Lake Tinaroo to Cairns

This morning it was farewell to the remaining Kimberley Karavan owners who had stayed for Sunday night at Lake Tinaroo, Bill and Bev, Peter and Judy, and Mike and Debra. Trev and Di had moved into Tinaroo along with Ian and Kay who had not camped at the Lake. Mike and Joan and John and Jo had returned the previous night to Cairns

The morning arrived and it was not even showering, initially. By the time most of us were packed up it was back to normal, showering. Thankfully it was not cold as it could have been down south in NSW or Victoria.

I was the first to depart from Lake Tinaroo. There was a sense of sadness saying farewell to the remaining KK owners. We are all such a friendly bunch and it is because we have a common interest in our Karavans.

I made it up to the Tinaroo Caravan Park where I knew there may have been a good cappuccino available. It was very nice and not at all expensive compared to some places I have been. As it was only about 0900, I knew it was too early for the overworked Trev and Di, so I left them alone. Ian and Kay had already gone to Atherton for some maintenance!

I proceeded to the Kennedy Highway and passed through the small town of Tolga. It was part of the region that was home to between 100,000 and 300,000 troops, between 1943 to 1945 and host to the 140 different units including the one my Father was in. In a few weeks I will check all this area out more thoroughly.

I reached the outskirts of Mareeba and turned to the right for Cairns. What a drive down the mountain to Cairns! However, it was nothing like some other descents that the Bravo and Karavan have made. It will be a good climb back up in a few weeks. 

Shortly after reaching the bottom of the mountain, I was pleased to see the GPS directing me towards the Lake Placid Tourist Park. Within a few minutes of leaving the Kennedy Highway I was entering the Park. We are stacked in and I am among predominately Victorian visitors.

As usual, it does not take long to set up and for a change I have hooked the water directly into the Karavan rather than using the tanks. It all works well when you turn the correct valves on and off!

After lunch, which was only a minestrone soup, I decided to do the sheets and clothes that had built up. I will do more before I leave. After the washing was done, it was into the dryer. Luckily, I found a hot dryer that really did dry everything. Once finished it was all put away.

It was now time to go into Cairns CBD and have a look about. There are numerous high rise hotels like Sebel and Rydges and many others. I inevitably found a reasonable coffee shop and sat and watched the world go by. There are a lot of Japanese, Chinese and Korean travellers here and many shops to cater for them. Cairns is like any bit tourist destination with a big International Airport and all these accommodation facilities of varying standard. It is very obvious that there are large numbers of back packers here. Sorry, Kel I haven’t taken any photos for you yet. Stay calm!

On return to the Caravan Park it was almost time for the Asian Dinner put on by the Park. It was a wonderful Thai red curry all for $10.00! Really nice and beats anything I would have concocted. 

I sat opposite a couple from Newcastle who are a fly in couple, by that I mean they flew from Newcastle to here and met up with her sister and brother in law and they are travelling around the area for a while. They are foster parents to children from an unfortunate background in one way or another. They were very dedicated to what they do and I admire them for that. They were having a break from foster caring. Another couple from Lakes Entrance joined us and he was a retired RAAF engineer. 

So another day has basically finished and I feel happy about getting washing done and dry. I have now been away from home for 3 weeks! Seems like yesterday that I left but when I think about it, I have covered a lot and seen plenty.