Exploring Tropical North Qld

Cairns - Coconut Resort

 Wednesday 20th to Wednesday 27th August

Wow!! As we approached Cairns through the Atherton Tablelands the scenery changed dramatically with huge rainforest covered mountains all around us and a European feeling to the place!



Nemo tour of Coconut Resort

Coconut resort was exactly what we needed, R &R in a big way! Two swimming pools, jumping pillows, tennis courts, outdoor movies every night and a camp kitchen to die for!  We took a few days to just chill around camp and play with the kids, Simon became tennis coach of the year and we all decided that badminton is the game for us!!



Campsite at Coconut

We spent a day exploring the hinterland, looking at amazing fig trees that are murderously beautiful!! They strangle other trees over many years forming spectacular roots in their ruthless pursuit of survival. We enjoyed Yungaburra and day dreamed about becoming farmers, then went and had a delicious Swiss meal at the local restaurant.



Cloudy mountains

Swiss Restaurant

 



Cheers!

Outer Reef Tour

 

 

The Great Barrier Reef was one of our highlights in this area, we spent a bumpy hour travelling with Seastar to the outer reef, but the coral and sea life were worth the effort. The beautiful turtle and fierce barracuda were some of our favourites.



Snorkelling off the boat



Blue stag horn coral









This one killed Nemos' Mum!

Very intimidating Baracuda

Karumba to Undara Qld

Manic Schedule!!

 

Tuesday 19th to Wednesday 20th August

Our plan  – drive to Karumba set up and sleep, get up at 5.30am for a fishing charter till lunch, then pack up camp and drive to Undara Volcanic Park ready for an 8.30am tour! Although this sounded good in theory it wasn’t so much fun in practice!!

 

Karumba

We joined a local fishing charter, Kerry’s, and went seeking Blue Threadfin Salmon and School Mackerel in the Gulf. Karumba is known for its abundant fishing and we weren’t disappointed, as we reeled in plenty of fish between us!! The breeze was pretty fresh though and we had to stay well rugged up, but it was well worth the effort as we left with 7 good eating fish. After the charter it took Simon and the boys some time to clean and fillet the fish so we didn’t get away from camp till after 2pm. We were facing a good 6 hour drive so it was going to be a late one!

 

The only person on board to catch a Skip Jack

The only one of us to catch a mackerel

Everyone holding their own catch!

How many kilometres??

‘How can it have been 50 km’s a minute ago and now it’s over 80kms?’ was Simon’s pained lament! What’s a few km’s between friends? Every time I added up those little numbers on the map I got different answers!!  Needless to say it was a long and stressful journey to Undara!

 

Undara

 

We arrived at 8pm, drove several times around the circuit before I could work out the directions to our site, and with frayed tempers set up camp. Exhausted the kids went to bed almost immediately and we watched a Breaking Bad to thaw the out the chill between us before turning in.

 

Undara is a great outback creation for those who have not got the opportunity to really drive off the beaten track. We saw the fascinating lava tubes, but unfortunately had to take a guided tour to achieve this, which meant listening to some uninspiring commentary for 2 hours. We finished the tour at 10am and were driving away in less than an hour having spent a sum total of 14hours in the park… speedykniebes on a mission to get to Cairn’s and the end of the first leg.

 

Lava tube

 

Lawn Hill National Park Qld

Lawn Hill Gorge (Boodimulla) to Karumba

 Friday 15th to Monday18th August

The drive from Kingfisher Camp to Lawn Hill was amazing, beautiful views, thick bull dust and lots of wildlife. Jacob got to have a go at driving, as the road was deserted. He did a good job although he wished a clutch had never been invented!!

 

Bull dust

First driving lesson

'It's harder than it looks!'

Simon had a little bother with his nuts!

The long and winding road!

The best of the Rest!

Lawn Hill is our favourite gorge, and believe me it’s had a lot of competition!! It is a 3 canyon system which is so remote that it remains unspoilt by visitors. We walked the length of the gorge to the upper lookout and then back to the waterfall to swim, and although it was a 7km hike it was relatively simple with minimal rock hoping. There are fresh water crocs to be seen sunning themselves on the banks but no Salties so there is safe swimming throughout the gorge. The kayaking is amazing, with hardly anyone else around we glided silently to the upper gorge, swimming in some great rapids before paddling back.

 

Dinosaurs Yay or Yawn?

 

I insisted that we travel to see the World Heritage Riversleigh area of the park, where ancient fossil discoveries have been found. Palaeontologists have discovered a giant flightless bird ‘Thunderbird’ and the largest predatory freshwater crocodile ever known the ‘Barra’. However the site was really boring for the kids, as they were expecting to see the whole creatures reconstructed, but all there was were bits of their bones in rocks!! Overall no-one thanked me for dragging them here, but it was another tick in the box of things to see!

 

After some discussion about the next phase of our trip we decided to make a slight change to the plans and visit Karumba for one night to enjoy a spot of fishing.

Northwest Qld

King Fisher Camp (KFC) to Lawn Hill

 

Thursday 14th to Friday 15th August

We had heard lots of good things about King Fisher Camp so pulled in for a look before heading to Lawn Hill NP. The roads are all dirt to reach this place; dry and dusty like a desert but as soon as you drive into King Fisher the birds are chirping, wallabies hop over green grass, there are shady trees whispering all around and the tranquillity is tangible. We were planning on stopping for a fish, but stayed the night to soak up some of the stillness after days on the road.

 

The Williamson River flows beside the campground, and provided an opportunity to launch the ‘foot rest’, whoops, I mean tinny!! The boys went for a fish while I had a bit of quiet pottering at camp (bliss) and then joined them for a boat tour up the river. The fishing was good, Logan caught a large catfish (his largest fish ever) and a Sooty Grunter (affectionately known as a scooty Gunther!), Simon caught 2 Sooty Grunter’s and I even hooked a Gar fish within a couple of minutes of holding a rod! Jacob was the only one who didn’t have fish fingers, but he wasn’t disappointed as he’d seen a sign for KFC and thought it might mean chicken and chips for dinner (unfortunately for him it was an abbreviation for the camp!!)

 



 

 

Many hours on the road leads to some holiday vocabulary!!

Current Speedykniebe Terminology:

 

KFC – King Fisher Camp Jacob was surprised to see a fast food place so remotely!

Bumhug – humbugs get renamed to while away the hours!

Gonad – Grey Nomads as named by Jacob and Logan who didn’t know what a gonad was!

 

 

 

Hells Gate on NT/Qld Border

Crossing the QLD Border; Lorella Springs to Hell’s Gate

 Wednesday 13th August

After an awe inspiring walk amongst the towering pillars of the Southern Lost City in Limmen, we set of with the intention of crossing the border. This would be a long and arduous drive, and Simon is doing all of the hard work! The road conditions require experience and significant concentration, and I’m just too damn nervous to drive at the speed that he can!

 

Lost City

The country changes little on the NT stretch, but as we approached the border the trees became denser and the road narrowed. Crossing the border was a relief, with a final push to Hell’s Gate Roadhouse for an overnight just as it got dark. The fella who owns Hell’s Gate Roadhouse has built the place from scratch in 1986 and it is now on the market for $7million! I think you'd have to pay me that to live there as it's so remote!!

Lorella Springs Station NT

Mataranka to Lorella Springs

 

 Monday 11th to Tuesday 12th August

Good Advice in Roper Bar

Heading out from Mataranka before most campers were awake put us on the road with plenty of time to enjoy the lengthy drive to Lorella Springs. Our first stop was Roper Bar which heralded the end of the bitumen and the beginning of the dirt road component of the Savannah Way. Visiting the shop at Roper Bar proved to be an experience in its own right; it’s like a Tardis starting with the usual groceries then morphing into a hardware department before finally transforming into a clothing boutique!! When we asked the lady about fishing she in the Roper River she said fish from the sandbank, enquiring about crocs she confirmed that they have some large salties lurking but her advice on how to spot when your on the menu was gold!.

 

‘If you smell… excuse me boys’ she stated in a matter-of-fact tone looking from Jacob to Logan,
'sh*t then you know he’s watching you. That’s cause he’s just vented and the smell of sh*t will come from nowhere, then you know he’s near you.’

 

Well advice like that couldn’t be ignored so I was on smell alert while the boys fished, and woe-betide anyone who trumped!! Needless to say we didn’t smell sh*t and nobody caught a thing!

 

Fishing at Roper Bar

Limmen National Park

Our journey continued on fairly corrugated roads through passed Tomatoe Isalnd (which Simon was keen to avoid!) and into Limmen NP. We saw lots of grass fires and could feel the heat through our windows as we drove by. More fishing at lunch time on Town River in Limmen, where we spotted crocs sunning themselves on the banks, but no bad smells and no more luck with catching anything. We arrived hot and tired at Lorella just in time for happy hour at their rustic bar! After a couple of coldies we set up camp, enjoying the relaxed ‘camp anywhere’ attitude.

 

Controlled burning very close to the road

 

Lorella Spring Station

Having checked out the facilities I found the toilets were very basic but flushing, the showers unisex and open air, (with nothing but a flimsy curtain blowing in the breeze for privacy). The notice ‘light a fire under the donkey boiler for a hot shower’ was not  a joke but genuine instructions!!

 

We had a mixed bag exploring Lorella, as the lack of guidance from staff the previous evening led us to dry waterholes and stagnant pools. Our highlight was nudie hot springs, a large natural hot pool where clothing is optional! Unfortunately we were too far into the dry season to see Lorella at its best, and we decided to leave a day early, promising ourselves a return trip when the water is flowing again. Lorella has a great atmosphere, but you need a swag, a couple of weeks and $$$ to fully appreciate the vast wilderness it encompasses.

 

 

The bar - jerry can bar stools

The showers with freaky guardian!

 

 

 

Katherine Gorge to Materanka, NT

Edith Falls (Nitmiluk NP)

Friday 8th to Sunday10th  August

A spur of the moment decision took us to Edith Falls and I am so glad we made this detour! What a beautiful little secret this end of Katherine Gorge NP is! The plunge pool is only a couple of minutes from camp and the camping is quiet and personal, and cost $20 for us all for a night!! We walked to the upper pools the next morning to before setting off to restock in Katherine.

Hairy scary quite contrary, how does your beard grow?

 

Katherine Gorge

Re-stocked and on the move again we headed out to Katherine Gorge for a dinner cruise. The camping was expensive and crowded so luckily we spent very little time at the site before heading out to the gorge. The dinner cruise was wonderful and included lots of information about local history, rock art and geological formations before transforming into a floating restaurant for a 3 course meal which included crocodile! This has been one of our most special evenings yet as I’m sure the photo will testify.

 

A slight hiccough when we got back to the tent still couldn’t spoil the evening, but had a bloody good go! We hadn’t had time to put away our shopping in Katherine, so had piled it all in the tent, only to find that about a million ants had found it and were inside the bedding and bags!! After a full scale evacuation war was waged and won by Simon the Destroyer and the food was saved!

 

Mataranka Bitter Springs

 

Wow, this place is a must if you are ever travelling nearby, the bitter springs in Elsey NP are just fantastic; warm flowing water that carries you down stream surrounded by lush plants and a few huge spiders!! This was another afternoon of R & R which rates among some of the best!

Crystal clear water

Darwin to Kakadu, NT

Catching up with Friends in Darwin

Monday 4th – Friday 8th August

 

Taking the car into Darwin provided an opportunity to visit some old friends and we enjoyed a relaxing time at their house with hot water on tap. Thankfully Sophie handed washing machine rights over to me and we had clean clothes again! Sophie and Martin took us to Darwin which has changed a lot in 7 years, we enjoyed the newly developed outdoor wave pool and had a lovely sunset dinner at the boat club catching up on news, meeting new people and feeling as if time had stood still!

 

Spectacular Jumping Crocodiles

Wow, this was an awesome experience, great value for money and one off the boys top 3 picks so far! The crocs have meat dangled from a rod on the 2^nd floor of a boat and they literally jump out of the water to reach it! Not only was it amazing to see their agility but a chilling reminder to keep well away from the waters edge when camping in croc territory.

 



This is a wild Salty that knows she can get an easy meal

Looks bizarre but this is how they lunge for prey

Kakadu

 

Expectations were high when we entered this world renowned park, and although I’m sure it deserves its heritage listing we were underwhelmed. I think the lack of opportunities to swim was always going to be a disappointment, but the intense mosquito action in the East Alligator region left us drenched in repellent and still fighting the critters off! Logan ended up with 37 bites on his legs alone, and the subsequent itching and complaining made us all miserable!!

 

We stayed one night at Merl and caught the beautiful sunset at Ubir before moving onto the off road campsite near JimJim falls. This had less mozzies, but was crowded and bereft of vegetation. We walked into JimJim Gorge and were impressed with the sandy beach-like appearance of the banks along the gorge. The next morning we headed out to Twin Falls gorge, took a short but enjoyable boat trip into the gorge and admired the waterfall. We found huge Golden Orb Weaver spiders and the boys had a selfie with them! Although Twin Falls was our highlight in Kakadu, we left a day early ready to escape the crowds and get back to the real wilderness!

 

Sunset over the wetlands

Bravely sitting behind a huge spider!

Look how big it is!