We had a great time seeing all of our Melbourne family then flew back to Cairns where we did some sightseeing, like normal tourists. Visits to Kuranda, the Cairns Aquarium and the Great Barrier Reef were good fun.

We left Cairns yesterday for the drive through the beautiful Atherton Tablelands and over the Herberton Range to Pinnarendi Station Stay and Cafe. We stayed here on the way north a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return. Previously we were wearing jumpers to get warm but today we are in shirts and tee-shirts in 34 deg. A highlight at Pinnarendi is the food; pizza nights, home-cooked sourdough bread, cooked breakfast, etc.

Tomorrow we will continue moving steadily south, 2700 km over the next 3 weeks Although it will be 39 deg here for the next few days, we are not in a hurry to get back to the cool weather

As usual, we are thinking of friends and family. Hope everyone keeps healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo.

It’s very important that caravan trips have a carefully planned itinerary. It’s also important to remember that plans need to be flexible. When we left Rollinstone we thought, as we were heading west, we might as well go slowly back to Adelaide. That wasn’t part of the original plan.

About 20 km before reaching Charters Towers we stopped for 2 nights at Bivouac Holiday Camp, an inexpensive camp in a bush setting beside the Burdekin River. We had a spacious, shady site and enjoyed a peaceful time there. We drove to Charters Towers to look around this nice town, with its many historical buildings.

The amended plan was to go to Barcaldine – but rain caused a road blockage so we changed plans again and went to Hughenden for one night, intending to go to Barcaldine the next day. We had 25 ml of rain during the day so next morning the 2 roads that we could have taken were closed. The two local shire councils couldn’t tell us how long the roads would be closed for so we changes plans again and went back to Charters Towers meaning that we had driven 500 km for nothing. The scenery was nice so it didn’t matter.

Next stop was Greenvale, a small town that services the rural region around it. The caravan park was terrible and one of the most expensive we have stayed in. We could have free camped behind the local hotel but we didn’t do our research properly. We did have a good pizza at the pub so the night wasn’t wasted.

A couple of hours drive further north brought us to Pinnarendi Station and Cafe, so good that our 1-night stopover turned into 3 nights. We had a large non-powered site with about 70 other people, in a bush setting just a few minutes walk from the cafe operated by the station owners, where they sell coffee, cakes, scones, toasties. They also bake fabulous sour dough bread and do great breakfasts and pizza nights. This place is amazing.

Just a 140 km north of Pinnarendi is the town of Herberton, in a mountain range of the same name. Herberton is famous for its Historical Town where some people would spend days looking around. We looked around for a few hours and stayed a couple of nights before another short drive to Cairns. Travelling through the Atherton Tablelands then down the steep mountain road to Cairns was interesting.

We are now at Cool Waters Holiday Park, one of our favourite parks on the northern outskirts of Cairns. We are camped in a very quiet and private site beside the creek that runs along the rear of the park. Many camp sites here are quite small but we stayed at this site 4 years ago so we knew it was large enough to fit our van. It’s very pleasant.

This is as far north as we intend going on this trip. We chose Cairns so that we can fly to Melbourne tonight for a family anniversary celebration tomorrow. On Monday we will return to Cairns and relax here for a few more days, then on Saturday 17th Sep we will begin the drive home. It will take a couple of weeks without rushing, due home in the first week October.

Hope you all keep healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo in Cairns.