sleep with the temperature around 27C and a security light overhead.

 

Sun 8 May – No security guard banging on our door in the night, so we got away with the stay. When I turned on the LPG we found that the pipe between the gas bottle and the regulator was leaking so had to use our small portable stove to boil the kettle. After breakfast (bought at the airport yesterday) we started Andy, first try, and headed back towards the city, stopping at Woolworths for a huge stock up and on to a carwash place to give Andy a much needed clean. He now looks like his old self. We drove on to Rowes Bay where we had booked for 3 nights and extended our stay for another 2 nights. There is a big rainstorm predicted to hit on Wednesday and Thursday so we thought we would play it safe. The camp was quite full as the Victorians are heading north to dodge the winter. It was overcast but we spent some time outside reading and relaxing. A much cooler night and a great night’s sleep.

 

Mon 9 May – Out on the road to sort out the LPG issue, inflate the tyres and get our phone working. The LPG issue was easy as the first place we tried had the correct hose which we fitted before driving to a tyre place and checked and inflated the tyres. On to a large mall to the Telstra shop to sort out the phone. We needed a new sim card and they could not do it on the spot so we had to fill in 1 ½ hours having lunch and buying a few things. Eventually the phone was sorted. No one is wearing masks here, not even in the supermarkets! Back to the camp in the pouring rain.

 

Tues 10 May – Breakfast outside before putting up the awning as it started to rain again. In and out all morning but managed to get a walk around the camp and over to the beach. After lunch we managed a longer walk along the foreshore and back thru the streets passing lovely homes overlooking the water. Back inside with the awning away as very heavy rain set in. 200mm forecast for tonight!!

 

Wed 11 May - It rain heavily early in the night but stopped before the morning. Breakfast outside again and spent some time fixing a couple of minor issues. Very cool (22C) and rain all afternoon.

 

Thurs 12 May – Heavy rain again last night. Val did a load of washing and after lunch a big yellow thing shone in the sky, so we caught the bus into the “Strand”. Townsville has a great waterfront with beaches, pubs and restaurants along the 3kms of the “Strand”. We walked around enjoying the weather and ended up in a great pub, The Longboard, right on the beach for a beer. We bussed back to the camp and managed to have drinks outside before the rain set in again.

 

Fri 13 May – A beautiful sunny morning as we left the camp and drove 50kms to Toomulla Beach. This is one of Townsville’s north beaches. It was great to be on the road at last and Andy seemed to be in great form again. We had a free camp under gum trees near the beach. We enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach to a rocky headland with some great homes overlooking the water. Six other campers in tonight.

 

Sat 14 May – Another great morning. Hopefully this rain has now cleared. We drove 125kms to Cardwell. This is a great little town right on the beach. We stayed in a camp at the north end of the town. We unloaded the bikes and cycled along the waterfront for 7kms. Not far but it was good to get on the bikes again. Back at the camp we went to the pool for our first swims and a much needed cool off. Pizza from the camp restaurant for dinner.

 

Sun 15 May – A short drive to Innisfail this morning, where we swapped gas bottles and shopped. We will head inland tomorrow up onto the Atherton Tablelands. We camped at a CMCA park (like the NZMCA but smaller). It is now getting hotter around 30C. We rang the girls and Linley (her birthday). Camp happy hour at 4:30! where we chatted to our fellow campers.  

 

Mon 16 May – We turned inland up the Palmerston Highway with a gentle climb up onto the Atherton Tablelands. This is a huge plateau on the great divide. We are completing the trip which was interrupted by covid last year. Our first stop was at Millaa Millaa waterfalls. A great sight with lots of water going over. Several young people were swimming in the pool at the bottom and Asian girls were posing for photos at the edge. Back on the road for a stop at Mt Garnet where we got the ”cheapest fuel on the Tablelands”. West again for our overnight stop at Innot Springs, recommended by Frank and Judy. It is a camping ground with hot springs, a bit like a small version of Hanmer Springs. We avoided the really hot pools (38 – 40C) and sat in a nice pool (32 – 34C) cooling off in a fresh water swimming pool. After drinks we returned to our hot pool and watched the sunset. Its much cooler here as we are at 664m above sea level.

 

Tues 17 May – We drove further west off the Tablelands and onto the Savannah highway. We are heading 100kms to Undara National Park in an extinct volcanic area. We visited here many years ago and really enjoyed it. The road had much improved and is now full width asphalt all the way. We booked into the camp and after lunch set off walking on a series of tracks over volcanic rocks and boulders. We climbed several bluffs giving us great views of the many volcanic peaks. A great 6km walk. Back at camp we cooled of in a new pool. Drinks outside until 7pm. It was well worth coming back here!

 

Wed 18 May – A short drive down the park road to a turnoff to the Kalkani Crater. A rough 6km drive into the carpark (sorry Andy). A short well graded climb up onto the Crater rim and then a great 3km walk with crater on one side and a drop off to the plains on the other. Great views and very interesting learning about this volcanic area.

On our way into Undara we had passed the Pinnarendi cattle station offering camping, so we drove in for the night. It is a lovely camping area in the bush. The lady that booked us in extolled the virtues of her homemade pizzas which were on the menu tonight, so we booked for dinner. We went for a walk thru the bush around the homestead passing three dams (3kms). After drinks we walked over to the area where they make and serve the pizzas. The owners of the property enjoy cooking and Nadine made pizzas from scratch while Ron cooked them in a beautiful woodfired oven. Their mother served them. There were about 18 diners and we sat big tables. The slices of pizza kept on coming with a variety of flavours. A great night chatting to our fellow diners!

 

19 May – Back on the Savannah Highway retracing our route onto the Tablelands again. A stop for more cheap fuel and on to Ravenshoe where we camped in a train museum complete with a steam engine, carriages, and a railway station. Ravenshoe is the highest town in Queensland, so we walked the main street. Very short! At 4:00pm a band made up of about 8 local oldies set up on the station platform and performed for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, a heavy drizzle had set in so the audience was very small. We joined a group of campers sheltered in the outdoor kitchen where they had lit a smoky fire, listened to the music and chatted.

 

20 May – A short drive thru Herberton (the oldest town in Queensland) and on to Atherton (the biggest town on the Tableland). We have booked a couple of nights at Lake Tinaroo in the Danbulla National Park. A rough road into the camping area but we found a great campsite right on the edge of the lake. We sat outside enjoying the view until rain set in.  I was eating a sandwich for lunch when, with a shower of feathers, a huge kookaburra flew under our awning and snatched my sandwich out of my hand.  Kookaburra are quite large, about the size of a woodpigeon. I heard him and his mates have a good laugh about it!

 

21 May – Australian election day. Our camp slowly filled up. The day was cloudy with the odd shower. There are many families, and the main sport seems to be fishing. With a tiny rod and a worm small fish are easy to catch. Lots of little boys must have caught their first fish at this spot. We enjoyed watching the fun. Tomorrow we will go back to the coast. We have really enjoyed our time on the Atherton Tablelands.