SUNDAY APRIL 29 2018

Breakfast in the motel was very good and we said goodbye to some of the acquaintances on the trip.  Brig and Phil hired a car and drove to Ellis Beach up the coast for three days. We spent an hour comparing notes with a couple who had lived in Cowra and were now in Boorowa.

We watched Eddie Ayres on Compass and Salisbury Cathedral on Songs of Praise.  We wandered around the town and along the pier and boardwalk.  At 4pm we watched a tough struggle between Parramatta and West Tigers on Channel 9.  Another very close finish which someone had to win, but a draw would have been a fairer result.

SATURDAY APRIL 28 2018

After breakfast of cereals and eggs we walked back to the train and on the way came across a group of about 30 apostle birds in a tree.  They were all screaming and pecking like a civil war was in progress.

They all flew away and no harm seems to have been done.

We needed to leave at 8am and drive all day till 6pm to get back to Cairns today.  We stopped for photos at a couple of creeks.

Lunch was at Almaden Hotel.  Buffet for $15.  We just used the toilet.  Quite a cute station.

Leigh, the second driver, took over and drove quite fast but he had to stop when a bushranger held us up and demanded our money and our jewels.

Leigh explained that this young man was the last of 8 children who had worked this caper over quite a few years and he was worried about no one being available at Boon Moon station to carry on the tradition.  He told us a few of the creative ideas they came up with to make money from the train.  For afternoon tea at Dimbulah we were sold cakes for $5 and they had some mannikins on the station; this one was in the museum.

We were now travelling next to a main road and after Mareeba we encountered people straying on the tracks illegally.  Two motor bikes, two dog walkers and several strolling people.  Leigh delighted in sneaking up behind them and blasting the horn.  Living daylights were observed to come out of them.

We had to wait twice to get safety clearance at Kuranda before sidling down the mountain.  We were allowed to walk along the platform of the beautiful station for a few minutes.

The trip down the mountain just before sunset was very scenic and we got a good view of Barron Falls when we walked over to the safety fence.

About 50 meters up the hill a young teenage boy was standing upright on the fence, which was about 100mm wide.  A big day for the stupid risk takers.

It was surprising to see that the same sunbird nest that we saw in 2013 was still hanging from the station ceiling.

We stopped on Stoney Creek bridge to see another waterfall up close and we heard the full story of John Robb, the builder of the track.  It sent him bankrupt.

We entered Cairns Station at 6:10pm and group of us wheeled our luggage to Coral Tree Motel.  We had a Chinese banquet for 9 people at the Chinese Seafood Restaurant.  At $25 per head it was a great finish for the QR holiday.  We noticed that the live lobster in the fish tank had  price of $380!

FRIDAY APRIL 27 2018

At 8am we said goodbye to the excellent staff at the Goldfields Hotel and queued up with our luggage to join the Savannahlander, which had arrived last evening.

I saw our driver Wil loading the luggage and I knew from our trip in 2013 that he would entertain us well with his humour which can be described as "post-Hoges".  Most seats were already occupied in the front carriage but for some reason the best seat at the front was vacant, so we were able to spend the day with excellent views through the front window.  Malcolm peeked at the controls in the absence of the driver and some wags urged him to set off now.  He told them he does not like driving without a steering wheel;  no way out in an oncoming smash.

It only took a minute for Wil to have the whole train laughing loudly as he outlined the rules for using the toilets.  He decreed a time limit of five minutes for sitting in the reserved seat in front of us and behind the driver, but most people soon forgot about that and we lost our clear view for a lot of the time.

Wil gave us interesting commentary and plenty of jokes.  He was keen on this grevillea decora with its big spider flowers.

They used to have special trucks to transport ballast along the track.  This one capsized and they could not be persuaded to rescue it.

We cross many rivers and creeks on this trip and one of the biggest is the Einasleigh.  The train stopped for lunch at the big bridge, where in 2013 the P.R. took a publicity photo of the train on the bridge (see volume 1)

After a $15 lunch (chicken salad wrap and tiny piece of cake) at THE PUB

we wandered around Copperfield Gorge until lunch hour was over.  The water was a clean green colour.

At 2:15 we came to Mount Surprise and were bussed to Bed Rock Village 500 meters down the road.
They told us to drop our luggage in our comfortable room and get back on the bus for the Undara Lava Tubes.  Our guides were Jes and Greg and it took 40 minutes to drive there and another 10 minutes to walk down to the tunnels.  Greg hit us with 30 minute of well researched information as we walked into two tunnels.

After a delicious dinner provided by the camp staff,  Greg sat at the campfire and recited amusing poetry of his own and known outback poets.  We all laughed a lot.

THURSDAY APRIL 26 2018

Today was our day to visit Cobbled Gorge, but first we walked around the town again to see the things we missed in the After Dark Tour last night.  The tree carvings in Cascharfor Park were interesting and made us think of the poles and tables at Wagstaffe.

Our tall bus left at 10am and took an hour to get to the Cobbled Village because of the outback road with many creek crossings.  Since our buffet lunch was not due till 12:30 we had time to swim in the "infinity pool" or just sit in the shade with a drink.  Phil and Brig did the swim and Lyn and Malcolm did the drink (and apple crumble).  The pool was positioned above the waters of the dam which was certain to have crocodiles in it somewhere.

Before and during lunch we saw and heard a cheeky pied butcher bird near our table.  He was very tuneful and versatile.  Then we heard a horrible squawk and saw an apostle bird hopping around.  Strange to see one on his own, but another one turned up soon after.  They normally live in groups of 12; hence their name.

After our delicious lunch we piled into the tall buses and drove down to the gorge.  Ross was our guide and took us on a walk to the top of the cliff overlooking the gorge.  He talked about these native hibiscus and the nice smell they have when pressed.

In an overhang there were aboriginal hand stencils and grinding grooves to be seen.

At the top we saw the groove in the rocks that would be where we took our boat through the gorge.

We boarded the electric driven long barge and once again enjoyed the beauty of this unique place.

It took us till  6pm to get back to Forsayth where we were given a three course BBQ dinner.  Then we watched a John Williamson program on Foxtel Country Music Channel.  The Savannahlander is waiting for us overnight to join it tomorrow morning.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 25

The people from Ash's Apartments provided three cars to drive our group of twelve tourists the 80 km to Normanton, where the Gulflander train commences.  Our driver John gave us plenty of additional information about the area on the way.  We saw many agile wallabies including two flattened on the road overnight.  The black kites were on the spot in big numbers to take advantage.  We saw a group of black necked storks (Jabirus) and a pair of Saurus Cranes (type of brolga).  There were thousands of birds in and around the pools left by the floods.  John pointed out the most likely spots for crocodiles to be seen.

When we arrived in Normanton he pulled up at the famous statue of the 8.7 meter crocodile called Krys who was shot by a woman who was a professional croc. hunter. We saw it in1998.

All twelve of us were dropped off at Normanton station where we saw an old steam train waiting for a rebirth.

We explored the little museum, then photographed each other holding a Savannahlander cup next to the Gulflander, for reasons that we hope to make clear in a few days time.

The train has a Gardner 100hp diesel engine and a four speed crash gearbox, just like a 1950s truck.  Our driver was Ken and we managed to get seats close behind him.

The ride was bumpy, swaying, slow, long and at times sleep-inducing. It starts in a very small town, finishes in an even smaller town and passes through no towns in between. So why is it so popular? Everything about the trip is the same as it was 60 odd years ago and the stories that Ken told gave us a very authentic historical experience.  The trip has had to be curtailed or postponed quite a few times over the years and we were lucky to be the first trip after the latest big flood.  The worst recorded flood was in 1974 when the mighty Gilbert River was 12 meters over the railway bridge.  Difficult to imagine that when the surrounding country is flat for many kilometres.

It took us three hours to get to our morning tea stop at Black Bull, where we had tea and a muffin.

Brig and Phil are in the foreground.

It was necessary for Ken to slow down for all the sections of track that had been repaired after the flood and maximum speed allowed was 25km/hour.  He stopped at 12 noon for a minutes silence and the ode in recognition of Anzac Day. We arrived at Croydon at 1:50pm, close to schedule.

We boarded a Cobble Gorge high-clearance coach immediately and were served sandwiches and pikelets for lunch at the general store.  This store is one of the oldest continually operating shops in Australia.  It has a massive set of compartmentalised shelves all around the walls.  The owner told me they were made of cypress pine to foil the termites.  We drove to a lookout to appreciate the town of Croydon, then to the local dam which doubled as a very attractive picnic and recreation area.  It was still a two and a half hour drive to Forsayth, our stop for tonight.  We took a toilet break at the Cumberland Mine old chimney and walked down to a billabong with many birds.  We thought the small "ducks" were actually grebes.

We found our bedrooms in Forsayth at 5:40pm and at 6:30 enjoyed a delicious three course meal at the Goldfields Hotel.

From 7:30 to 9:00 we were taken on a Tour of Forsayth after dark.  It was led by Laurie who was a former detective inspector of police.  He warned us not to tell anyone anything about this tour so my fingers are tied.

TUESDAY APRIL 24 2018

We went for a walk along the waterfront and saw people net fishing next to the boat ramp.  That attracted the shore birds.

Nearby in a small tree a pair of blue-faced honeyeaters were eating.  We saw three whistling kites and this one added to the warning of the sign:

We stated along the 4 km track into Karumba town and saw many small birds in the bushes: wood swallows, finches, honeyeaters, diamond doves, bar-shouldered doves and a rainbow bee eater.
We turned around because the track was quite muddy and the sun was too hot, but we met Brig and Phil setting off and they ventured on along the track.

We came back to a coffee shop and Lyn loved this painting by an aboriginal man in Arukun, so we bought it to hang with the other paintings near the kitchen.

We decided it was too hot to venture out after lunch so took a short siesta.  We arranged transport to Karumba Pier to join with Brig and Phil in the Sunset Cruise.

The cruise started at 4:30 and Alison gave a commentary as we chugged up the river.  She put pilchards  on a tray for the black kites and the whistling kites to swoop down on.  The ferry turned around and as we came back we could see the town in the distance.

On top of the first navigation post a pair of ospreys were in residence and had been using it for years.  They said the male feeds sea snakes to the female sitting on the nest.

Another navigation post had a pair of sea eagles, who took off as we approached.  The sunset was viewed out in the gulf and even though there were no clouds, it was very beautiful.  We took a potential Facebook ID photo.

Looking the other way we saw a particularly fine example of the "shadow of the earth".  That is the blue band across the eastern horizon.

We saw one crocodile as we returned,  by virtue of the big spotlight Glen waved around in the dark.
We shared a serve of barra and chips with Brig and Phil and listened to Lorna and Arnold talk about their sheep farm in Cowra.

MONDAY APRIL 23 2018

Up at 5am, quick breakfast and walk to the station with Brig and Phil by 6:10.  Our bus driver today was Ron and he did a great job on providing informed commentary on our trip.  There were 12 people doing the Queensland Railways Holiday and another 12 using the bus as public transport to various towns.  Our trip from Cairns to Karumba is 780km.  We started at 6:30am and arrived at 6:00pm.  We averaged 80km/hour on the road.

The climb out of Cairns to Mareeba is very steep and winding but the rainforest is very beautiful.  As we progressed through Atherton, Herberton and Ravenshoe the scenery changed to natural savannah. Here is what we saw through the window:

Heavy rains had been falling recently across the whole of the area we drove through and Ron pointed out every spot where the roads had been flooded, some places two or more meters under.  He showed us the fixed cameras placed near the rivers that flood.  Pictures are regularly placed on the website so that drivers can know whether the roads are passable before leaving base.  Unfortunately the bureaucrats are having a standoff at the moment and the pictures have not been universally accessible.

The biggest river in the Gulf country is the Gilbert, and since several other rivers that we crossed feed into it before it empties into the Gulf of Carpentaria, it was spread widely over the coastal plains during the floods.  At the moment it is low again; we saw no water on the actual road, but there were large pools everywhere still. This is the Gilbert River from the road bridge:

We saw the statue of the 8.7 meter crocodile in Normanton, which we had seen in 1998.  The 45 minute trip from there to Karumba was across a fairly clear plain which was inhabited by thousands of birds.  We had been seeing black kites for most of the day and here we saw pied geese, whistling kites,
many types of ducks and several brolgas.  Ron slowed down for us to get a good look at the brolgas.  This is a fantastic bird watching area.

After dumping our luggage in our park cabin we hurried to the point reserve to watch the sun set over the water, to see the bright quarter moon and watch Venus appear in the west.  Very cosmic.

As it got dark we saw several dark shapes near the shore, moving slowly along.   We had a discussion with others standing nearby: crocodiles? dugongs? porpoises? All are listed on the advice paper we were given.

We four bought cheap fish and chip dinners and chatted till 8:30.  We noticed these two animals near our table.  One is a cane toad, the other a frog.

It took a long day's travel to get to Karumba.  We will take five days to return to Cairns.