We had a bit of packing up to do but also decided since I woke early to give Kitty a bath before we left. It only takes a little over an hour to bath and dry her when we aren't doing the antibacterial shampoo which has to be left on for 20 minutes so we had her done, van packed and were driving out the gate at around 9.30am.
Off we headed North again.
Welcome to Mango territory - with mascot "Frosty Mango" standing out like a giant yellow M&M amongst the Mango trees.
We passed through Ingham - famous for the original "Pub With No Beer" from the Slim Dusty song - though we neither found the pub or the beer on this trip.
Sugar Cane and Bananas dominate the landscape in this part of the state. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any cane plantations being harvested this year which was a "highlight" of our last trip that we won't forget in a hurry. Watching rats and snakes being plucked up by flocks of waiting birds as they fled the harvester.
And big rivers - with Croc warnings!
The scenery is just stunning through this area. The mountains are spectacular and offer some stunning views as you make your way across them.
We stopped at Cardwell for a slightly early lunch and I can highly recommend Brearleys Bakery. Their pies and cakes are fantastic - especially the vanilla slice! Cardwell is such a pretty place and I think we will definitely be stopping by again on our way back.
I've been looking forward to this part of the trip ever since we booked in a few weeks ago - welcome to Paronella Park. The history is amazing on this place - and I can't help but be moved by the incredible dedication and passion that went into creating this amazing park. Getting in to our campsite created more opportunities for personal growth than we were really needing but the diversion from our original itinerary, the extra kms and cost were well and truly worth every bit. What an experience it was - one that I will remember as long a I live. Warning - photo intensive below!
The Grand Staircase is made up of 47 cement steps but the interesting thing is the plaques on 3 of the steps indicating the water levels of floods in the park in past years.
So in the 1946 flood the water would have been lapping my feet in this photo below. Absolutely impossible to imagine even when you are there.
After spending a couple of hours wandering around the park during the day we headed back to camp for some dinner and sat listening to the birds and wildlife around the park settling in for the night before going back to the park for the night tour at 8.00pm. Even though the park is amazing during the day - the night tour is just something altogether different and the buildings take on a magical life of their own.
We got back to the van after 9.00pm and I was looking through my photo of the waterfall and really wanted to go back and have a play around with the settings on the camera to see what I could come up with. The park is virtually open all night but the lighting turns off around midnight - so yes we went back down to take some more photos - and had to climb down and back up those 47 steps for the third time. I can tell you - my legs were well and truly sore by the time we went to bed.
273km
Total - 9,136 km
Top today 28°c - expecting overnight 16°c
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