LEODESTRAVELOZZ

20120628 Cook discovered Cairns and the journey of his ship the HM Bark Endeavour was not easy as the Great Barrier Reef is difficult to navigate.   At 30ft long, the ship was quite small, and it sustained serious damage when it ran aground on the coral reef.   Despite Cook’s discovery of the Cairns area and the naming of the bay Trinity Bay, it was another 100 years before Europeans returned to the region and settled.   Gold was discovered at Palmer River, east of Cooktown in 1872, thousands of miners arrived beginning a rush that would see Cairns eventually established in 1876.   The name Cairns was chosen to honor Queensland’s first Irish-born Governor, Sir William Wellington Cairns. Arrived at Kenny (my son’s) and Gaynor’s home at Trinity Park, had a quite night with a few drinks. Des with Ruby, Kenny's bird. 20120629   Korey was in Brisbane, so I took Liam my grandson and one of his mates to the movies to see Ice age 4, bad mistake, school ...

20120626 Arriving at Babinda to another shitty day we camped up at Bilyana Rest Area a walking distance to the Boulders.   Babinda a quaint town set amongst two of Queensland’s highest Mountains, Mount Bartle Frere and Mount Bellenden Ker. Babinda is said to take its name from the local Indigenous Australian language for mountain, other source, however, claim it is a word for water, referring to the high rainfall of the area.  The rain eased in the afternoon, so I walked to the creek and meet a local summing, that looks refreshing I said, yes, I swim here every afternoon, and what a great spot it was. I felt the water and it was quit warm, I was tempted to go for my togs and have a swim myself, but I was hopeful the sun will shine tomorrow.  The local told me of another track to check out so I tucked my camera under my shirt (from the rain) and explored the track. 26-06-2012  Yep we woke to another wet day with no swimming, stuff it le...

25-06-2012  We stopped at a roadhouse Scotty told Des about to speak to an old work mate of his but he wasn't their so we drove onto Ingham for supplies.  I didn't find Ingham interesting I took photos of there mural's and left looking for the Seymour Hotel. When I was about 11 yrs travelling up north with my Aunty and Uncle, I remembered a Hotel we stayed at which belonged to my my Aunty's Father, Rex Johnson but I couldn't remember where it was.  After phoning my Uncle it was just out of Ingham and it's called the Seymore Hotel, I remembered it was surrounded by cane in the middle of nowhere so I Googled Seymour Hotel and found it was on Halifax Rd in Bemerside.  The nav didn't recognise Bemerside, we asked someone for direction, do you know the Seymour Hotel?   No I don’t know that one, then I mentioned Bemerside, Arr not many people go there, she gave us instruction and we eventually found it. Built in 1903, the original ...

20120623 Checked out Balgal Beach but the camp site was full, bummer I could have settled in here for a few days and just take in the sun, do a bit of fishing, but the nice spots are always taken, and if you camp outside the campground the police move you on and after what happened in Bowen, we didn’t won’t to chance another fine.    Des was keen to go crabbing but you need a boat, and the crocks played a big part of his decision. Many fish along the banks but didn't seem to be catching much. Ran into a couple we meet at the Rabbit Trap Hotel and came yabbying with us Richard and Jennie, what a great surprise.  Jennie told me of some great camping spots while Des and Richard caught up but we had to leave for Rollingstone before we missed out on a camp spot. Rollingstone: Settled in 1883 by John Lambert, the district was originally a pastoral lease known as Armidale.   The major tributary running through the centre of Armidale was known a...

20120620 Marnie and Michael were kind enough to put us up for a few days in their driveway and standing on their front veranda we could watch the F1/11 fly over information, it was quite a site. In 1819 Alan Cunningham, a botanist and explorer, and Phillip Parker King were the first European to record landing in Cleveland Bay and collected botanical specimens to take back to England.   James Morrill was one of 14 crew members shipwrecked on the Great Barrier Reef on board the Barque, the Peruvian.   Cast ashore at Cleveland Bay 42 days after the wreck, he was the first European to inhabit the area, living with the Bindal people (a local aboriginal tribe) for 17 years. The Australian Defense Force is one of the biggest military expansions in the region since World War 11. On the Strand: This huge spider overlooks the Strand opposite the Reef HQ Aquarium the world’s largest living Coral Reef Aquarium. Walked the streets looking for a takeaway and couldn't find one so...