Cairns & North-A Road Trip

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Newell Beach
Across from caravan park


Northern end of Marine Parade Newell Beach






The boat ramp was a wonderful, spacious layout- far superior to what we have around Port Macquarie

 

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Newell Beach to Mount Malloy

A very short transfer up away from the coast. A bit of a climb but the road is good, not much traffic & quite a few spots to pull off to have a look around. The Julaten Pub was closed for the day but got to see the Barramundi Farm working. The 38km of road from Mossman sees a very rapid change in vegetation & initially much cooler. Extreme variations in figures show Julaten receives approx 50% more rainfall than Mt Molloy despite only 10km between them (1542mm compared to 1082mm) and Mossman approx 1800mm. The Abattoir Swamp was another stop- unfortunately it seems the olive hymenachne is winning out, the area is dry and no birds to be seen from the birdhide.
Not a lot around Mt Molloy other than the pub, store, servo & hall Mount Molloy, QLD - Aussie Towns.
We did the short walk to take in the sights. The village is incredibly clean & tidy with community pride evident. It was certainly great to see the war memorial and particularly the replica cross for the Long Tan Battle.






Seemed a little out of place at Julaten


Barra farm-great outlook to work from









Not prime swamp season

 

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Bit of background to Cairns & Port Douglas- plaque at Mt Molloy



Few old brand names here










Town Hall

 

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National Hotel Mount Molloy
They claim to be the oldest pub in North Queensland and we booked 1 night in one of the 10 rooms of the old pub. We were allocated the honeymoon suite with a very comfortable king size bed. The rooms are up a flight of narrow carpeted stairs with a big shared balcony & shared facilities. Things upstairs are relatively tidy but old & ok for 1 night. The lunchtime fish & chips were a hit & the nightime wood fired supreme pizza was a heavily laden, medium crust with plenty of fresh toppings. The bar is well stocked & has it’s own Molloy brew (not bad but a bit of a sweet aftertaste to me). Think I would just make it a lunch stop next time!



Only saw one other person use the verandah






Water was hot & plenty of pressure


Not really inviting




Snooker table had been repurposed

 

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Early preparation for the pizzas

 

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Mount Molloy to Cooktown.
220 odd kilometres of excellent surface to drive on through some enthralling landscape. Traffic was pretty quiet with b-doubles being the largest we saw. Not a lot of overtaking lanes but not really needed with some long straights. Originally there are flat, eucalypt woodlands,with the Great Dividing Range to the east and plenty of beehives and termite nests.. Mt Carbine has it’s wolfram/tungsten mine that is apparently geared up to ramp up production due to demand from the solar & EV industries. Bob’s Lookout at the Desailly Range provides great panoramic views and then our next stop was James Earl lookout that looked towards the north. We stopped at Lakeland and wandered around the impressive information display. Traffic certainly seemed to drop off from here. The banana plantation at Lakeland was huge & bio security is obviously a priority.
We ventured off the highway to view the Lions Den Hotel- not particulaly inviting when we were there but it gets good reviews. Nearing Cooktown there is another pulloff for Black Mountain. Plenty of info provided and the viewing is amazing.

There had been recent fires- not sure if it was planned burns


Plenty of hives had been moved


The first termite nests were small


A true reflection of the amount of traffic


Approach to Mt Carbine


Bob's Lookout






James Earl Lookout

 

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Another one from James Earl lookout


Thought the Lakeland tourist stop was excellent








Distorted colour to capture the text



Schoolkids were having a regional sports day




Bananas in paddocks of hundreds of hectares


A few single lane bridges

 

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Heading back to the highway from the Lions Den hotel




Some corrections scribbled by an expert

 

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Milkwood Lodge Cooktown Cottage – Milkwood Lodge
An excellent experience. Located on the edge of town & a split level bungalow with excellent facilities and no short-cuts evident. Bungalow number 1 is super private, parking at the door and excellent gardens views with the various wildlife wandering around day & night (it is evidently very difficult to sneak around quietly on the abundant leaf matter). The pool was an excellent refreshing temp, the communal bbq facility was well supplied, the king sized bed was super comfy, wifi was excellent and the owners lived onsite & were extremely helpful- drove us to & from the races & did our washing for us!
The RSL courtesy bus picked us up & dropped us back & there was no noise evident from the other guests. The fridge & other facilities worked & were spotless & the rain shower was excellent.

 

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More of Milkwood Lodge Cooktown
Good allocated parking and access



Great spot for a quiet drink and wildlife viewing




Some of our sightings

 

[NSun]

Great report. I haven't been to Pt Douglas for 17 years either and haven't seen much of FNQ outside Cairns despite having been to Cairns several times since then. Next time I'll have to go further afield as you have.

 

[jastel]

Glad you are enjoying my backyard...

A correction but - nobody died in the WW2 Bomb, the shrapnel grazed her head and stories I've heard say she fell out of bed and broke her arm...but didnt die. The sign states that SHE opened the monument. But you are right in saying not many people realise anyone got bombed up here.

Also they cant stop you walking or riding a bike up to the Gorge, you just cant drive up anymore. Or stop you swimming...though it can be dangerous but since its been dry I dont know why you couldnt swim.

That Thorntons Restaurant used to be my families favourite campsite in the good old days when the road was a 4wd dirt track, and there was only hippies and flower power people up there. The ferry took 2 cars and the drive from Cairns was about 5 hours, no bridges or causeways, had to drive through the creeks. If they were flooded you waited. Got stuck up there for 6 weeks one Xmas when flooding caused a landslide, the Army dropped food to us on the beach by chopper.

The old Mason's Store (behind the current one) was the only shop and phone box until the Lions Den...another 3 hours up the Bloomfield Track. Since last year there is a small mobile tower at PK's now...not total coverage but you dont have to wait too long to put your pix on FB.

 

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Around Cooktown
Cooktown, QLD - Aussie Towns
No locked in ideas and nothing booked so it is just general wandering.
The Top Pub- had 2 excellent counter lunches here. Best schnitzel I have had for a long time & an excellent works burger with chips. Cold, fresh beer as well.
Followed our first lunch with a wander around Charlotte St & the old buildings.
Cemetery- fascinating, big old cemetery with so good info boards- segregated by religion and also a Jewish section and a Chinese shrine.
Waterfront walking area- plenty of historic monuments, broad footpaths, a couple of food vans and a pleasant south-easter blowing to keep things cool.

Totally enjoyed the Top Pub














Under cover rinks for bowlers


We were impressed by the bin chickens

 

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Marking the spot where in Oct 1873, the "Leichardt" discharged cargo/officials/miners/horses & supplies for the start of the Palmer River Goldrush & the birth of the port of Cooktown



Water Park

 

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Drove up to Grassy Hill and enjoyed the superb outlook over the 360 degrees.
Did the short drive to Finch Bay- beaut sandy area
Botanic Gardens-some good pathways through what is apparently Qld’s oldest Botanic Gardens. Some good info re the work of Joseph Banks
RSL Club- excellent courtesy bus service to & from the club. Plenty of revellers (local & visitors) with Fri night raffles, excellent food & some DJ music played from a great collection of old records.

From Grassy Hill area









Southish


Memorial stone for Cook


North

 

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Finch Bay






Botanic Gardens






RSL Club-system modified with speakers mounted in back

 

[jastel]

Got some relies in the Cemetery.
Been to the James Cook Museum? Well worth a look.

 

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Got some relies in the Cemetery.
Been to the James Cook Museum? Well worth a look.

Yes went to the museum and thought it was fantastic-certainly a broad ranging collection

 

[RB]

Cooktown Museum- certainly a worthwhile experience. Some great Cook stuff (including the Endeavour anchor), Gold Rush memories, Convent times and general town & aboriginal history.





The anchor


The tree used to moor the Endeavour






A not so comfortable dental chair


These are still superior to what we saw in parts of India this year