Townsville to Cairns

As we left Townsville we had almost completed one month on the road since we left the Gold Coast so we thought it was a good time to reflect on what we had learnt during this time:

• Towns in the west of QLD cannot survive without good rail connections and the mines, especially coal mines
• The wages offered by the mines, especially in WA, is threatening many other industries as they cannot attract or keep workers, especially unskilled workers
• Whilst Cyclone Yasi was devastating the insurance monies are now coming thru and people are looking up again
• There is support for and caution optimism towards the NBN; the message has been "it is about time we had the chance to be treated the same as the townies down south
• QLD does not produce any good wine,
• Backpackers find Australia expensive with the current exchange rate; many prefer NZ for this reason.

We are conscious of the impact of Yasi so decided to base ourselves in Cardwell, the worst hit town. The caravan park we stayed at in Cardwell advertised itself as the 'shady place' but didn't seem to have a lot of trees. However, we viewed photos of the park pre-Yasi and realised that most of the trees had been knocked down and removed. The beach which was previously pristine was now covered in debris and some campers in the park were there as they don't have a liveable home yet.

On the way to Cardwell we had a lovely lunch in a park in Ingham and had an unsolicited tour of the park. On the first day in Cardwell we went south and looked at the 6.7 km long sugar jetty at the nice town of Lucinda and then swam in a beautiful clear waterhole just south of Cardwell. The next day we went north and visited the amazing Paronella Park near Mena Creek. The park was originally built in the 1920s by a Spanish emigrant and was the centre of society in the area at that time. It still has amazing gardens and waterfalls and the ruins of the main home, ballroom, swimming pool and cinema. As sugar is the lifeblood of the area we looked at the Sugar Museum at Mourilyan near Innisfail. On the way back to Cardwell we tasted some of the worst wines imaginable. They tasted like fermented Dettol. Marty kept a straight face and reckoned the taste was not as bad as Army cooking but I nearly passed out. I tried not to show how bad the taste was but one wine, allegedly made from local berries, was so bad my whole face collapsed.
We also drove thru Mission Beach on the way back and looked at the Yasi damage there.

Then it was off to Cairns.

We took the scenic railway to Kuranda. We went 'gold class' which meant free champagne and croissants. There were many photo opportunities as the scenery is magnificent. The rail line is a fine example of engineering of the day. We then spent a couple of hours in the Kuranda (hippieville) browsing the markets and the village. We took the sky rail back. The gondola provide more photo opportunities as we passed over the rainforest and we stopped at various points on the line and took more photos. When we arrived back at the caravan park in Cairns I was surprised to see the 2 good looking, young Dutch backpackers from Townsville camped next to us. Marty seemed less surprised, I think he believes I orchestrated it all.