Cooktown Memories 2013 - Day 37

Cooktown 2013

Day 37

Cooktown

Isabella Falls

 Our first morning in Cooktown and we decided to drive out to the Endeavour Falls and Isabella Falls about 25 km.  The weather was hot and humid, pretty normal for FNQ. 

Isabella
falls

Wildflowers

A water crossing

The road to the falls was sealed at first and then a reasonably good dirt road with some corrugations in parts, but we weren't towing the van so the conditions didn't worry us too much.

Reflections

 After spending some time at the Isabella Falls, we drove back on the same road to the Endeavour Falls which we entered through a caravan park which would have been great to stay there but our caravan is not made for off road conditions.  The Endeavour Falls were lovely and it was only a short walk through the caravan park to the falls.

Endeavour Falls

Endeavour Falls

Endeavour Falls

On the way back to Cooktown we stopped to take some photos of the waterlilies, which were beautiful, but as we got out of the car we discovered a very bloated and smelly wild pig, so took a few quick photos of the waterlilies and made a hasty retreat to the car.  I have never smelt anything so bad.

After lunch we drove up to the still operational Grassy Hill lighthouse built in 1886 located on the site of Captain Cook's landing in 1770.  In 1993 the lighthouse was converted to solar power.

Grassy Hill Lighthouse

View from the lighthouse

Grassy Hill Lighthouse

Finch Bay

Finch Bay

Finch Bay

After a short stroll along the beach at Finch Bay we went back to the wharf area for some more photos.

Cooktown Wharf

Sculpture in bronze to commemorate the goldrush pioneers

Saturday morning and of course I had to go to the Markets, and it was a very interesting mix of fresh fruit  and handcrafts.  I had a taste of some tamarinds and really enjoyed the slightly tart taste, and while we were sitting down having a refreshing smoothie, a lady started talking to me and I told her I had been having trouble with my RA and she said she usually had a stall at the market and sold a "special oil" which helped many types of pain but she didn't have any with her but gave me her phone number.  I think the special oil might have been illegal but I would have been tempted to try it as my pain level was getting a bit too high for comfort and we had been doing a fair bit of walking, but I didn't phone her and just continued with my prescription medication and rest. 

Our next adventure was to The Lion's Den, a popular pub about 30km south of Cooktown.  We were looking forward to seeing this iconic hotel which has an amazing collection of memorabilia and good Aussie food and we weren't disappointed with our Barra Burgers and a nice cold beer.  

On the way back we stopped at  Keating's Lagoon and went for a short walk and almost trod on a green tree snake.  It was a beautiful green and stayed long enough for a photo before slithering away.

Green Tree Snake 

What a lovely colour for a snake

Next morning it was time to leave Cooktown, so after hooking up the van, we headed out but stopped at the James Cook Museum located in an old 19th century convent.  

Cooktown Memories - 2013 - Day 3 35 -37 -Ravenshoe, Malanda, Mareeba

Millstream Falls

DAY 35

We left Innot Hot Springs and headed for Ravenshoe about 34km and through some lovely country, so different from the last few weeks, as we are now in the tropical north of Australia.  Along the way we stopped at Millstream Falls, claimed to be the widest single drop waterfall.  I didn't walk all the way to the falls as my knee was a bit painful so I stopped about halfway for a rest while Ron walked on and took some photos.  We then headed on to Ravenshoe and called into the Info Centre and then on to Malanda where we booked into the caravan park for 2 nights. We had a lovely site that backed onto a stream and rainforest with orchids growing on the trees, just beautiful.

The creek behind our caravan site  at Malanda

Malanda caravan park

Lovely orchids at the caravan park

After setting up in the caravan park, we walked the short distance back into Malanda, and stopped at the Dairy Centre for a nice cold milkshake and then walked on to see the Malanda Falls.

Malanda Falls

Malanda Falls

 We never seem to be able to sit around for long, so  after lunch next day we drove out to the Nerada Tea Plantation about 10km out.  Nerada Tea Plantation is the largest industrial tea plantation in Australia

Spectacular scenery on way to the tea plantation

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Tree kangaroo

While we were there having a nice pot of tea, the waitress told us there was a tree kangaroo outside in the tree, so we were lucky enough to get some photos although the tree kangaroo wasn't keen on being photographed.

We left Malanda after 2 days and our next stop was at Atherton for a quick look around, and as our grandsons were interested in rocks and minerals, we bought a bag of polished agate at the Information Centre, then onto Mareeba where we were expecting to collect a parcel from the Post Office but unfortunately it hadn't arrived, so we decided we would return to Mareeba on our way back from Cooktown.

We somehow managed to take a wrong turn and ended up on a side road to the Mareeba War Museum, didn't stop to look but soon got back onto the road again to Cooktown.

Horses on the road to Cooktown

The Annam River in Cooktown

Road to Cooktown - sunny

Road to Cooktown - clouds gathering

Road to Cooktown - then rain

And then very windy too

From Mareeba to Cooktown is 266 km.

We arrived in Cooktown late in the afternoon and after driving around trying to find the Information Centre and then phoning a few caravan parks without much luck, as either a message or no answer at all, we drove out to the Big 4 caravan park, the most expensive in town, but at least we were able to get a site and the park was very well set out and we had a good site.