Ravenshoe to Cairns to Chillagoe ( includes Mt Mulligan)

Hello all
Since my last post I have moved around a lot but not done much, the reason being rain and more rain. I have driven past waterfalls and tourist attractions searching for somewhere dry, I will double back on a lot of these places when the weather clears. I don't want to take photos of a muddy waterfall.

After a rainy cold night at the Ravenshoe Railway Reserve Camping area I headed down the hill towards Cairns, only to find still more rain. A day in Cairns chasing up a few things, I decided North might be drier...........wrong, after four or so hours of reasonable weather the skies opened again.

Curtain Fig at Yungaburra

Curtain Fig

As I drove along Captain Cook Drive towards Port Douglas the weather broke for a short while.

looking south towards Cairns

 After a quick look at Palm Cove, which looked beautiful, I will return when the weather clears, I arrived at Port Douglas for my biggest shock of the trip so far................the first Caravan Park I pulled into didn't even temp me to stop........in the entry around the round about and straight out again..............talk about jammed in like sardines! The second looked better, $48 per night I was quoted (single) in shock I told them I would rather drive back to Cairns and book into one of the many $55 per night Motels I had just driven past rather than pay $48 for a patch of muddy grass and a power point. Port Douglas, in my opinion over rated and overpriced, so I moved on to Mossman.
After climbing the hill again, and a couple of nights at Kerribee Rodeo Grounds at Mareeba for $15/night powered, I headed for Mt Mulligan Station as the weather slowly cleared.

first view of Mt Mulligan

I am glad I made this detour, a magnificent campsite at the Wier at Mt Mulligan Station (map note says closed - this is wrong) and I found the ruins at Mt Mulligan mine fascinating.

Mt mulligan Mine ruin

Mt Mulligan was a coal mining town from 1910 until 19 September 1921 when an underground explosion killed 75 miners (all the miners in the town). The mine closed, but reopened in 1923 and continued in production until 1957.

Mt Mulligan Mine

The Mount Mulligan mine disaster occurred on 19 September 1921. A series of expolsions in the local coal mine audible as much as 30 km away, rocked the close-knit community
Seventy-five workers were killed by the disaster which is the third worst coal mining accident  in Australia in terms of human lives lost. Four of the dead had been at the mouth of the pit at the time of the explosion. Only eleven of the bodies were found. The disaster affected people in cities and towns all over the country.

Mt Mulligan Mine

In it's heyday Mt Mulligan had a population of over 300 and boasted multiple Hotels and even a Billiard Hall.

 

Mt Mulligan Mine

After checking out the Mine Site I headed off to set up camp at Mt Mulligan Station, what a little piece of paradise this place is...........

Mt Mulligan campground

view from camp at Mt Mulligan

camp at Mt Mulligan

the view from camp Mt Mulligan

Leaving Mt Mulligan I headed along the Burke Development Road to Chillagoe, once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals but is now reduced to a small zinc mine and some marble quarries.

old Government Battery at Chillagoe

 Over the next few days I plan to head back to Cairns, to meet my nephew, and head off towards Cape York and the Tip, the most Northerly point on the Australian mainland. I just hope the weather starts to behave.............
Bye for now.

Mt Surpise to Ravenhoe (via Undara Volcanic Park)

Hello all
After leaving Mt Surprise, and 35mm of rain I headed for Undara Lava Tubes to try to dry out. The weather cleared enough to do The Archway Tour under overcast skies.

I wasn't expecting too much, after being a bit disappointed with the scenery along The Gulf but was pleasantly surprised by Undara.

heading into the tubes

 These Lava Tubes are the remnants of the largest Lava flow in the World, travelling over 160 kilometres. The volcanic activity that formed the tubes occurred approximately 190,000 years ago and the volcano Undara expelled massive amounts of lava onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland. In total it was estimated that over 23 billion cubic metres of lava that was released covering an area of 55 km².

The Archway

 The area is situated within the McBride volcanic province and contains 164 volcanoes, vents and cones. The lava tubes are regarded amongst the largest and longest on the planet.

The Archway

Inside the Lava tubes

Undara Lava Tubes

 The amazing size of these things is hard to show via photo's. After a cold night, breaking out the tracky pants and hoody for the first time since Alice, I headed off to do the rim walk at Kilkarny Volcano. Unfortunately it is one of those places that only looks impressive from the air. Heading towards Ravenshoe light rain started, and now as I type this it is a cool 15c. Quite a shock to the system after weeks of 35c and warm nights.
The forecast is pretty ordinary until next Wednesday, so I might head out to Chillagoe and Mt Mulligan Station a bit further West until it clears.
Bye for now

 

18 month review Ute and Camper

Hello all
18 month review already, how time flies. I have now been on the road since March 3rd 2014 and one thing that has become apparent is time.
I cannot comprehend how anyone can do a trip around this vast country in 3, 6 or even 12 months, there is just so much to see. Spend a couple of nights here, move to the next spot and spend a night or two, and a week has passed before you know it.
Distance travelled so far..............16.426km
fuel cost so far.............................$2526.36

the journey so far

  The Ute................
All going pretty well there, apart from a fuel breather breaking near Alice Springs, which was promptly replaced under warranty. The Ute has been punished by heat, humidity, corrugations, water crossings and bull dust. I desperately need to find a car wash at the moment as it looks like it is 10 years old and is a nice shade of red.
The one thing I have noticed about the Savannah Way, is that every creek or river crossing is closely followed by a bull dust patch, so that all the dust sticks to the wet vehicle. A good clean inside and out is required.

The only problem I need to address is the under engine bash plate, which was damaged by a hidden rock at Lorella Springs. I will get this repaired or replaced before Cape York.
Economy is good with 9.8 L/100km achieved pulling up the Stuart Highway fully loaded from Port Augusta. Since arriving in the head and humidity, thus using the airconditioner I am getting between 10 and 11 litres/100km
 With the extra fuel capacity, of the fuel bladder I can easily get 1100-1200 kilometres between fill ups. This is a handy feature, as I can pick and choose where I fill up. Diesel was $3.00 / litre at Lorella Springs...............

The Camper...............
I joke with Kevin at PalominoRV Australia that my Camper is the only 6 year old, 18 month old camper around. By that I am saying in 18 months I have probably given it 6 years of punishment and use that anyone else would achieve, especially now living in it full time.

Apart from the roof winder mechanism binding up in Alice Springs (covered in that post) the only other problem was after 2500km of bulldust, ruts and corrugations is that the clip that holds the fridge door closed broke.
The camper has always let a small amount of dust in through the rear (negligible) but I have noticed quite a bit more dust inside, but the fine bull dust up here and the regularity is something I haven't experienced before, so I forgive it for that.

The Combination...............

After many kilometres of heat, humidity, deep crossings and rough tracks I only have a couple of issues.
Because of the heat, I am finding the Waeco freezer is giving the camper battery a hiding. Down south I don't normally run the camper fridge while driving but up here I need to. With the 3 way fridge running and the Waeco pedaling hard in the heat I find that even after a 200km day the battery hasn't charged up. All the power is being taken by the fridge and freezer, so running the solar daily or plugging in is needed to keep up.
To be honest I have been surprised how far I can get this combination, at Lorella I took the camper out to Nudie Hot Springs, with numerous short sharp creek crossings and it handled it with ease. Also sandy sections proved effortless, I think lowering the tyre pressures have a lot to do with this, but all in all I am surprised at the off road ability. 
The only stumbling block is the clearance of the Ute (it's a bit low) but believe it of not I think it goes better off road with the camper on the back than without!

So far I have had over 100mm of rain around Alice, 35c and 55% humidity daytime temperature around the Top End a hot dusty trip across the Gulf Country and then 35mm of rain today at Mt Surprise. 
Having so few issues and problems after the country I have travelled speaks volumes for both products.
Bye for now.... 

Karumba to Mt Surprise

Hello All
Since the last post I have travelled across towards the East Coast, still on the Savannah Way.

I have started to refer to the roads up here as "Brazilians" just a narrow strip of tar up the middle with rough edges. Oncoming traffic need to be treated cautiously.

Gulf of Carpenteria

 Nornamton was jumping, with the Rodeo in town, even the Highway patrol had roadblocks set up doing breath tests.

Normanton

Normanton

The Purple Pub Normanton

After driving to Croydon, I was sort of glad the Gulflander Train only runs on Wednesday's. It was 150 km of very boring scenery, a long time to be sitting on a slow rattly train.

The Gulflander

The Gulflander

The Station building and train was immaculate, which was a credit to the people who run this old train.

Normanton Station

Normanton Station

I copped a few light showers of rain last night and under overcast skies headed to Croydon.

Junkyard Gem in Croydon

Junkyard

It rained quite a bit during the afternoon and evening, I was told by locals that this is highly unusual at this time of the year. It even got to a chilly 14c overnight, which made me reach for a jacket for the first time since leaving Alice Springs.

old mine building at Croydon

Mine ruins

The old General Store was a "gem" and should not be missed if in the area. It is the oldest continually run Store in Australia.

Croydon General Store

inside Croydon General Store

inside Croydon General Store

Croydon also has a very well kept and preserved Heritage district, with the Old Court House, Police Station, Quarters and Jail.

old Police Station

old Jail

inside the Cells

old Police Residence

The construction was interesting with the framework on the outside and the weatherboards on the inside forming the inner walls.

old Croydon Courthouse

inside the Courthouse

The whole town was like "The Land that time Forgot"

old Schoolhouse

In the next day or so I plan to do the Undarra Lava Tubes Tour, then have a bit of a look around the Atherton Tablelands and Mt Mulligan Station while waiting to meet my Nephew and his family in Cairns in about 2 weeks, before heading North to Cape York. It is currently raining madly up there, so I hope that clears soon.
Bye for now........