Friday 26th June
After leaving Charters Towers we travelled north and spent two days at Taylor's Beach Caravan Park. It was a small park and it seemed that most of the campers there were regulars who came back year after year and spent most of the winter there. Nice people, but very much into their own groups. The owner and his wife were also very pleasant and only too pleased to help in any way.
On Saturday 27th we drove to Forest Beach which is a caravan Park attached to a hotel. It was much bigger than Taylors Beach. While there we saw the cutest thing. A couple were coming back from a walk along the beach with their Dachshund dog. She was walking along carrying a stick that was three times bigger than her. The couple said she likes to pick her own stick and carry them back to the van, but she had never chosen a stick this big before. Check the photo!
Sunday 28th June
We drove 149kms to Innisfail with torrential rain coming in waves. There is lots to see here so booked for five days on the Net before we left.. We may extend if we don't get around to all the things we want to do. We pulled into a park and as it was still absolutely teeming rain I ran in to complete the booking. The owner manning reception couldn't find our booking I produced our Big 4 membership he said we are not Big 4 we are Top Tourist. How embarrassing! Wrong park!!! We quickly made our apologies and drove another 2kms down the road to the Big 4. It is still raining, so it will give us time to catch up with the blog, play cards on the computer, read books or watch TV. It is also supposed to rain tomorrow so we will decide what we will do then.
Monday 29th
Poured on and off all night and at 7.30am it is bucketing down! In the caravan park where we are staying Big 4 Mango Tree Innisfail, the amenities block has been completely modernised and refurbished as has the reception area and owners residence. This is all due to Cyclone Larry which crossed the coast in March 2006. Larry reached Category 5 for a time just before landfall. As at 30 October 2006 there were 30,594 insurance claims for a total of 14,000 houses of which 500 were written off. Building costs were estimated at 1.5 billion. Sugar industry losses were around 200 million with total crop losses exceeding 0.5 billion. No lives were lost, but because for the most part it crossed in a heavily populated area much damage was done. Larry reportedly damaged thousands of homes and buildings in a wide arc between Cairns and Tully, snapped power poles, stripped once-lush rainforest bare, ripped roofs off houses, uprooted trees and flattened the crops of hundreds of banana growers and cane farmers.Jill who is one of the owners of the park told us that in particular the clean up of the tourist areas such as the beautiful waterfalls have only just been completed.
8.15pm 110mm of heavy showers from 1.00pm yesterday. This is real test for the caravan. We have had a small leak around the four seasons hatch, which is a real concern. All will be well as long as the rain slows down as predicted for tomorrow.
Tuesday 30th June
Rain has stopped, still cloudy, but quite humid and 23c. Ross talked me into getting my flu injection at the local Medical Centre, which I kept putting off and consequently went away without getting it.Then we went for a drive to Flying Fish Point to have a look at the ocean. Nice to finally get out and about without getting soaked. The oval attached to the school was covered with beautiful little wallabies and as we drove around we noticed they were in peoples gardens as well as on the road. On the way home Ross stopped at a shop on the foreshore advertising prawns straight off the trawler. he bought half a kilo and thoroughly enjoyed them.
Wednesday 1st July
We drove to Josephine Falls today 27kms away. it was a great drive through canefields and then rainforest. Lots of young people were swimming there, which was a little surprising as there were lots of signs warning of danger and the fact that many rescues had to be made as well as injuries and deaths had occurred there due to foolhardiness. Anyway there they all were swimming, jumping sliding swinging and having fun.I took some videos but they are too big to load. It was a lovely spot and there is nothing nicer than hearing the water tumbling and rushing from a waterfall.
Thursday 2nd July
Today we went for a walk in the clouds!! Very memorable and very beautiful!
Mamu Skywalk is a name to remember if you come up this way.
Mamu Tropical Skywalk is located in Wooroonoon National Park, which is in the southern part of the Atherton Tableland, which is an extremely beautiful, but hilly and in some places mountainous part of QLD. It is just 27kms from Innisfail

The Skywalk passes through one of the largest-remaining continuous stands of complex vine forest in the Wet Tropics. The walk in the clouds is facilitated by an elevated walkway, 350 m long, rising from ground level to 15 m above the ground, meandering through the canopy of lush tall tropical growth, a 10 m long cantilever and a 37 m high observation tower with two viewing decks, providing spectacular views over the North Johnstone River gorge and surrounding rainforest-clad peaks of tropical rainforest, more than 1100 m of forest walking tracks, connecting the elevated walkway, cantilever and tower rest shelters presenting information about the history and heritage of the Mamu rainforest.
When you arrive you are given a tape and earphones and as you walk along to various points the tape explains what you are seeing and its history. We both thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but it is a lot of walking and we were glad we had worn our sneakers.
We spent several hours there and then had a picnic lunch we had brought with us. We then continued on to a place called Millaa Millaa, but on the way Ross noticed a sign "Waterfall Way" so we went to have a look at three waterfalls, each quite different, but spectacular in their own way. After a great day we drove home. A wonderful day was marred by a stupid driver towing a van who misjudged his passing capacity in an overtaking lane and ended up over the double lines coming towards us right in front of us. Only for Ross's presence of mind in swerving fully to the left, it might have been quite different story.

July 3rd Friday Today is clean up and washing day to get ready for Sundays departure.