The Journey continues..
| The Journey continues.. |
|
08 Aug 08 Day 69
Today we leave Cooktown and are driving back through the Atherton Tablelands towards the Savannah Way which we will join at Mareeba. We left the CP about 8:30am and settled into the drive. There was a bit of hill climbing again as we drove through the Byrnstown Ranges back towards Mt Molloy. We stopped for a coffee break at a roadside stop and soon were joined by other travellers. One had over heating problems with his vehicle so after a bit of consultation it was decided that another vanner would follow him into Mareeba. We took the point and lead the way. When we reached Mt Molloy he considered that he would be alright getting to Mareeba by himself so we left him to it. We had to refuel in Mareeba and pick up some groceries at the local Coles.
We also had lunch at a cafe in Mareeba before continuing on towards Atherton. When we got to Tolga,about 5kms out of Atherton, there was a War Memorial Park there that allowed free camping for 72 hours. We decided to stop here for the night and set up camp. Still having problems with the sat tv but this time I had a bloke give me a hand using his sat. meter and he seemed to know a lot about it. He adjusted the LNB and lo and behold we had a picture again. Some people just have a knack. He also told me about other free channels on other satelites so I will need to look into that. He is a dutch man and has been in Australia for 12 years. When I told him of my Dutch origins he started talking to me in Dutch and he left me behind explaining the sat tv problem and technicalities in Dutch. I asked him to repeat it in English and finally I understood what he was on about.!! A nice bloke from W.A. travelling with his wife around Australia.
In the evening with the Kipor genny purring away we watched the NRL game. Would like to watch the Olympics but that is a bit late starting, so we will switch off the genny around 9:30pm to let all those grey nomads get their sleep.
Fuel Prices: Mareeba LPG=$0.919 ULP=$1.499
One of the memorials at the Tolga War Memorial Park |
Parked for the night at the Memorial Park Camping Area. |
It was a cold night at the Camping Ground outside Tolga. Had to rug up and put the doona back on the bed. Apart from the occasional vehicle driving past it was a quiet night. In the morning we were up by 7:15am or at least I was. Geraldine decided to have a sleep in. But we still managed to get away by 9am. We drove through Atherton, Ravenshoe and on to Archer Creek Rest Area (CA3#233) outside the town for a coffee break. Ravenshoe has the reputation for being the highest town on the highest road in Queensland. Just so happens to be the windiest and cold part of the range as well. There was a wind farm just outside town and there was a strong S/Easterly blowing bringing some mist with it. We took the photos and got out of there quicksmart before we were blown away. Within a few kilometres we went from overcast windy and misty sky to clear blue calm sky. The temperature also went up from 12c to 29c.
After the break we continued along the Kennedy Highway (National Highway 1) through Mt Garnet. The road here was nothing like a National Highway, changing on a number of occasions to a one laner. When you see a road train coming in the opposite direction the only thing you can do is get off the bitumen. Eventually we drove into Mt Surprise and I topped up with ULP as we haven't seen any LPG stations so far. We booked into the Bedrock CP and arranged for a tour tomorrow at the Undara Lava Tubes National Park. Tonight we watch the olympics and the ABC on Sat TV , yes, finally got the thing working after that adjustment to the LNB in Tolga , 50%+ quality. Best we have had all trip.
Fuel Prices: Mt Surprise ULP=$1.639
Location Map
Wind Farm outside
Ravenshoe with |
National Highway 1
between Mt Garnet |
Set up at Bedrock CP, next to Fred and Wilma! |
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