Blog for August 2022

Katherine . Edith Falls . Bitter Springs . Lorelle Springs . Lawn Hill National Park . Normanton . Pinnarendi Station . Cairns . Lower Daintree

Perentie Wandering August 2022

Day 187, Monday the 1st August, 20

Today we visited Katherine Hot Springs, the water was warm, and it was lovely to just sit and wallow, having said this we probably picked the wrong day to visit as it was a public holiday and the springs were full of people.

We had a second night at The Rapids Camp ground by the river.

into a bigger pool and then continued down a stream into other pools. Lots of people having fun and enjoying the springs, even though it was 34 degrees out of the springs, would have been about 28 degrees in the springs.

Day 188, Tuesday the 2nd August, 2022

We travelled to Leliyn (Edith) Falls in Nitmiluk National Park, the camp ground is lovely, lots of green grass, which we have not seen for quite a while, and the lower plunge pool is readily accessible from the campground, only 150 metres along a paved path. We had a swim, the water was very cold getting in, but once in, it was very refreshing.

I took these as the sun was setting, the colours in the pool were beautiful

I find these Green Tree Ants fascinating and very pretty, so I took some closeups

Day 189, Wednesday the 3rd of August, 2022

We headed to the upper pool of Leliyn (Edith) Falls, it was a 2.6 km loop, and we could also swim there.

The plunge pool up there was fantastic and much better than the lower pool. It was more scenic and after the hot walk, very refreshing. We sat in the water for over 45 minutes, it was wonderful.

This is the plunge pool we were swimming in. We could swim right up to and under the waterfall

As we walked completed the loop after our swim, we could see the pool that the upper pool ran into

As we circled back, we got this fantastic view of the top waterfall, which is the waterfall we were swimming under, and the larger second waterfall is where the upper pool runs into

The inevitable selfie, however taken by a fellow traveller after I took their photo 🙂

When we got back, we had lunch, then jumped into the lower pool for a refresh, it is so hot here. That was really nice as well.

The camp ground is really lovely, well appointed. You have to be careful with the site you select (all bookings are online) some of them are just a recess off the road, however the grounds have green lawns, there are free gas BBQ’s, a kiosk, toilets and hot showers, even a washing machine.

Day 191, Friday the 5th August, 2022

We visited Nitmiluk, Katherine Gorge, which is in the Nitmiluk National Park, and did a two gorge afternoon river cruise.

Nitmiluk is made up of 13 gorges, which are all river gorges, that is they are filled with water. In the wet season, the gorges are filled to the brim with storm water.

The Jawoyn people are the traditional people of the land, Nitmiluk translated means “cicarda place”, they also believe that the Rainbow Serpent created the river in its likeness during the creation time, and that she lives in a deep part of the river, so this is a very sacred place for them.

The cruise was very scenic and a perfect way to see the gorge. We travelled up the first gorge by boat, then got off, looked at some ancient rock art and got into another boat in the second gorge, when we got to the end of that gorge, we turned around and came back the same way.

We see a crocodile management trap. We saw a couple of fresh water crocs during the cruise, but no salties

This is where we got off the first boat to see the rock art and to get on the boat for the second gorge

menu board of the food available in this area

This part of the gorge is over 27 metres deep. the Jawoyn people believe that the
Rainbow Serpent sleeps here. They will not drink from, hunt or even touch this part of the river in fear of waking the Rainbow Serpent and feeling her wrath.

The part of the river in front is very windy, the Jawoyn people believe that the Rainbow Serpent created this part of the river in her image.

An Australasian Darter suns itself on a rock

Day 192, Saturday the 6th August, 2022

We made our way to Korran or Bitter Springs. We stayed the night at the Bitter Springs caravan park, which was a 10 minute walk to the springs.

The springs are beautiful, the water is a constant 34 degrees all year round, Spring water rises from underground at a rate of 30.5 million litres per day. The springs are not true hot springs, that is, the water is not heated by a hot spot under the ground, the water temperature is the normal temperature which is increased with depth underground.

The current is quite quick in the pools, so we sat on our pool noodles (which we bought in Katherine), as the water was quite deep, and floated down through the crystal clear springs surrounded by flowering water lilies, pandanus and tall palms, then we got out at the end, walked the 50 metres or so back to the top, got in and did it all over again. We spent all afternoon in the springs, it was glorious.

Day 193, Sunday the 7th August, 2022

We left Bitter Springs and visited the nearby Mataranka Springs, which are thermal springs like Bitter Springs. A constant 34 degrees as well, but more commercial as they had lined the walls of the springs with stone and made it more accessible. As a result it was easier for people who had mobility challenges, but not as natural – still really good however.

We had a long morning dip and just floated and enjoyed the warm water.

The water was beautiful and very relaxing

We also had a look at Rainbow Springs, which is where the water into Mataranka originates. We could not swim here, but we watched as the water bubbled up out of the rock.

We had a quick look at Mataranka Homestead. It is a replica of the Elsey Homestead where Jeannie Gunn once lived. Jeannie wrote the book “We of the Never Never”, and this replica homestead featured in the movie.

We then drove on to the old Roper Bar Police Station.

nearby is Roper Bar.

The road we travelled along was tar, but only one lane wide, so when other vehicles came along from the other way, both vehicles would drive with one side on the dirt till we got past each other. Having said this, if a road train was coming the other way, we drove to the side of the dirt track, it was difficult and dangerous for such large vehicle to drive with one side on the dirt, so it is better to just give them right of way.

We also saw lots of “gothic looking” red termite mounds, I mean we saw lots and lots of them.

We spent the night at the Tomato Island Camp Ground in Limen National Park.

We moved to the side to give this road train the right of way on the tar

Day 194, Monday the 8th August, 2022

We headed off the next day, we had booked three nights at Lorella Springs Station.

Along the way we came across a few interesting sights.

Yes very funny, I cracked up a well, but bulldust is a fine, soft and powdery dust that is common across Australia, especially in the outback, desert and far north of Australia where the wet and dry season can cause the roads to either be boggy or very dry. It can be dangerous as it can sit on deep crevasses in the road, which cannot be seen by drivers, and if a car goes over one of these deep crevasses at high speed, can cause a lot of damage.

A small flock of Australasian Bustards ran across the road, I was able to take a photo of this one

As we drove over the weir, we noticed a little croc camouflaged on the rocks of the river, you may have to look hard to see it, right on the rocks. These crocs usually come in pairs, but we could not see its partner, hopefully it is nearby.

We stopped for lunch at a little billabong called Lomareium Lagoon.

We got to Lorella Springs by late afternoon. It is a beautiful 1,000,000 acre working station, which also caters for campers. There are many places to visit as well as a great camp ground. You can also camp anywhere on the grounds, so you can go for trips and just stay wherever you want. We came a little late in the season, this place would be great around late April, early May, when most of the water would be flowing, but still lovely to see now.

There were many places to visit, catering for keen fisherman to 4wd enthusiasts and adventurists. The owner told us that anything we would find in the NT, we would find on Lorella Springs

We spent the first night at the main camp ground. There was a bar with a happy hour at 5, which we joined. They had a resident fresh water croc that was fed at 5 each 3 days, and a thermal spring which we visited after happy hour, about 34 degrees and very relaxing after a long drive.

Mystical Springs, the thermal pool near the camp ground

A family of black red tailed cockatoos came to roost in the tree next to the truck

Loved photographing them, as you can see

Day 195, Tuesday the 9th August, 2022

We headed off in the morning to explore the area in Lorella Springs where there was water and waterfalls.

We drove to Crystal Falls first, we knew that the river was dry, but apparently there were some great rock formations and lots of crystals to be found, so we had a quick look.

The falls and river were dry, but we did find quite a few crystal formations in the rock

we also found some of these very cute Ring Tailed Dragons

We also visited Helicopter Pool, which was very low and did not look great to swim in.

Then we found “Nanny’s Retreat”, wow, what a fantastic place, you had to walk about 1.2km to get to the pool, but it was just paradise, one of our very favourite swimming holes, with its beautiful rock formations surrounding it, crystal clear water and ferns surrounding it. The water was cool, and very refreshing after the hot walk. We stayed there the rest of the afternoon, just relaxing and enjoying the beauty.

The walk in was also lovely, with lots of rock formations, plants, birds and flowers.

It was so pretty we decided to stay the night

These birds have a huge range of calls, they can sound like anything from a parrot to a Cat. I kept hearing what I thought was a cat meowing, and lots of different birds, but found that it was just one bird.

The water was crystal clear, there was a rock ledge knee deep in the water, then it dropped off into deep water where you could swim

Day 196, Wednesday the 10th August, 2022

We left the beautiful Nanny’s Retreat and made our way to Nudies Hot Springs. Along the way we drove over the Cascades and had a look at the Cascades swimming hole. Unfortunately the Cascades swimming hole was quite dry, but it still had lots of fish in it, including a fairly large Long Tom.

A pool a little way down the river that still had water in it.

Nudies Hot Springs was another great place, we decided to spend the night as the camp site was right next to the pool, the area was surrounded by lush greenery, lots of birds, the water was again crystal clear and around 38 to 40 degrees. Nudies is a real hot springs, heated within the earth then pumped out through a break in the rock. Where it came out of the ground, which was about 50 metres upstream from the swimming area, the water was about 50 degrees in temperature. We must of spent about an hour and a half in the pool, then we got up the next morning and had another dip before we headed off. Whilst we were in the pool, there were dozens of little fish that would come and pick at our skin, you could barely feel it, but it was a strange sensation.

Where the spring came out of the earth, about 50 metres up from the spring, the water was about 50 degrees here, far too hot to swim.

This little Rainbow Bee Eater kept splashing in the pool

We were not sure if he was after bugs on the water or just having a quick wash

Diving beetle, they almost looked like tiny turtles

Day 197, Thursday the 11th August, 2022

We left Lorelle Springs Station, vowing to come back another time in late April or May when there would be more water in the station and more to see. As we drove out we were reminded that it was a working station.

We drove for most of the day and spent the night at a free camp called Ryan’s Bend Camp Ground, which was right on a little billabong.

Day 198, Friday the 12th August, 2022

Another Driving day which ended at a little free camp ground called Calvert River Crossing Camp Ground. It was a lovely spot which was occupied by a rather large bull when we arrived, he moved on when we got out of the truck.

It was right on a little spring fed creek, which was still running, even though Calvert River was quite low, there was lots of bird life.

Day 199, Saturday the 13th August, 2022

Today we left the Northern Territory and drove into Queensland.

We stopped at Hells Gate Roadhouse for a milkshake each. Hells Gate got its name from the early days of gulf settlement from the only gap in the escarpment about 1 kilometre from the roadhouse when settlers would be escorted by police to “The Portals of Hell Gate” then they would be on their own till they reached police protection in Katherine. The Aboriginal people tell of their ancestors who would rain stone tipped spears on the settlers as they went through the gap.

The roadhouse was great, really nicely set up with a great assortment of home made food and pastries and a nice place to sit and enjoy the food. They also had a caravan park and some cabin accommodation called the “Hellton” 🙂

We stopped for lunch along the way at a little waterhole covered in water lilies

We spent the night at Adelle Grove Station, a lovely little caravan park run by the local Aboriginal people. It was also a training ground for the tour guides and rangers. It was extremely well run with a bar and restaurant as well as a huge billabong that you could swim in. It was a bit late for us to swim when we got there.

Day 200, Sunday the 14th August, 2022

We booked a river cruise on the Lawn Hill Gorge which is in Boodjamulla National Park. The water on the gorge was emerald green, this was due to the high lime content of the water. The high lime content also accounted for the huge number of fossils found in the area.

The Waanyi people are the custodians of the land and they believe that Boodjamulla, the rainbow serpent created the gorge and still lives at the bottom of the deepest part of the gorge, which is 27 metres deep, and the area must be treated with respect so as not to incur the wrath of the rainbow serpent.

The cruise was very relaxing and we got to swim at Indarri falls for a while before returning. Along the way we saw some beautiful red gorge walls, one of the resident fresh water crocodiles resting on a log and one of the rare turtles as well. We were warned against swimming under the falls as there was a cranky crocodile there that did not like visitors since one of the previous intoxicated tourists had jumped on his back before he bit them.

Lots of fish followed our boat, mainly archer fish

The Gulf Snapping Turtle, which is quite rare and currently classified as vulnerable

Day 201, Monday the 15th August, 2022

We drove to Normanton and stopped at a local caravan park for the night. Normanton is must a little town. We stopped along the way to buy Coffee, hot chocolate and the best apple and cinnamon muffins we have had for a long time, for morning tea.

The little coffee shop just out of Lawn Hill where we stopped for morning tea

There were literally thousands of termite mounds along the way.

Day 202, Tuesday the 16th August to day 203, Wednesday the 17th August, 2022

We drove through a number of little towns to Pinnarendi Station, where we stayed for 2 nights. We were originally going to stay just one night, but the station was fantastic, so we decided to have our rest day here, also, they have a great café that was run by the station owners who had a passion for food. They cooked and baked all their own food from local produce. They also made great sourdough bread, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays, they had pizza night made on a sourdough base, so we decided to try the pizza, and to try the pizza we had to stay a second night.

Pinnarendi Station also had a walk trail that took you to 3 of their dams.

We had breakfast at the café Wednesday morning, we chose the eggs benedict, Nadine made her own hollandaise sauce and the breakfast was delicious. We did not bother with lunch that day as the breakfast was quite filling, although we did have afternoon tea. Bob had coffee and I had a hot chocolate made with Lindte 70% cocoa dark chocolate and we both had a raspberry slice, again it was delicious. The pizza that night was also delicious, Nadine and her husband Ronnie just made different types of pizza, then they would serve it up by the slice and you just kept eating till you were full.

We really enjoyed our stay here, although not sure our waistlines could take too many days here.

Along the way we came across and Emu standing in the middle of the road, we were wondering what he was doing till..

we saw that he was ushering his 3 chicks across the road, he would stand in the middle of the road, and his chicks would cross, then he would follow keeping them safe – what a great parent, what a great dad.

The roads often change colour, still not sure why – could be just the type of road base that is available at the time of construction????

Also, the roads would quite often change from 2 lanes to one lane, then back again.

We drove past a cute little town called Croyden

These are the type of spear and boomerang preferred by the Tagalaka people who are the local people of the land. The tradition of the Tagalaka people tells of a serpent living beneath the Gregory ranges. After dark it emerges from the springs causing the water to rise, at daybreak it goes back causing the water to subside. The Tagalaka people were able to survive in this seemingly dry place because they knew that the water would be available at night.

The toilet and shower facility, for the Stallions and the Mares, the laundry was in the middle

Where we would sit, with the woodfired oven and smoker to the side

Day 204, Thursday the 18th August, 2022

We left Pinnarendi and travelled towards the Bonardio RV and Nature Park, which was our next stay for the night.

Along the way we travelled through Ravenshoe which boasts having Queensland’s highest hotel, and further along is Queenslands highest road.

We stopped in Herberton, had a look around and visited “The Spy Camera Shop Museum”. This was a very quirky and interesting shop run by a very quirky and very interesting man. $40 gave us a guided tour around the shop, Michael, the owner is a commercial photographer himself. The museum is housed within the oldest original building in town. This is the biggest collection of cameras in Australia, from spy cameras used in the 2 world wars and during the cold war with Russia to the first cameras ever made and the cameras used today. Michael knew so much about the cameras, he also told little stories that made the whole experience not only informative but also very entertaining.

Ravenshoe Hotel, the highest hotel in Queensland

No “Be aware of cattle on the road” signs here, they are a little more graphic.

We decided to do a little sightseeing along the way and stopped in Millstream to look at the Army Pool. This area was used during WWII to train our troops to combat in tropical conditions, it was also used as a rehabilitation area for returned servicemen and women.

The Army Pool is a series if water falls and pools, it is absolutely beautiful and if the weather had not been on the cool side, a great place for a swim.

A little further up the track was Millstream Falls, which is the widest single drop waterfall in Australia, and very pretty, again, if the weather had been a little warmer, we would have taken the opportunity for a swim.

Our final destination was the Bonario RV and Nature Reserve where we would spend the night. The reserve backed onto the Daintree Rainforest and the Baron River ran right past it. We went for a walk along the river and saw wild Platypus swimming in the river, it was amazing and also the first time either Bob or I had seen Platypus in the wild. There were also lots of other wildlife and plant life there, such as little Pademelons and Bush Turkeys. We were told that there were Tree Kangaroos in the area as well, but we were not fortunate enough to see one – maybe next time.

Red Legged Pademelon – the smallest of the Kangaroo Family.

Brazilian Nightshade, introduced from the West Indies

Day 205, Friday the 19th August, 2022

We left Bonario and headed for our next stop which was at the Lake Placid Rainforest Retreat, where we would stay for 8 nights whilst we did all the maintenance.

First stop along the way was at the Gallo Diaryland Cheese and Chocolate factory. Yes we bought lots of cheese and chocolate.

Gallo Dairyland Cheese and Chocolate Factory

Then we stopped at a little town called Yungaburra. We stopped purely because the town was so pretty, lots of hanging pots in all the main streets, the shops were all well presented and surrounding parkland had beautiful trees filled with orchids and bromeliads. We had a walk around the town, bought some coffee and hot chocolate and a few other things.

We arrived at the Lake Placid Rainforest Retreat, we are lucky enough to be right at the back, which backs onto the rainforest. Lots of birds, including bush turkeys and curlews

We caught up for dinner with Bob’s sister Cate, her husband Phil and their two boys, Tom and Edward. They were holidaying in Cairns at the time. It was great to see them. We will get to see them again when we are in Tasmania early 2023

Day 207, Sunday 21st August, 2022

We spent the day in Cairns just doing the touristy thing, we went to the day markets and got some great fruit and veg. There was a place there called Mar Der Thai Street Food, it had a huge cue, their main offering was a Thai Green Paw Paw Salad. We ordered the salad and then knew why the cue was so long, it was amazing, how they got so much flavour in was beyond me. We wandered around the foreshore then had dinner at a place called Limoncello, again the food was amazing, we both chose the Moreton Bay Bugs in a cream sauce, and we had different flavoured Panna Cottas for dessert. Wow, great restaurant, would come again any time.

The tide was low during the day, so the mudflats were on display n the foreshore

however the lagoon was full of kids having fun

I had my fresh coconut, which was delicious

This was our Thai green paw paw salad – super yummy and very spicy

by the evening the tide had come back in and the foreshore looked like a foreshore

at night the streets were all lit up with fairy lights

At Limoncello, Bob had a glass of white wine, and I had a fruit and bitters drink, a play on the lemon lime and bitters drink, not alcoholic, but I had to try it, very nice.

Our Balmain bugs meal, sorry I had eaten half of it before I remembered to take a picture

Dessert, both had Panna Cotta, mine was a limoncello flavour, Bob had the Raspberry

Day 209, Tuesday the 23rd August, 2022

We booked a snorkelling tour on the outer reef of the Great Barrier Reef with Ocean Freedom. It was amazing, we spent 6 hours on the reef and got to see 2 different reefs. Loved it.

Bob has an underwater camera, so he took lots of underwater pictures which look amazing.

The boat we travelled on “Ocean Freedom”

While we were on the boat, we happened to sit next to Mahlia Simpson and Anthony Abicair, who are the creators of a show called Eat, Play & Stay which runs on Foxtel. Anthony does the photography and filming as well as production, Mahlia is a presenter, editor and producer as well. They were on board doing filming for one of their shows. No we did not feature in the film – yes at our request – but they were very interesting to talk to, I am sure that this conversation assisted in abating my sea sickness. I did not take any photo’s of them as by the time the snorkelling was done, none of us were fit for photography.

Fish feeding at the end of the snorkelling, these fish were huge, some of them were over a metre long.

Day 210, Tuesday the 24th August to day 216, Sunday 28th August, 2022

We had a look around Cairns, had another delicious green mango salad from Mar Der Thai Street Food from the Cairns markets, we bought a whole heap of fresh fruit and vegetables for our trip.

The Thai green paw paw salad from this place, in the markets is amazing, they make it fresh as you watch.

It rained most days we were in Cairns, and each morning we could see the clouds low over the tall Daintree mountains

This is our spot at the Lake Placid Rainforest Retreat caravan park

We were surrounded by rainforest at the caravan park

Day 217, Monday the 27th August, 2022

We started on our journey to Cooktown, we ended up at a farm stay called “Cool, clean and Green @ Julatten”. We stopped along at lookouts. The road was along the beach, very cloudy day, so the beach looked very grey as well.

Mist covered mountains with sugarcane in the foreground

Cool, clean and green at Julatten farm stay, by the dam

camping is in the middle of their paddock, in with the cows and horses

Day 218, Tuesday the 30th August, 2022

We continued our journey, stopping for a look in the town of Mossman. A pretty little town with good infrastructure.

In Mossman we visited a tropical fruit winery. We weren’t sure what to expect, but most of the wine was quite nice – Bob liked most of it as well – they did table wine and fortified wine. We ended up buying 2 of their table wines and a couple of their fortified wines as well.

Pretty little Anglican Church in Mossman

Beautiful stained glass window in the church

Look at all the different plants growing on the branches

sugarcane along the road with wet tropics rainforest mountains in the background

On the way to the winery we crossed this little river

They make a range of table wines as well as some fortified wines, all out of tropical fruit. there are 2 Mango Wines, Lime Wine, Ginger Wine, Passionfruit wine, Jaboticaba Wine, Lychee Wine. Also fortified wines are Kaffir Lime, Lychee, Black Sapote and Chocolate

Some of the tropical fruit they were growing.

Day 219, Wednesday the 31st August, 2022

We did the Mossman Gorge walk today. Mossman Gorge has the Mossman River and is a tropical wet rainforest. It was very pretty, there was a safe place to swim, however it was too cold for us to swim.