Going East.4

Posted on 10 Jan, 2009 10 comments

I really felt at home again. Tropical mountains, palmtrees, familiar plants and of course the famous canefields. They are all flowering at the moment, and with the sun getting lower in the West, shining through the tops of the white flower plumes of the green canefields, the mountains being dark and blue, it was a sight to behold. Winding roads, 100-80-60-80-100 again, as we drove through each village, crossing the little railways from the cane trains. ( Another rhyme ! ) We even saw some riding with their load. Sugar mills were throwing out their white steam straight up into the air, as there was no wind.

Finally around 5.45 we arrived at Cardwell, a sweet little town on the bay. The caravan park was great, really a mixture of tents, caravans, cabins and motel units, but with grassy areas and….a restaurant, where we booked at once. We had a great cabin, no heater though. But everything else was there, including a veranda with indoor outdoor carpet, haha. We could have the dogs with us on the veranda whilst we were sitting there having a beer. When we went to the restaurant we put them in the car, which was conveniently parked right next to the cabin.
The restaurant was lovely modern with great decor, real white linen tablecloth, lots of great coloured walls, with nice paintings, equally colourful. The high backed rushen chairs had black pillows on them and each pillow was tied onto the chair with a great black bow at the back, looking very elegant. You could overlook the bay, some people were even sitting on the veranda of the restaurant, they must have been mad! We shifted from our table, as it was too close to the doorway and my legs were frozen. Still they would not close the doors, as the waitress had to walk through to attend the outside customers. I wanted to close half the door, but Paul said no, as the waitress wouldn’t see it and would walk straight into it. We had to wait nearly an hour for our dinner, and I was getting very impatient. I guess this all goes with the table cloths. Still, the food was worth it and the setting just so nice, I could stare at it all night. The dogs were glad to see us back in one piece though. We were still in bed by 9 pm.

The next morning, Tuesday, I was up just a little too late for the sunrise, but still got the sun, made it stay behind a tree so as to still capture the lovely light. I walked on the fresh coarse sand with the dogs, first footprints of the day, whilst Paul was still asleep. A lone yacht was lying in the bay, the mountains behind it ( you can have that, when you are in a bay ( ! ), and the sunrise light shining over the water. A lone white crane was standing there in the low water, but everytime I wanted to take its picture it took off. Beside the beach was a lovely long stretch of grass and the dogs could run there too.
Some fabulous houses made it all seem like a rich place, yet the atmosphere was calm and unspoilt and real country Australian. Cardwell is well suited for cards, I must say.
So after breakfast, whilst the early morning sun began to warm us all up, we took off again. The landscape all the same: lovely mountains, endless canefields and little villages, glimpses of the coast, whilst going through the rainforest at times. Certainly very, very pretty. The road much of a muchness, here and there badly in need of repair. We came through Gordonvale and pretty soon we were at a place in Bayview Heights, where we had booked to stay with the dogs We unpacked and unloaded some boxes from the trailer and started to sort out things, whilst the dogs had a sniff of their new ” home”. We made some lunch and I am happy to say, my Burgen bread is here, freshly baked!

Comments

Funkyfuchsia

Thats a beautifil sunrise , im am looking forward to the rest of your adventure with interest,

10 Jan, 2009

Spritzhenry

What are the canes grown for? Sugar? Sorry to show my ignorance, M.

Lovely scenery.

10 Jan, 2009

Adoons

Lovely country you live in. Well enjoy your travels & we will keep on checking on you.

10 Jan, 2009

Marguerite

Hello friends, first of all Spritzhenry, this is sugar country. A lot of dark skinned people live here, as they are descendants from the carnacks, the workers who were imported ( no slaves ) from Thursday Island and some Pacific islands close by to work in the canefields, as they didn't mind the harsh, hot and dusty conditions. The cane is harvested in the winter, when it is the dry season here.
There are a number of sugarmills in this region too. That's what the cane trains are for, they have a very narrow track, small engines pull a great number of little wagons loaded with the shredded cane, taking it to the mills. Funkyfuchsia and Adoons, for the moment our travels have finished. The story ends at its destination, Cairns. Here we have been living for a year and a half now. The country here is really beautiful and 80% of the year it is green. No wonder, as we even get the occasional shower in the dry season. Now we are in the wet season and the last 48 hours gave us nearly 7 inches of rain! You get soggy feet now! Thank you for reading my blog.

11 Jan, 2009

Shirleypoppy

Thanks for these 4 blogs, Marguerite, I really enjoyed them all. Not sure the remoter outback night halts would be for me! My son and daughter in law plan to do a trip something like this (but in reverse) in the 2009 dry season, but they camp in their Landcruiser. He is keen to visit Kakadu NP the hard way! Anyone with Google Earth can follow your route to see just what IS out there (or not, as the case may be!)

11 Jan, 2009

Dottydaisy2

Most interesting blogs, you can learn so much from them, and love the photgraphs.

11 Jan, 2009

Steve

hi marguerite, loved reading your blogs on the quest.
we spent 5 fantastic days at palm cove , love your part of aus.remember seeing the small gauge tracks around the sugar plantations on the road to mossman.coming back this year but going to brisbane , can't wait!!......steve

11 Jan, 2009

Marguerite

Hello GOY friends, thank you for reading my blogs and your comments re our great adventure. Shirleypoppy, the best season for up North is indeed the dry season May- Oct, if they could plan to be in Kakadu not later than end May as otherwise the billabongs and waterfalls are not as spectacular anymore. I've spent 3 days in Kakadu roaming around in early May, which was great. It is such a diverse place with savannah land, wetlands, rainforest, rocky outcrops with lovely walks and fantastic lookouts. The little tracks to the waterfalls one has to do on feet, as you have to leave your car at least a 10min walk through little creeks, rocks, bushland, so nice. At the bottom of the waterfalls you can swim, there are great swimming holes, no salties there. We did a flight in a small plane over part of it, a boattrip on the wetlands ( crocs galore ) and climbed mountains. There are places to stay, from campings to a luxurious hotel. They should also see Katherine Gorge and either canoe or take the boattrip, spectacular, with little sandy beaches on the banks of the river where you can sunbath and swim. Freshwater crocs ( no danger ), fish and turtles share the water with you. Steve, you make me think of writing about writing about our trips to Cooktown, when you mention Mossman Gorge.
At the moment it is a deluge here, Cairns airport had 301 mm's in the past 24 hrs. we are in the hills and we had 167 and it is still raining. No one can drive to Darwin right now, all those roads through Mt. Isa are cut off and people are swimming in the streets. Definitely not the right time to visit.

12 Jan, 2009

Sewingkilla

I really enjoyed reading your blogs Marguerite, my husbands 2 brothers live in Adelaide have for 32 years and 28 years. Great to see photos of the country thanks!

14 Jan, 2009

Marguerite

Thank you Sewingkilla for your kind comment. Well, in that case you probably know a bit about the place already and more than likely have visited us too.

15 Jan, 2009

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