Parasites!

Well- Atherton turned out to be just another country town, nothing remarkable,except that it is surrounded by some interesting features.

The rainforest contains a curtain fig tree, of interest in that it is a parasite that originally climbed up a large tree, then killed it and took over. It was impossible to photograph it from far enough away to get the whole tree in, it stands around 150ft high, and drops dozens of arial roots which look like a curtain.
Fig trees provide ample fruit for a number of animals such as tree kangaroos and white tailed rats, while their twisted and tangled roots and branches provide protection from predators.
There are a few of thesec trees around, but none as large or as famous as this one. Unfortunately much of the forest has been cleared for farming, resulting in the loss of habitat and the extinction of a number of indigenous animals, such as the Southern Cassowary and the Musky Rat-kangaroo, and at least three plant species are vulnerable.

The fig tree is not the only parasite that grows in this area, we spotted a fern that grows half way up a palm tree in many places, but in this case does not appear to do harm. Also a 'cauliflory', clusters of flowers and fruit that are borne from the trunk of the Yellow Mahogany tree aand others.These flowers and fruit provide food and nectar for many animals and insects of the forest.

Nearby was a crater formed many milennia ago when gases escaping from deep below the earth opened up a large hole which today still goes many hundreds of feet down, and is largely unexplored as it is full of water. Trees grow from the sides of the crater that receive sunlight, while the other sides are mainly treeless.

As we are on a plateau, some two thousand feet above sea level, there are many excellent viewpoints looking down over the fields and hills below, on a good day one can see down to the coast some 40 miles away. Unfortunately the height makes it very cold at night, and we have been suffering! 

In our travels we came across a military aircraft museum, where volunteers actually keep a number of aircraft in flying condition, we saw a DC8 (or was it 10?) and a couple of others

Today we drove down to the coast again, to Port Douglas, a pretty little town about 70k north of Cairns, where we will spend the night. We had hoped to take a cruise along the waterways here, but unfortunately the boat was fully booked, so we will have to try again another day. The beach is superb, and as with many around this coast, almost deserted.

Tomorrow we drive down to Cairns, to attend a Rotary District Conference with our friends Joanne and Percy Schilling from Darwin, it will be interesting to see how conferences are conducted in this part of the world. I'll leave you with a couple more pictures from the past few days.





To the woods.....

When we manage to escape the cane area we enter the virgin rain forest at these latitudes.. A drive up to Josephine falls took us to the forest, and as we walked up the path to the falls the forest was solid all around us.
The falls themselves were deep in the forest, in the shadow of the highest mountain in Queensland, Bartle Frere. The forest is so dense at times it is difficult to see, so much so that it was impossible to get a very clear picture. This is an area of outstanding natural beauty, with such a mixture of flora that it is almost impossible to describe.

The falls themselves are very full at this time because of the recent rains, and the noise of the water tumbling down drowns out the other forest noises- even the screech of the cockatoos.

The walk did us good, it is a while since we have been as far, even though it was only a couple of kilometres.

Betty had a minor problem with her electrics, it would appear we had a visit from a rat, probably while she was stored in Brisbane while we were away, so she has spent part of the day in the auto electricians for a look over.

Not too much damage fortunately, but we took advantage to have a few bulbs changed.

The following day we moved on towards Atherton, a small country town above Cairns on a plateau they call the Atherton Tablelands. On the way we visited a rainforest canopy walkway, in the heart of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. From the elevated walkway, which stretches for over 350 mtrs, we were able to see right down into the Johnston River Valley, and see the solid canopy of the forest from a height that would not normally be possible.

As we drove on we took in a number of waterfalls again, about five in all, this area has a lot of rivers coming down from the plateau, some very dramatically in places. One, the Mileaa Mileaa falls, was quite spectacular, falling some fifty feet over basalt that resembled the Devil's Causeway in Northern Ireland, into a lovely pool.
Atherton? -we'll see. It was almost dark when we arrived- time to see it tomorrow.

Innisfail.

We have had a few more days of rain, sometimes quite heavy, definitely not pleasant, although it is not cold. It does restrict what we can do, as Australia is an outdoor country, and almost everything to do revolves around that.

So we have had a miserable couple of days since we left Charters Towers, last night we stayed in a cabin which was not too good, on a site that was unbelievably crowded. The only saving grace about the area was that they had a super fish and chip shop just down the road, the best we have tasted since we have been here.So that cheered us up!
But to cap it all, while loading up the car this morning I damaged the cover on the roof tent- so I was not a happy chappy. Fortunately not too serious, no damage to the tent itself.

Anyway- here we are in Innisfail, a small town just a few ks short of Cairns, we have a great cabin, and this afternoon the rain eased a little, and stopped eventually. We have a great cabin here, and this afternoon we took a trip down to a lovely beach, almost deserted, one of those places that are hidden from most people, and you have to go a few miles to find. Etty Bay was really idyllic, and as a bonus, on the way down there we came across a Cassowary bird, a threatened species as big as an Emu, and flightless. This one stood about 1.5 mtrs tall. We count ourselves as extremely fortunate to have done so, the chances are slim to nil for most people. I'm told that you don't mess with these birds, they can be very aggressive, and will attack particularly if they have young with them, and can rip you open with their claws.

At a port down the road we came across a sugar loading dock, where bulk carriers come in to take the sugar all over the world

I have written before about sugar cane, a few facts for you. Queensland crushes about 40million tonnes of cane to produce 5m tonnes of sugar. They load ships in this area, from 6 bulk handling terminals, and can store 2m tonnes at any one time. Of course, the season being comparatively short, from June to September, the bulk carriers are very busy from now onwards.

Apart from sugar, beef is another local export, and bananas and mangoes are grown in this area, and exported all over Australia. 

Well- tomorrow is another day, the weather forecast looks better, so perhaps we will get to go to see some of the many attractions round here, the rainforest canopy walk maybe, of Parronella park. We will see......

Just another gold town?

Charters Towers is another gold town, but the difference is that they have preserved the best of the old, and are not afraid to show it off.

We booked ourselves into a great site with excellent cabins, very clean and well appointed, unlike the last one we were on. Set among palm gardens, with plenty of room between cabins, we were overlooking the swimming pool and a liitle stream.
Betty has a slight problem, she is using a bit of oil, so we had to book her in for a service and a lookover, fortunately we were advised that there is nothing seriously wrong with her just that we will have to watch her oil levels as the oil light is not working.
Anyway, it gave us time to have a good walk round  to see the historic heart of the town. Few towns can compare with the elegance and grandeur of the civic buildings,  and the historic hotels and quaint cottages from the gold rush era are close enough to be easily explored on foot.

I always thought that Stock Exchanges were for big cities, but Charters Towers had one as early as 1890 to try to regularise the sale of shares in the various mines that were springing up all around. Many rogues were digging holes and salting them with gold, selling shares in worthless mines, and then skipping town with the money.(I think there are some like that still about!) Anyway, the stock exchange tried to sort that out, and I believe was mainly successful.

Also here a local mine manager, having had his salary cut from £8 to £6, shot the chairman at a board meeting, and was later hanged for his pains.

Dotted around the town are some great Sculptures, usually with descriptions, we saw one of a famous bag lady, who was reputed to have fallen in love above her station, and when she was rebuffed by his family took to the road. Another is of a swaggie, whose heritage is unknown, but represents the variety of people who have passed through the town.

Bring a country town, country music had to be represented, and a great sculpture at the town entrance shows three musicians.

There are so many superbly maintained old buildings here it is impossible to show them all, but one among them is the Telegraph and Post Office, built in 1892. The clock tower was added in 1898, and still chimes every half hour, the building replaced an earlier post office from 1878, just six years after gold was discovered here by an aboriginal horse boy who was chasing a pony spooked by a thunderstorm.

I have earlier mentioned Queenslanders, a style of house building common to this area, a tin roofed wooden building mostly surrounded by verandas, and often on stubs or stilts. There are many in this town, some better preserved than others, but all wonderful buildings which I would be proud to live in.
Many have ornate wrought iron as this one has, with split level roof. This is one of the nicer examples, still privately owned.

Charters Towers then is well worth a visit for a few days, apart from the weather, which was not good, there is much to see, good museums, plentiful history, just a great town. I'll leave you with a few more pictures.

Bl**** Weather…..

The following day was wet-, it poured down most of the night and much of the next day, so our planned walk was a non starter. Instead we drove down to the lake, and the dam, which is pretty, but fairly ordinary.

Anyway, as the weather did not look like improving we decided to move on the following day, up to Airlie Beach, a two day drive, stopping overnight in a motel on the way.

Reaching the main road, the M1, ( not quite like ours, it is more like the A6 Carlisle to Penrith- single carriageway!) we found ourselves in sugar cane country. Mile upon mile of cane lines the road both sides, and occasionally we would come across a sugar plant. The cane is moved to the plant by a narrow gauge railway, which criss-crosses the road, or runs beside it for miles. Only once did we see the wagons that move the cane, and we were past before we could get a photo.

It is harvesting time now- just started and will go on til October. We are told that they fire the cane, well the lower part of in anyway which is dead and dry leaves, to get rid of the insects and snakes before the reaper goes through. The machine cuts the cane into short sections, and deposits the leaves as mulch.

The cane has to be processed in the plant within 24 hours, which mainly involves crushing and boiling,  and depending on the quality, can be made into brown sugar, white sugar, or even icing sugar.

After harvesting they plough and replant, placing four inch sections of cane into the furrows at regular intervals, and it re-roots itself.

From time to time we came across citrus plantations, mainly oranges and mandarins, but also limes and lemons. A few mango plantations as well.

Our second day’s travel saw better weather, the sun shone, but it was still remarkably cold. Airlie Beach is just like we remember it, perhaps a little more developed out of town, but not much different. It is pretty quiet at this time, there are still quite a few backpackers around, but generally the tourists appear to be elsewhere at the moment.

We stayed in a mediocre cabin on a mediocre site, froze the first night even with four blankets on, but the next day dawned bright and sunny to warm us up a bit.

There was a P&O ship outside the harbour, guests being tendered into the harbour. It was a pretty long tender, as the Pacific Dawn was too big to come in close. We spoke to a couple of the guests. It appears that this ship regularly sails out of Brisbane as far as Cooktown and back.

In the afternoon we took ourselves off up the coast to Dingo Beach and Gloucester bay,

At the latter there is a restaurant and I suppose one could call it a motel called Montes, ( a few chalets on the beach) far off the beaten track and beyond the tarmac road.

We found that place purely by chance,  I have no idea how they get their business unless it is repeat, there were only a few people there at lunchtime, but plenty of staff to look after them.

It really was idyllic, a beautiful beach with a great restaurant, we almost booked there and then, but as it was we had a drink and a walk down the beach then took off back to Airlie beach.

So today it is a little overcast again, a bit warmer, but at least no rain, and we are on our way north to a town called Charter Towers, which promises to be interesting.

In the meantime – here is a couple of photos taken in Airlie Beach.........

Just a bit disconcerting to go for a p and be faced with these beauties.......

The feathered variety....

A short night in Brisbane was followed by a trip north to Noosa, a pleasant area of coastline with many inlets and lakes. The weather was not great, it seems to be that way when we come to Queensland, but in any case we were using the time there to do our housekeeping, washing ironing etc, and preparing for the next six weeks while we travel the length and breadth of this state, up to Cape York and west across to the Northern Territory border and beyond.

Noosa is very much a boating and fishing area, and perhaps a retirement area too. There are many typical "Queenslanders", houses that comprise a main area , often on stilts, surrounded by shaded balconies, themselves surrounded by trees for shade. Most are very attractive, and well kept.

There are many seabirds in the area, Egrets, Australian Darters, cormorants, and of course pelicans. The shoreline abounds with them, which indicates that the fishing must be good around here. Unfortunately we don't have the time at the moment- and in any case it usually means feeding the fish rather than catching them!

The weather did not really improve over the three days we spent there, and we moved on some 450k up to Cania national park, a camp site some 45k from civilisation, but with excellent facilities.

As we arrived it was bird feeding time, there are a large varity of exotic birds here, from Galahs, (a common Oz parrot that is mainly grey with a pink neck and breast, cockatoos, and Rainbow Lorrikeet, which as it's name suggests, is multi coloured. There are also many animals on this site, which is close to a lake, but as yet, because it is raining, we have not had a chance to see them! There is good walking round here too, but as we are fair weather walkers that's out too! San fairy ann- we can watch the campers from our chalet, and sympathise with them.......

Anyway we'll relax for a couple of days and plan the next six weeks, which look quite exciting.

A sleepy backwater.

That's Melaka- but it was not always so. Fought over by battling colonial forces since the 14th century, it is halfway between China and India, and attracted merchants from all over the East. Before that time it was peacefully ruled by a Sultan, but in 1509 the Portugese decided they needed the port for victualling and atering, and sent the Sultan packing south to Johor. After an 8 month siege in 1641 the Sultan and the Dutch, who already had most of Indonesia, took it back. In 1795 the British, purporting to help the Dutch out when they were involved in a war elsewhere, took over. But as was usual with the Brits, they wouldn't leave, and deported the Dutch residents to Penang up the coast. Melaka though, gradually declined as Singapore became the major port in the Malay area.

So it has a chequered history, and has left a mixed Chinese, Portugese, Dutch and British population who have become Eurasian over the years. The modern city is built round Chinatown, two or three streets that contain old shop houses and temples.
We were lucky, Silver, our taxi driver, is a very knowledgeable guy who took us to many of the places that were worth seeing.

There are at least a dozen museums of all types in Melaka, we visited just two of them which gave us an insight into the past of this great city. The first was a general museum, in the Stadhuis, the former Town Hall and Governor's residence. It is beleived to be the oldest Dutch building in the East, built shortly after the Dutch occupied Melaka in 1641. Many of the buildings in this area are red, the story has it that the British decided to paint them this colour   after the original  Dutch white started to wear off leaving the red laterite stone showing!

In the museum are displays of Chinese and Malay weapons and ceramics, as well as a reconstructed Dutch bedrooms and a dining room of the period. A large room portrays Melaka's history, and in another uniforms from history are on display.

The second museum we visited is in the shape of a 14th Century Portugese ship, a maritime museum which tells of the early history of the city.I have to say it is too small to do it justice, but it does give a fair outline of the time.

We spent two days in the city, seeing many historic sites that I could bore you with, including a 16th century ruin of a church which was visited by St Francis Xavier and where he was temporarily interred before being transferred to Goa, where he remains to this day.

The Brits made it into a store for Gunpowder, put a lighthouse there, and a lookout post.
We had a tour by rickshaw, where we saw some of the old city walls, which originally came right down to the port, but because of reclamation in the last century are now some half a mile from the sea. We also saw a transport museum, that consisted of a Train, a plane and a hole in the ground.

Melaka is certainly worth a visit, we only saw the half of it, we did not for example take a trip on the river which is highly reccommended, or a lift up the tower to see Malaka from above. There are many more museums of interest, and much more history to learn about the area.

I will append a few more pictures below, to give an idea of some of the other sights we did see.