Jul 21

FNQ

by in Uncategorized

We moved camp, primarily because where we were did not have space for us beyond 9 July. The other grey nomads had the place booked out. We also needed to find somewhere that could take us and the Waterhouses in their Winnebago, ideally close together. Cairns Holiday Park managed to fit us both but at $48.00 per night it was the dearest option we’ve yet found. But, beggars can’t be choosers so in we moved. Booking initially for just a week we ended up extending for another few days ultimately to give Jude a bit more time to recover from another bout of pneumonia. This also entailed another hospital visit although most of the time spent in Cairns Hospital was in the waiting room. Antibiotics administered and 6 hours later we got back to the Hovel.

Anyway that was later. John and Lin arrived on Wednesday the 9th and we ten spent a week together exploring Cairns and surrounds. There is a lot to see.

Thursday took us to Trinity Beach just north of Cairns for a lunch with friends of John and Lin, Graham and Laurel from Warrandyte in Melbourne who had come up here for a AFL football match on Saturday 12th. A very pleasant afternoon overlooking the beach watching the world go by and very little football discussion.

Friday had us north bound again all the way to Port Douglas. A stopover for coffee at Thala Beach Lodge was in order. I say a coffee cos at $800.00 per night we couldn’t afford more. Even the coffee was stretching it. Beautiful place but…..

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(I couldn’t justify the expense of getting the waiter to take our photograph so that’s me represented by my hat on the table)

Port Douglas was just a mangrove swamp before Christopher Skase. His “Mirage” development turned the place into a millionaires playground. (Well, that might be a bit harsh, but it certainly came into its own with that little development). The church is somewhat indicative of its roots, but the house on the hill is more of its’ today. So are the boats in the marina.

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I don’t know how this place manages to be a holiday destination for the rich and famous cos you can’t get at the water for the mud and at some times of the year the stingers will hurt you or the crocs will eat you and if you catch any big game fish you have to throw them back. I can do all of that just sitting at home. But, you can shop – all the big name luxury brands are here. Wow!

Debate raged over the means of transport for Saturday. Was it train up, chairlift down, chairlift up, train down. Well I didn’t enter into the debate – for me no choice – train both ways. The chairlift must be 10000000000ft above sea level and it has glass bottomed gondolas – oh what fun and joy looking straight down towards impending death whilst paying heaps for the privilege. Eventually economic wisdom won out – the dual means of up/down was about $120.00 per person whereas the train was a mere $72.00. Besides which I like trains, so my economic rationalism won the day.

Where to ….?   Kuranda is the answer. Just 35km from Cairns the train still took two hours both up and down hill. The track rises at a rate of 1:50, apparently quite steep for a train but the journey is very scenic. The blurb says its the worlds most scenic but I suspect that’s an overstatement.

Heres some of the intelligentsia (notice I’m again out of the picture) but hows this for more “small wold syndrome”..  The woman sitting opposite to the left is Margaret from Adelaide. Isn’t that amazing. She works with Janes fathers sister Genevieve. Isn’t that even more amazing. But just before leaving home she dropped of some material to (some house in Adelaide)(address removed )for Jane Monk. God its a small world and whats more she wasn’t even supposed to be in our carriage.

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Kuranda is a small market village. Full of craft and cafes. Pretty little place but we didn’t need any more handcrafted  meticulously  crocheted tea cosies so we walked the streets to just take in the ambience and an ice cream. I think the journey was the destination.

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and the DC3 is a plant – it came from a junk yard.

Then it was back down hill. The Kuranda railway has a great history, all hand built. Some 13 tunnels and 50 odd bridges all dug or built by hand. They tell us some 37 men died during construction but was that just from old age? It is a sweet ride although the seats do get a bit hard after the first few minutes. And, I didn’t suffer a moment of vertigo.

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Old carriages all nicely restored. The railway is still operated by Queensland Rail. On this day there were 14 carriages all fully booked. Two trips a day, $72.00 per person, must translate into a very profitable rail line.

 

3 Responses to “FNQ”

  1. From Justin:

    Get better mum…all the scenic railways claim to be that…the most scenic, and hello small world.
    JP

    Posted on 23 July 2014 at 8:49 pm #
  2. From g@z:

    I hope you are feeling better nanny!

    Love the photos and the stories. They really do want to make me get out there and travel. I’m always amazed with each update that there is just so much of Australia to see that you never hear about. Love the tropical locations, just not the local wildlife…..

    Regards,
    g@z.

    Posted on 24 July 2014 at 9:20 pm #
  3. From John Fowler:

    I had heard that Port Douglas was just an overpriced resort with little to offer the tourist, and you have confirmed that.
    Love that Railway! That is one rail jouney I have always wanted to do as well.
    You are certainly continuing to ‘whet my appetite’ to do a bit of northern travel. Good stuff.
    Cheers, John

    Posted on 27 July 2014 at 8:09 am #

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