Day 47: Sat 11 Jun - Ingham to Innisfail

Day 47: Sat 11 Jun - Ingham to Innisfail

Towed 146km

3.7 – 23°. We woke to another very fresh morning, so much so the diesel heater finally got a run. It didn't stop Greg and I from getting up and going for our early morning walk around town, before returning for breakfast. We then we packed and I moved over to the nearby information centre to top up the water tanks before setting off for Innisfail at 8:30am. First stop was 55km up the highway at Cardwell - it was a really good stretch of the Bruce Highway too, and very little traffic. Great driving, although a little windy. We parked in the main street and had a leisurely stroll along the Cardwell foreshore in the warm sun with lovely views across to Hinchinbrook Island 5km offshore. It wasn't long before it was time for coffee and morno's, and a nice little cafe delivered the goods. We then continued up the highway for a short drive of about 2.5km to the Battle of the Coral Memorial, a fitting tribute and remembrance of many who fought and died during the Japanese invasion of 1942. From there we continued a further 43km to Tully. Along the way we started to see a lot of large banana plantations bearing fruit that appeared to be not too far away from harvest. In Tully, as we only had a short distance to drive today, we parked again and strolled around for about 45 minutes. The sugar harvest appeared to be in full swing with carriage loads of cut cane waiting outside the local mill to be processed. Apparently the thick white vapour being released from the chimneys is steam - not smoke. They burn bagasse in large boilers to generate steam and power for the factory processes (Bagasse is the fibrous material left over after sugarcane has been crushed and the juice has been removed). Another 50 km later we arrived at our next destination for 2 nights - the Big 4 Innisfail Mango Tree Tourist Park. It's clean and tidy, and well-maintained, but at almost $43 per night, I think a little expensive.  However, we should expect prices to increase as we head further north into the tablelands and along the Nth QLD coast. We arrived in Innisfail at 1:00pm, setup, had lunch and I had a nana nap (definitely not a nano nap - I'm still feeling the effects of my bout of Covid). While Noeleene opted to stay behind and catch up on washing and house work, Greg, Wendy and I rode about 3km into town via a lovely bike path along the  river for a look around. Innisfail provided a few lovely surprises, but the standout was the beautiful Art Deco buildings. Due to the poor light, and little daylight remaining, we'll return tomorrow for a better look and more photos. I also set out to find BCF to buy a 2 burner gas stove, as we can no longer use our Swift 500 Series Gas Stove in the Caravan due to safety notice resulting from a recent explosion (see attached links). I found something suitable which I'll return with the car to buy tomorrow.

https://www.gorv.com.au/urgent-news-swift-500-series-must-not-be-used/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQlrzaWXZD4

After our reccy, we returned to the caravan for a shower, then we all headed back into town for dinner at the Crown Hotel - It turned out to be a very nice hotel, and the meals were easily the best (hotel meals) we've had this trip. It was another great day.

Morning walk looking back at our park in Ingham 

Morning Walk in Ingham - lovely colours on the sky

Cardwell - Remains from some of the Jetties after Cyclone Yasi

Looking across Hinchinbrook Island

Firesticks on the foreshore

Main street Cardwell

Cardwell

Jetty Cardwell



Jetty Cardwell

Cyclone Yasi Memorial Walk

Cardwell Post Office

Coral Sea memorial

Tully Sugar Cane processing in full swing

Tully Sugar Cane processing in full swing

Tully

Tully

Tully

Tully

7.9m high gumboot representing the record amount of rainfall for Tully in 1950

Big 4 in Innisfail

Monument depicting the Italian Cane workers in Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail

Art Deco - Innisfail





Comments

  1. Steven BJune 12, 2022 at 7:09 PM

    Gee mate, that's no good about the stove. What about all those lovely scones and & cakes Noelene was making 😋 on the way. Enjoying reading your stories. Happy travels, keep safe 🌄

    ReplyDelete
  2. KIMBONOJune 12, 2022 at 9:27 PM

    Thanks Steve 👍

    ReplyDelete

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