We have been off the radar for a few days as we have had no wifi/phone service so I will try & catch up with those who left phone messages & emails in the next few days as we will probably go off the air quite a bit between here and Darwin in the next few weeks. We ended up not staying in Mareeba as they rang to say the fridge door had arrived so ended up going to Mt. Carbine to get the van a bit closer to Cooktown & Ian drove back into Cairns on Thursday to pick the door up. They mine Tungstan ( a very hard metal) in Mt. Carbine and there is a pub and a very small roadhouse and that is it!!! – no phone, TV etc. very outback about 2 hours north of Cairns. We went 4 wheel driving up the mountains near Mt. Lewis National Park and spent a fair bit of time in the Pub getting to know the locals. Met a great couple from Perth in the Caravan Park so had plenty of company and I used the time to give the van a good clean and re arranged cupboards etc. We got to Cooktown about lunch time yesterday and have got service here. The Big 4 Park we are in is beautiful and Kris and Peter Campbell ( used to own the framing / craft shop in High St., Echuca) are working here so good to catch up. They travel and do work in Caravan Parks as they go around – a great life style! It was really hot and sunny so Ian and I decided to walk into town and see what had changed since we were last here almost 5 years ago – a few modern eateries but that is about all and a great new boat ramp and some magnificent houses built on the hill overlooking the Endeavour River. “Chop Suey Louey’s” is now an accommodation building with a restaurant downstairs but didn’t look to be very busy like the rest of the town!! Everyone was setting up for the Discovery Festival and there were cars and caravans rolling into town. We had a drink at the RSL ( still in a time warp for those who have been here) and when we came out the Trade winds started and then the rain so we were saturated by the time we got back. We headed back into town about 5.00 to catch the opening ceremony ( with an umbrella in hand!) and watched it from the balcony of the Sovereign Hotel. It was opened by Warren Entsch – the opposition MP Whip who caused a bit of controversy a couple of weeks ago!!! It bucketed down so was a very soggy opening and we felt so sorry for the organisers and all the amusement and stall holders – it apparently never rains in June !!! Hope the rest of the weekend stays fine for them as they have put so much into it and the town is buzzing with people – the program is 22 pages of activities!!!! We walked back down to The Top Pub for a yummy dinner – the band was setting up for a 10.00 start but we were pooped so came back to watch the last of the footy - a nail biting affair but we got there!!! Go Bombers. There are still showers this morning but is very warm – we will probably spend most of the day in town enjoying the festivities – we are getting plenty of exercise here walking in and out to town!!! The photos of last night are not real flash but everyone had crowded into the Sovereign out of the rain so was a bit difficult – will get the photographer (Ian!!!) to lift his game today!!! Have a good long weekend, Love Jan & Ian xxxx
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:03:55 +0000
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