[rustynutz]

Thanks for your kind comments, Marzipan! 

As far as road noise goes, it really has been pretty much a non issue on this trip....

I do tend to listen to music while I'm driving, especially as, for the majority of this trip I've only had myself for company so maybe that has masked things a bit...or, perhaps the roads are constructed with less coarse stones up this way? Then again I could be just going deaf...

It's funny though, back home I've found the i30 a little bit noisy on local roads.... 

As for my breakfast guest, he was roughly 6 foot away but I did get down closer so I could take a pic...

[rustynutz]

Seems ages since my last installment.....

While in Townsville I did the obligatory "drive" up Castle Hill.

This has become something of a chore these days as the "get fit brigade" have just about taken it over and what was once a really fun drive has now turned more into a game of "dodgem's" as folk, young and old, make the walk to the top and back down again. And if that's not enough, there are numerous speed humps to negotiate.....grrrrr.

Magnificent views of Townsville and Magnetic Island make it all worth while....

Unfortunately it was quite hazy.... 

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A few days later I thought I'd try my luck with the drive up Mount Stuart....
This is a great drive with very few vehicles using the road but spoilt to a certain extent by a 40kph speed limit. 

Disappointingly it was hazy yet again.....







By now Cairns was beckoning.....

While on the way, I stopped off at one of my favourite towns, Cardwell.....





It's been over 18 months since Cyclone Yasi devastated the place and restoration work still continues....

Here's what it looked like after Yasi....


The following day I gained some passengers...(my friend, Sue who I'd last seen at Ayr and who was now visiting her daughter, Lauren & Lauren's boyfriend, Mitch.)....Lauren & Mitch kindly let me stay at their place in Cairns...

All four of us travelled to Port Douglas.....





We then drove to Mossman for some lunch and then boarded the mini bus to Mossman Gorge.











After spending a pleasant few hours enjoying the rain forest and other views, we then headed further north, stopping briefly at the plaque commemorating the Japanese air raid on the Douglas Shire in 1942...





It was fairly late in the afternoon when we arrived at Daintree Village, so after a bit of a wander and a few photos, it was time to head back to Cairns, detouring briefly to see the ferry crossing the Daintree River.....








To be continued.....

[Doggie 1]

Thanks Rusty, great pics.
I can't believe it's 18 months since Yasi either. It certainly did some damage.

[Shambles]

Spectacular photography there, Mr Russ "T" Nutz

[Dazzler]

Enjoyed that thanks Rusty 

[rustynutz]

My last full day in Cairns was spent travelling up to Kuranda on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, having a wander around the markets and then travelling back via the Kuranda Scenic Railway.

The markets were full of indigenous artifacts such as paintings, boomerangs & didgeridoos, leather goods, stuffed crocs and the more normal market stuff like clothing, jewellery and postcards.....

Kuranda is also home to the Australian Venom Zoo.

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Look carefully at the previous photo and you'll notice that the above waterhole is actually part of the Barron Falls....











This is the Barron Falls, which at this time of year is fairly unspectacular, the same can't be said during the wet season as it is usually turned into a raging flood....






This is just one of 15 tunnels you travel through....







All in all I had a thoroughly enjoyable day and would certainly recommend it to anyone visiting Cairns. 

Next morning I departed Cairns, headed for Kuranda yet again. This time though I was in my i30, looking forward to having a "blast" up the well surfaced but steep and windy road.....

After drivng around the streets of Kuranda I then headed for the "Rainforest Canopy Walk & Barron Falls Lookout"where I had a very pleasant walk through the rainforest.

Time was getting away so I made tracks, heading for the Atherton Tablelands.....an area I had missed on previous visits to Cairns.

After an enjoyable drive I arrived at Innisfail where I rejoined the Bruce Highway and continued my journey back to Townsville, where I would be staying a few more days before I commence the drive back to Victoria and Home...

[AlanHo]

Rusty

How are you managing to get decent internet connections in what sounds like some way-out places you are visiting.

I'm impressed.

[rustynutz]

I've been lucky and have stayed mostly with friends or relatives that have had broadband.

Where I stayed in Cairns access was a bit ordinary as they only had a usb wifi internet stick so I just waited until I got back to Townsville so I didn't have to worry about using up all their "downloads"... 

[asathorny]

Hi there, love reading about your trip totally agree with db08 about your breakfast visitor how close were  you?  I recently did a trip to Horsham in my i30 great to travel in but the road noise was incredible one could hardly hear the music. Did you find the same trouble interested to hear? 

If ya slack off a bit, say to 90 and speak up a bit that should solve it for ya 

That was all great Rusty, just had an enjoyable 20 mins catchin up with you adventures   THANKS

[Dazzler]

Another excellent report Rusty .. Really enjoyed the photos 

You are having a great road trip.. We definitely needed more time for our last one 

[Phil №❶]

That looks like fun, too bad Cairns is so far away, rainforests are wonderful places to collect your thoughts, (if you can find a nice quiet tourist free spot, just listening to nature, very uplifting and therapeutic IMO). Unfortunately, nothing remotely like that where I live.  I love trains too & we do have those. Great pics, thanks.

[rustynutz]

Thanks guys, unfortunately it's nearly at an end, I head for home in the morning..... 

[Doggie 1]

There's no place like home Rusty. 
Thanks for the great report & pics. I enjoyed that. I think I need to get out more and see more.

[rustynutz]

Thanks for your kind words, Dave.....

Before I call it a night, I thought I'd just mention that I got to do a bit of motorcycling while in Townsville...

First up I got to ride a Triumph Speedmaster.
 
I decided to revisit Paluma as I knew it was a fun road up into the mountains.

I figured I had to look the part so wore an open face helmet. Bad move as it's been years since I've worn one and my eyes streamed tears continuously from the wind in spite of wearing glasses.
I persevered and found that once I got into the mountains my speeds dropped and my eyes watered much less.

It's been a while since I've thrown a leg over a motorcycle so I was a little bit tentative around corners for a while but my confidence quickly returned and I soon had a grin from ear to ear.... 
The exhaust note certainly helped too. There's something about a "twin" that I just love and this one, having close to open pipes sounded great, especially on the overrun, where it crackled and popped.....ah, I can feel a woody coming on!   

Moving right along.....I'm not a fan of the uncomfortable seating position forced on riders by this style of bike, so I was a bit surprised that after ridng approximately 170 kilometres I wasn't in crippling pain.
I think the warm weather of Far North Queensland must agree with me... 

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Now to today....

I got to ride another Triumph, this time a Triumph Tiger.....

My friend, Maree suggested I head out towards Charters Towers so that's what I did.....
Bad move as it's just another boring highway.....I rode as far as Mingela where, after stopping at the local pub for a drink, I turned around and headed back.

For this ride I'd opted for a full face helmet and while it eliminated the wind in my eyes, it gave me a headache as the helmet was a whisker tight.
I found the riding position of this bike much more to my liking and the fairing kept much of the wind off me too.
The engine in this bike is a "triple"  and produces a nice spread of power and torque....certainly enough to blast past slower traffic with just a flick of the wrist....nice! 

By this time I was sick to death of the highway so on the outskirts of Townsville I turned off and headed for Mount Stuart where I managed to get my jolly's winding my way up to the "lookout" and back...

Surprisingly I had run up 210 kilometres by the time I pulled up in the driveway at my home away from home....

[Doggie 1]

Looks like lots of fun.
What capacity is the first Triumph?

[rustynutz]

I think it's 865cc, Dave....

[Doggie 1]

Lovely. And I agree about the twins - very old school and nice sound.

[Dazzler]

That would have been great (for you)  (well done)

[Surferdude]

Great trip and report Rusty.
I've seen the Barron Falls in both seasons but the first time was like in your pics. But even less water. Most unispiring after learning all about them in primary school. I have a lot of similar pics from Castle Hill and Kuranda. bring back memories.
Did you get over to Magnetic Island?
Also, Bowen is well worth a tour around.
Sorry if you've already covered those places but I've been catching up on a few of the longer threads and may have missed bits.

[rustynutz]

Thanks Trev!   

Never bothered with Maggy Island this trip.

I spent a day and night over there some years back and was bored to tears so haven't been in a hurry to revisit the place. Also I begrudge paying a fortune for the ferry crossing....

Apparently the property downturn up there has really stuffed the place....They are almost giving Unit's away....

Thanks for the tip about Bowen....but I've actually visited the place on one of my many other trips up North.

[rustynutz]

Oh, forgot to mention, I've made it back home safely...... 

I'll post up a few more photos and some videos down the track....

[Doggie 1]

  home. 

[rustynutz]

Thanks Dave....

Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.....

[Dazzler]

Oh, forgot to mention, I've made it back home safely...... 

I'll post up a few more photos and some videos down the track....

Sounds good..

Thanks Dave....

Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.....

I can relate to that .. I'm always pleased to get back to Tassie 

[Phil №❶]

Great 

[Lester]

Thanks Dave....

Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.....

Well done mate, great pics, great blogs.

[rustynutz]

Ok, time to bring this road trip saga to it's conclusion.....


I left Townsville, heading for home at 6am.....leaving earlier and I would increase my chances of meeting more "skippies" out on the road.
This would be my departure time for the next few days as I had fairly large distances to cover.
My destination for the day was "Roma", a bit over 1000 kilometres away....

My first stop (other than for fuel) was at McDonalds at Charters Towers.....
As much as I dislike Maccas, breakfast there is usually pretty painless and holdups before getting back on the road are minimal.

Once you've left Charters Towers there's pretty much nothing until Clermont, some 370+ kilometres away other than "Belyando Crossing" which is a roadhouse/rest area situated roughly half way.

Much of this road had been improved since I last came through here which was a relief as back then the "seal" was pretty much single lane only and confronting "road trains" coming from the opposite direction usually involved you pulling completely off the road and waiting for them to pass as they refuse to move over at all. Not so bad when the road is dry, but a nightmare when the red soil is wet from rain....

Well, I should've known the good road wouldn't last.....
There ended up being mile after mile after mile of road works, which was frustrating enough but at one point I had to park off the road for probably 30 minutes while a truck carrying a huge excavator crawled through the road works. All up I probably lost an "hour" with these delays, not something I really wanted as I was hoping to make it to Roma before dark to avoid kangaroos.
To make up time I "sailed" through Belyando Crossing, not needing fuel and not feeling the need for a stretch.....'Twas the same with Clermont.....
By the time I arrived at Emerald I was ready for a bite to eat so stopped just long enough to get some takeaway and then it was back on the road again.

By now the weather was looking like rain and sure enough it started shortly after, turning the intermittent roadworks into slush.....Fantastic!
With my car now looking like a toilet, I arrived at Roma right on sunset, thankfully with no wildlife encounters to speak of, seeing only cattle, which are allowed to roam freely on many of the roads.

I fuelled up, found my Motel for the night then settled down to a bit of tele before heading to bed, knowing I had to do it all again the next morning....

I was up at 5.20am, showered and at the local McDonalds for brekky by 6am.
Today's journey was only 900 odd kilometres so I was hopeful I'd have some time for a stop off at "Lightning Ridge....

Thankfully roadworks weren't an issue and I made good time, stopping for a few photos and a stretch at "Hebel", just before the Queensland/NSW border....


Mount Zamia & Virgin Rock


Hebel Hotel

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Next stop was "lightning Ridge"......some 60 odd k's down the road.

I took a few pics and also checked out the "Opal Cave"
All the jewellery was pretty much out of my price range so I ended up just buying a couple of cheap souvenirs.
There was a "market" in the main street so I checked that out but as I'm not into "Opal" most of it was not of much interest to me....

Oh, here's a bit of trivia, Paul Hogan, best known for his role as Mick Dundee in the Crocodile Dundee movies was born in Lightning Ridge.....






Inside the "Opal Cave"


Some roadside sculpture....




Check out the lighting for the toilet....


Ok, time to get back on the road with roughly 500k's still to go.....

The rest of the day was uneventful....but, as I was getting close to "Parkes", the radio Telescope, made famous by "The Dish" movie popped into my head and, as I had made good time up until this point I decided to pay it a visit.
I've passed this "icon" a number of times since I was a child but have never had the opportunity to stop and check it out so, being so close to my destination, today was the day.....

Approaching the Dish, I had my fingers crossed, hoping it was still open....I was in luck, it was open to 5pm, giving me around 40 minutes......








This Control Console was made for the movie then donated to the Parkes radio telescope at the completion of filming...


I was now only 30 odd kilometres from my Motel at Forbes......
Once checked in, I headed back out to fuel up the i30 ready for another early morning departure and then to find myself some dinner before settling back to watch the end of the thugby league grand final, which incidently was won by the Melbourne Storm.... 

I was away even earlier the next morning, which ended up being a waste of time as I had to twiddle my thumbs while I waited for Maccas to open...grrrr!

Made great time once underway so when I spotted a "car wash" at Narrandera I quickly chucked a U turn and spent a pleasant 10 or 15 minutes washing the grime from the last few days off my "baby".

Before too long I was crossing the border into Victoria and feeling like I was nearly home.....

I made the run down the Doom...oops, I mean the Hume Highway into Melbourne and decided, considering I had made such good time that I would pop in and pay a visit to my girlfriend's parents who had been having an issue with their computer and had been waiting for me to come check it out....
That done I made tracks, planning to get out of Melbourne before peak hour traffic got too bad.
I Arrived home around 5pm, really looking forward to having a sleep-in the next morn.....

[Doggie 1]

Great narrative & pics, Rusty. 

[Shambles]

Spectacular stuff - highly entertaining

[Phil №❶]

Gee, for some reason, I found that pub pic quite depressing. Great write up though, all other pic great.