Day 17 Tuesday 8th July
Mareeba to Palm Cove (50km)

It was very cold this morning and everything left outside was VERY wet. Fortunately the chairs were not! (We took them inside overnight). We went for an early morning morning walk, which proved to me more of a scramble over giant granite boulders, and quite tricky in places. However it was lovely and peaceful, just us and the rock wallabies! One of the rocks had giant dinosaur footprints in it! (See photo!). The walk was circular with a much easier return track!
Then we had breakfast and by the time we came to pack up, the sun had dried the canvas and we were on our way in no time.....with not far to go!
On the road we noticed that the star fracture in the windscreen, (courtesy of a road train a couple of days ago), had spread to a decent crack, so we will need to get that fixed. The vehicle is also due for a service......lots to do while in the 'big smoke'!
The drive went well until we encountered roadworks on a very steep winding section of the Kennedy Highway (fortunately we were heading downhill to the coast!). There was a one-way system in operation and a very long queue of vehicles waiting to come up.....we were lucky with our timing and had the green go light in our favour..... We did have in mind to return this way, but have decided against it. It would not be fun being stopped on a steep incline with the trailer.
We arrived at the Palm Cove Camping ground at 11am. Our site is fairly nice, (only unpowered available), and we have pleasant neighbours. School holidays and the grey nomads.....like us!....escaping the cold down south, mean that camp sites are at a premium. Every site was booked last night.
After setting up we had a lovely hot shower in sparkling amenities and then went out for lunch! We had a walk along the beachfront and then back at camp we did some forward planning and bookings for the car service etc.
We had another short walk later in the day and then cheese, wine and leftovers for dinner! We were too tired to go out, even though there is an excellent choice of cafés or restaurants in this lovely little village. We have been here twice before but always in a resort hotel!). Camping will be an interesting experience......and cosy!