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Yesterday dropped a friend at Mareeba after staying another night at Granite Gorge. Met the boys outside of Cairns and proceeded to Wonga Beach.

The usual.

Via some local knowledge at the lot in Wonga Beach, we dropped in to Port Douglas, caught the ferry to Cape Tribulation and are now camping at Noah’s Beach, in the Daintree Rainforest.

Map of Noah's Beach, near Cape Tribulation.

I continue to marvel at the weather, we all do. Even on days like this, the temperature is still in the high 20′s. Everyone is loving the North Queensland winter, including a large amount of retirees.

Clouds and blue sky above the Great Dividing Range, driving north in the early morning.

If you need a panel beater in Cairns then go see Jim at Jim’s Panel’s – 102 Kenny St. Cash only but he is a top bloke and does a top job, not really listed anywhere I could find.

Phone: 07 4035 4390

The part of the tree I reversed into

Good day trip from Cairns if you are looking for a more active time.

Ocean trampoline, snorkeling, glass bottom boat ride, sea kayak and surf ski all available. There are a few walks, the main one is from the jetty through a camp ground to the now unused lighthouse and then you can walk up to the summit which is about 300m above sea level.

This part of the road was constructed circa 1950, mostly by hand

We went on a very cloudy and windy day but it was still lots of fun, learnt a whole lot of new things about Australian flora and fauna. If you do head to Fitzroy Island and feel like relaxing a bit, bring a camping mat. All the beaches are about 50% coral and 50% sand so it can be a little bit uncomfortable to lie on.

Travelled to Mareeba near Cairns, to holiday with a Japanese friend.

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Stayed two nights at Granite Gorge national park. Nice open camp grounds and with an un-powered site you can basically camp anywhere you like. Hot showers and other amenities, for $12 a night per person.

Rock Wallaby at Granite Gorge

Now staying at Cairns in the Palm Royale Cairns (resort/apartments) for a few nights. Getting to know the surrounding islands and the Cairns city.

No more massive drives…

Travelled from Townsville to Jourama Falls camp this morning. Large grounds to drive in and camp on a large site. We have 3 vans and 2 tents in this convoy and we were easily able to find a private spot. Cold shower and toilets, and lots of bush turkeys. This place is about 5km from the Bruce Hwy and then about 25km south of Ingham. As with most Queensland national parks, it is $5 a head, but we easily got away without paying this!

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The brush turkey’s are running amuck and huntsman spider’s are being devoured by strange wasp looking insects.

This wasp stung the Huntsman twice (that we saw) and dragged it up a tree

The waterfall is a 1hr round trip walking. I did not attempt this.

A few shallow crossings were encountered before the camp ground, 4WD was not necessary

So far the trip has been very relaxing, spending much time getting my van in order. Especially focusing on power, for the car fridge and to charge phone/laptop. Trial and error has been semi-successful so far…

Nanango to Airlie Beach QLD. Massive trip. On Friday 11 June I drove pretty much spot on 1000km and finally arrived in Airlie Beach. It was late at night, about 10:30PM and the boys met me and we headed to the camp spot at Funnel Bay a few minutes outside of Airlie.

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The camp spot is a piece of prime land at Airlie Beach which is for sale for commercial development. Story goes that developers were making a resort and then went bankrupt. Very unique place…

Early morning on the beach

Spent 3 nights here, mostly sorting out the van and where to put things. Always a nice view at this place…

Tonight we are hidden off road somewhere outside of Bowen.

After visiting both parents the trip is now officially in motion. Tonight is the first night, I am sleeping by the road near here…

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I drove about 500kms today and it took a very long time on the windy Summerland Way. I will get onto the Bruce Hwy in about 200kms tomorrow morning, smooth sailing from there…