Day 28 - Saturday 19th June 2021 – Greenvale
As we gradually move closer to Port Douglas, we departed Charters Towers with fuel, food and grog all replenished.
We headed NNW towards a place called 'The Lynd' on a road that we had not travelled before. However our plans were altered when we found out that it was better to stay at Greenvale - a trip of 206 km for the day.
The drive to Greenvale was probably the most pleasant 200 km of the trip so far. The road was good, the scenery excellent, lots of grass and trees and numerous herds of cattle. If you removed the road trains and the caravans there would have been very little traffic.
The Greenvale caravan park is quiet (i.e. back off the road), flat and pleasant.
Shirley and I went for a walk and soon discovered the nearby "Three Rivers Hotel", which was made famous in song by Slim Dusty and written by his great mate Stan Coster. Slim sang 71 of Stan's compositions.
Stan and Slim worked in the Greenvale nickel mine in its early days, and Stan wrote the song in memory of their time here. They may have also had a role in the railway line from Townsville.
According to the pub barman and Google, there are multiple stories about where the name of the pub came from. The pub has typical outback Oz character, and looks like a great place to have a yarn and a beer.
The following two photos are a memorial to Stan Coster and a image of the west side of the pub.
If you would like to hear Slim Dusty sing his song please click here.
After a relaxing afternoon Shirley cooked a chicken stir fry. It was a chilly evening.
Day 29 - Sunday 20th June 2021 – Greenvale to Pinnarendi
The day started at a fresh 8 degrees with another magnificent red sunrise, albeit one that eluded the camera as it was behind trees and caravans.
We headed off to Pinnarendi Station Stay, a cattle station of around 1450 hectares. They have a cafe and powered and unpowered camp sites. The road there was interesting and had plentiful grass and trees.
We set up camp among the trees.
After lunch Shirley and I went for a 3.5 km walk and checked out their three nearby dams.
We had also reached the land of termite mounds. You can tell the colour of the local earth by the colour of the termite mounds.
Day 30 - Monday 21st June 2021 – Pinnarendi Station Stay
I was up at 6:40 am for a quick shower and a walk to the 'Garden Dam' (see above photo) to get some bird photos at sunrise. Alas, there was a distinct lack of birds, so I settled for a sunrise photo of the mist over the 'Big Dam'.
My 3 km walk had me back to the caravan in time to relax before a 'splash out' breakfast in the station Cafe - of bacon and eggs on sourdough toast. It was excellent.
After mid morning coffee Shirley and I went for a walk to check out 'Licka' the cow, pre-loved farm trucks and the art work on the amenities block.
The station has its own airstrip and plane, and planes seem to be constantly coming and going.
There was plenty of relaxing before a nice piece of Atlantic salmon on the BBQ for dinner. We watched the Melbourne version of ABC news via iView, to see the state of COVID in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. The news was positive.
Day 31 - Tuesday 22nd June 2021 – Pinnarendi Station Stay
The day started cool, overcast and windy, so we did very little, apart from read and plan our activities for tomorrow when we leave the station stay.
Shirley and I went for a walk and revisited the dams, and found very few birds. We returned to the Cafe and had an excellent cappuccino. While we were enjoying our drink a pilot from the Atherton tablelands visited the station, and did some aerobatics for us in his RV-8 (see below).
His loops and spirals caused a few hearts to flutter around the table. We were glad that we were on the ground.
We had a toasted sandwich for lunch, then (for something different) I cooked some date cookies. They were date as we do not have any choc chips. We only carry white sugar in sachets so Shirley emptied maybe 30 of the sachets to get the desired half a cup. The cookies were good with afternoon coffee.
The wind continued all day and made it difficult to find a spot that was warm and out of the wind - but we tried.
As we readied ourselves for a Cafe dinner of barramundi we are pleased that we had called into Pinnarendi Station and stayed three nights. It is a great spot to visit - great hosts, excellent campsites and superb Cafe food and coffee. You know it is a quality place when you see drivers come down the one km gravel road just for the coffee, or a pilot who flies in for the coffee and food.
8:30 pm
We are back from one of the best barramundi meals that we have ever had - and on a cattle station located such that their sons come home from boarding school by plane - piloted by their Dad. Two weeks ago one of the boys stayed the weekend with a good mate - ferried to and fro by plane - again piloted by that boy's father. It is a different world to our way in the big cities.
The image below shows the magnificent piece of wood that made up the dining table for our superb dinner tonight.
Our hosts, Nadine and Ronnie, live in a wonderful part of the world and provide a wonderful experience for the people who stop with them. I am sure that many of their 'visitors' do not realize that the weather only allows them to operate during the dry months - and that their small part of the world has survived three cyclones in a small number of years. We wish them every success in what they are doing.
One of their sons has a 3D printer and, with entrepreneurial talent, he makes things to sell to visitors.
Day 32 - Wednesday 23rd June 2021 – Closer to Port Douglas
We were all up early and on the road soon after 8:30. Shirley needed toi say good bye to Licka so we stopped on the way out.
Onward we moved, stopping for a pie at Atherton. We camped for the night at the free camp beside the 'Rocky Creek War Memorial Park' .
The memorial is very impressive and worth the visit if you are in the area. This area has a proud history of its involvement in wars, particularly WWII.
No comments:
Post a Comment