The Savannah Way

We said goodbye to Cairns and drove down to Innisfail then inland towards Ravenshoe. We drove passed Australia's largest windfarm. We were so close to it as we took the back road to Ravenshoe. The turbines were huge. Went for tea in the hotel in Ravenshoe which is the highest pub in the highest town in Queensland. Stayed just outside town for the night and went to see the Millstream Falls the next day which were pretty. They are the widest falls in Australia. From there we went along to Innot Hot Springs. They are naturally heated springs, heated by the earths core then the water comes to the surface. You can see the steam rising from the creek, at one bit the temp reaches 72degrees. It's roasting. Even the sand you walk on is warm. The caravan park beside it channels the water in to pools so you can go and bath in it which is meant to be good for you. So in we went. We both managed in pool that was about 35-38degrees, you should only stay in for about ten minutes before going into the cold pool which feels great after being in the hot one. Willie managed to go in the hottest pool, 40-47degrees but it was far to hot for me and he only managed a couple of minutes. Good though. That night we stayed at Undara Campsite which was very nice. Got an excellent buffet meal. I had kangaroo which was verrrreeee tasty.

Undara is famous for the Undara Lava tubes. The longest lava tubes, caused by volcanic lava flow, in the world. We were going to do the tour but it was really expensive so decided against it. Maybe next time. Instead we headed further along to Georgetown. The roads are so long and so straight and dusty and there is about 150kms between towns. Even when we were in the towns they were no bigger then Alyth but mostly smaller. Also a lot of the roads are single track bituman with dust track at either side to move onto when there is a car coming in the other direction. Not so good when face with a road train with 3-4 arctic sized trailers. They are so big and they ain't moving for anything or anyone.

Anyway we got to Georgetown and went south about 90kms to Cobbald Gorge to stay the night anddo the tour of the gorge the next day. The campground was really nice and we went for a dip in the pool as it was roasting before building our campfire and having tea. The tour of the gorge was brilliant. We got there in a huge 4wd bus. Me and William got to sit up front with the driver..woohoo. To get to the gorge you have to cross a really wide sandy riverbed which is dry in the winter but a raging river in the wet season. (we still can't believe the rivers & creeks can be so dry just now but so wet in a few months time) We did a walk to the top of the gorge which was great. Got to see some aborginal art along the way and then look down into the gorge from the top. We saw 14 freshwater crocs. The colours of the rock were beautiful reds and backs and crean sandstone. After the walk we went dowm to the bottom of the gorge and did a boat trip down it. It was so peaceful and we sailed passed the crocs, a baby turtles, a brown snake and numerous st andrews cross spiders. Our guide was excellent. At some points the gorge is only 2metres wide with 30 metre cliffs. It is very narrow most of the way along. It was only discovered in 1990. Mantal!Very memorable day out. That night we drove to Croydon and stayed in the caravan park there. On the way we saw a big sand guana on the road.

Next morning we drove to Normanton where we saw the 'big barramundi' and a model replica of the worlds biggest croc, Krys, shot by a lady in the local area. It was proper massive. Headed North to Karumba for a couple of days relaxing and fishing in one of the best fishing towns in Queensland. Karumba was a nice town although not much to do apart from fish which is what we did. William caught an estuarine cod which was pretty big. Quite exciting. Saw lots of kangaroos by the ponds. After a couple of days though we got a bit bored and decided to go South towards Cloncurry. A town 400kms South of Normanton with only a roadhouse in the middle. Mental distances in the outback. It's so remote and dry. Loving the experience. Made it to the roadhouse and then stayed at a rest stop for the night instead of driving all the way to Cloncurry. Along the way we saw a snake on the road (not sure what it was), lots of kangaroos (dead and alive), emus, and hundreds of cattle from the nearby stations. We are seeing lots of wildlife along our journey which is very exciting.