Our Time At Tinaroo

Well, two weeks ago we made it to Lake Tinaroo, near Atherton Nth Queensland.  Absolutely beautiful lake and some wonderful little camp spots in the National Park/State Forest that line the banks of the lake with about ten klms of the Dam wall.  Team Turtle were lucky enough to find a reasonably level spot right on the edge of the water.

Right On The Water's Edge

Most Of The Camp Site

The first couple of days we spent trying to fish, trying to catch redclaw and gathering firewood.  The gathering of firewood was the only successful venture.  At least it gave us a nice warm fire to warm us and to boil the shower water.

So, on Friday we went for a little drive to the other side of the lake and found another nice little lake.  This was not a fishing lake but the result of some more volcanic action.

Lake Euramoo

The weekend had brought with it the beginning of the Queensland school holidays and the place was inundated with camper trailers, tents, speed boats and children so we decided to have an easy day of it and stay off the water with all of the speeding boats and screaming children.

All was good until lunchtime when three helicopters were doing flyovers!  These helicopters were the flypast for the Avenue of Honour that was being dedicated at Yungaburra (the other side of the lake).

Our Private Fly Past

In the meantime, The Deckie hadn't been her usual bubbly self.  Some severe abdominal pains were created some havoc so by Sunday, it was thought best the she goes to the hospital in Atherton to see what the problem was.  A short few hours later, The Deckie had been dosed up with some good drugs for pain relief and admitted to the hospital with a suspected gall stone attack.

Blood was taken for testing and an ultrasound was organised but this was not going to happen until Tuesday.  That's OK as The Deckie was in too much pain!  Blood tests were normal and the ultrasound was clear and the doctors were perplexed.  Well, The Deckie is a special sort of person!!

By Thursday, the doctors had thought that perhaps The Deckie had shingles but could not prove that that was the case as the blisters had not yet appeared.  Apparently when that happens the pain is excruciating - wow! something to look forward to.  Some different drugs were administered on Thursday afternoon and night and the pain finally subsided enough for The Deckie to be allowed out of hospital with information for a doctor to write a script for when the blisters appear.  The Captain was extremely pleased to have The Deckie home.

Although The Captain still maintained his attempts to trap some redclaw, even to the extent of checking his traps very early one morning.  The Captain does not normally get out of bed before sunrise so he was able to see what really happens!

The Neighbour Heading Off Into The Mist

The Rising Sun and the Duck

Team Turtle has therefore been taking it easy as we will be packing up over the next few days for our next leg of our journey.

Paronella Park

For a change of pace, Team Turtle decided to visit Paronella Park just to the south west of Innisfail and about 40 klms from Cowley Beach.  The Deckie had heard, and read, a fair bit about it and thought that it would be an interesting spot.

As an added bonus, there was a free night's stay at the Park's Caravan Park included in the ticket price.  This was definitely needed as there was a night time tour of the park as well.

So, we were on the road again at a reasonable time and heading inland.  The Deckie/Navigator found the place without any difficulties, we booked in and started another type of adventure.

If you have already checked out the website you would have noticed that the park was basically built on the side of a mountain and using the creek and waterfall as a backdrop and using Jose Paronella's dream of old Spanish castles as inspiration.  To The Deckie, most of the buildings look like something out of the jungles of south-east Asia that have only just been rediscovered!

There were guided tours leaving every 30 minutes so we didn't have to wait long.  To get down to the bottom level (and the better views) we made our way down the Grand Staircase - it was the very first structure built and it was to bring the sand from the waterhole to the top level for it to be used as building material.  One's leg muscles would have been like rock with all of the climbing that had to be done and the workers would have been as fit as fiddles.

Looking Down The Grand Staircase

The bottom section was something else.  Jose Paronella built what were Refreshment Rooms just up from the waterfall and creek and the fountain that was at the front was gravity fed 24/7.

The Refreshment Rooms

The Fountain

The Captain At The Water's Edge

Jose also planted an avenue of Kauri Pine trees leading away from the Refreshment Rooms.  Apparently these trees can live for a thousand years and measure about 3 metres in diameter.  The ones in the park have a lot of growing to do!

The Avenue of Kauri Pines

An unsubstantiated rumour is that  the pattern on the trunks of the Kauri Pines were used as a template for the camouflage on Defence Forces Uniforms!


The nigh tour was just as interesting as the day time one except all of the floodlights were on - some were across the waterfall while others were in the fountain and Refreshment Rooms.

There were many wonderful features of Paronella Park and to think that Jose Paronella had all of these marvellous dreams to build these things and yet didn't draw any plans at all.

After a very good sleep - mainly due to the fact that we were worn out - and another quick walk around the area we left the Park to journey towards Atherton.  And the weather turned very cold, bleak and miserable.  Team Turtle is just not used to that!!

We stopped briefly at Millaa Millaa Falls and then (as it was morning tea time) we took advantage of a lovely little cafe nearby.  Best scones we have tasted in ages - beats Maccas any day!

Millaa Millaa Falls

We had another stop before we reached Atherton at a place called The Crater in the Mount Hypipamee National Park.  One of us was imagining a meteorite type crater but that was not to be.  The particular crater was the aftermath of some volcanic activity tens of thousands of years ago which left a very large hole in the ground and a submerged passage that has filled with water.

Looking Down Into The Crater

The return walk took us back along the edge of the headwaters of the Barron River.  The best sight along here was the large group of backpackers after they had been for a swim in the river - they couldn't talk as their teeth were chattering that much from the cold.  No sense, no feeling!

The Start Of The Barron River

We finally made it into Atherton where there were the necessary retail outlets still open to cater to our needs and then it was a little bit further out of town for our overnight stop.  Monday, and we finally made it to Lake Tinaroo the furtherest north we are planning to go.

Quiet Time At Cowley Beach

It has finally happened, the laid back Queensland thing has finally kicked in for The Deckie and her brain has stopped working at its best capacity.  In our last post, it was mentioned that Team Turtle was heading north to Conway Beach.  Well Conway Beach is down near Airlie Beach (which would have had us heading south) but Team Turtle was heading to Cowley Beach!  Didn't mean to confuse people!

Cowley Beach is definitely a beautiful spot and we managed to get a lovely big camp spot right next to the reserve that leads to the beach - about a 10 metre walk.  We had reasonable weather the first couple of days so we were able to get Tuf Tinnie into the creek and try the fishing and mud-crabbing caper.  Fishing not so good, mud-crabbing reasonable considering we only put the traps in over two nights and that we only have two traps left.

Being Careful!

And because it was the Long Weekend, the weather became inclement - as it normally does.  It blew a gale and it rained off and on for about three days but it wasn't cold.  The temperature must have remained in the mid 20's for the entire weekend.  Consequently, the boating had to remain on hold.

To liven things up a little bit we awoke one morning to find that we had been invaded.

Warships Off The Beach

War Games had begun at the nearby Defence Department Training Area.  There have been helicopters buzzing around, huge trucks up and down the road, convoys rattling in and landing craft backwards and forwards to the ships in the bay.  Good stuff !

Apart from that it has been very, very quiet.  Not to worry as we don't need too much excitement but a few more fish would be nice.

Hopping To Hull Heads

After a reasonably nice week in Cardwell and the weather not looking like it was going to improve too much Team Turtle decided to, once again, head further north.  And yes, there is still a lot of coastline to go!

Our first option was a river about 20klms north of Cardwell.  Unfortunately, the boat ramp that we would have had to use was just a little bit steep - even for The Rav - so we kept going to another river - The Hull - just south of Tully.  To make things even better, there was a lovely little camping area right at one of two boat ramps.  No power but there were flushing toilets and hot showers and the very reasonable fee was split between council and the local Coast Guard.  Win, win for everyone!  Even so, there were a few people that did call in (its a 50klm round trip from the highway and back) and felt that the fee was far too exorbitant so they left.  If nothing else, this trip has certainly opened our eyes a bit more to some very strange attitudes of fellow travellers.  The only drawback to this lovely spot was that there was a limit of four nights stay and the boat ramp at the campground was covered in sand and only suitable for light vehicles.

The Sandy Boat Ramp and Breakfast View

Never mind, the other boat ramp was an all weather double ramp with pontoons.  Much more civilised and one doesn't have to worry too much about being attacked by crocodiles when you are knee deep in water.

The Civilised Boat Ramp

We were exhausted after our long trip but we managed to revive ourselves enough to go for a walk along the beachfront and chat to the neighbours who were fishing near the boat ramp.  The neighbours were having a little success so we pulled out the fishing rods, stuck some prawns on the hooks and waited.  Well, The Deckie didn't have to wait for long before she managed to catch the first fish from Hull Heads.

The Deckie and The Little Grunter

Poor little Grunter had managed to swallow the hook totally so instead of tossing him back to be shark food he was going to be bait for the crab traps the next day!

The next day was one of the best days weather wise that we have had for quite some weeks and we were up and at it reasonably early.  There is always a little bit of trepidation when you are on a new river for the first time - not really knowing where the deep holes are (although the electronic sounder is a help) or how finicky the fish are.  Always a bit if trail and error.  We started off with bait - just a few little nibbles - and then went back to our favourite lures.

The Captain got lucky - again - had a little bit of a tussle with a very nice Sooty Grunter and won!

Another Sooty Grunter

Unfortunately, The Deckie was unable to catch anything - except sandfly bites - but it was still nice to be out in the sunshine and on the water.

The Captain did hook a reasonable sized Barramundi, but there is now a Barramundi swimming in the Hull River with a very nice lure still in its mouth.

Saw our first saltwater crocodile.  It was only about 45cms long and was having a swim in the river until Tuf Tinnie frightened it.  On our way back home, we did see another couple of Salties having a rest on the mudbanks but these one were a little bit bigger.  The second one had to be at least five metres long - thank goodness they were having a lazy afternoon!

The Smaller, Cranky Salty

The Very Big Salty

Closer to the boat ramp, we found a small side creek that we felt was suitable to set our crab traps in.  Once that was done it was time to go home.

Off bright and early again the next morning to take advantage of the weather before the predicated change came through.  First job was to check the crab traps.

Number one trap - one very nice male, but angry, mudcrab.  Although, once the crab spat off his big claws, he didn't look quite as menacing!

Clawless Crab

The next trap came out empty but the third trap, well, that was an effort.  Because it was filled with crabs?  No, it had become entangled in the mangroves.  Which is very unusual as The Captain is very careful where he places these traps and we didn't think that the tidal movement had been that rough.  Without too much more thought, The Captain then reaches over the side of Tuf Tinnie, nearly up to his shoulders in the water in an attempt to retrieve the trap.  This eventually happened and then The Captain realised why the trap and its attached rope had become entwined in mangrove roots.  Crocodile attack!!!!!

Mangled Crab Trap

What had transpired was that the fish had managed to get into the trap to eat the bait and had become trapped (because it was a trap).  The crocodile had been alerted to the thrashings of the drowning fish and felt it was going to be an easy dinner.  Not to be!!  That crocodile must have had a wonderful time pushing and pulling that trap thru the mangroves and creating havoc for The Captain as well.

Nobody won in that battle - the crocodile went away worn out, hungry and very annoyed, the fish drowned and the crab trap went to crab trap heaven.  It was only much later when The Captain was thinking about things that he realised that the annoyed and hungry crocodile could have been lying just under Tuf Tinnie when he had his arms in the water and that he The Captain) could have been breakfast for him!  Makes one shudder just thinking about it.

The rest of the day wasn't much better as the fishing was non existent but the day itself was very nice - well, almost most of the day.

After we returned back to our campground, the predicted bad weather arrived - very windy and overcast - so it was pack up time.  Not a huge task as we were only planning to drive a short distance and therefore we would be driving both vehicles.

Hull Heads and Islands of The Great Barrier Reef

Tuesday was "move on" day - first to Tully for supplies and then a little bit further north to Conway Beach.  The caravan park at Conway Beach is right on the beach, the boatramp for Liverpool Creek is less than two klms away and the boatramp for a quick trip to the Great Barrier Reef is right at the front gate - not too bad at all!!