East towards the Queensland Coast

After spending two days at Normanton, we continued east towards Mount Surprise along the Gulf Development Road, which is part of the Savannah Way. We stopped in Croydon at the local park for morning tea and were surprised by the changes since our last visit.
 
They have erected sculptures representing the various groups that helped settle and establish the area.
 
In 1881, William Brown took up Croydon Downs Station, and pastoralism remains the primary industry in the Croydon Shire. The sector is symbolised by the stock whip, saddlebag, and hat.

This sculpture depicts the history of the Croydon goldfields. From 1887 to 1906, gold production here was only exceeded by Charters Towers in Queensland. The credit for the gold discovery has been given to W. C. Brown of Croydon Downs and two brothers named Aldridge, who were working as contractors on Browns station.

The Chinese moved to Croydon in the late 1800s. They were cooks, storekeepers, and tended their market gardens. The inscription under the hat reads 'Do not wait until you are thirsty to dig a well.'

Those who have served in all wars are represented on the honour roll, but unfortunately, the sun was in the wrong position to do justice to this photo.

The spear and boomerang symbolise the local Aboriginal people of the Croydon region. They belonged to the Tagalaka clan.

Continuing towards Georgetown, the road conditions changed over the next 147 km. The majority of the road was now just a single strip of bitumen, wide enough only for the 4wd and van. Whenever we encountered traffic- which was quite often- we would move off the bitumen and stop on the dirt. This gave them total access to the strip of bitumen, which for us, reduced the risk of breaking a windscreen from flying rocks.

Twenty kilometres west of Georgetown, we came across the Cumberland Chimney. It was erected in 1889 to carry smoke from the boilers used in crushing the gold from the rocks. The mine produced a total of 67,713 ounces.

 

It's now a free camp, but there was no one there when we passed through, probably due to the heat. The entire site is a massive, dusty mound, with the only appealing aspect being the waterhole, which features water lilies.

 

The waterhole was formed by damming a stream back when the crushing plant was here all those years ago. I'm surprised there is still water here when all around is nothing but dry, dusty ground as far as the eye can see.

The road conditions remained the same through to Mt. Surprise, alternating between single and dual-lane bitumen.

One thing that didn't change was the paddocks, which were covered only in dirt. We saw many dry dams with cattle just standing around. The majority of the cattle were thin and emaciated, and in some paddocks, there were dead cattle. It's a very grim and sad situation. Graziers are just locking up and leaving their properties, and we heard of two cases where two had committed suicide several days before we arrived in Mt Surprise.

We stayed at the Bedrock Caravan Park in Mt Surprise, and you guessed it—'Yabba Dabba Doo'. They are also a Savannah Guide Station and offer tours to the Undara Lava Tubes. It's a charming little park with a swimming pool, a full restaurant and café, and they also cook wood-fired pizzas.

We stopped at Millstream Falls just west of Ravenshoe for our morning break. We were here many years ago, and I don't believe the falls were flowing as strongly this time. It may have something to do with the poor wet seasons.

There was a striking change in the country just after we passed Ravenshoe. On the western side, the land was brown and arid, but within minutes, the vegetation turned green and lush, with lovely rolling hills. We passed the Windy Hill Wind Farm, which generates enough power from its 20 turbines to supply 3,500 homes.

Our camp for the evening was just north of Tolga and about 20 km south of Mareeba. Rocky Creek Memorial Park is a large area with toilets. We backed in as far as possible towards the bush from the road to ensure a peaceful night's sleep.
 
There is a donation box to help with the upkeep of the toilet facilities and rubbish collection, and we were happy to donate $5, but many who arrived after us did not bother.
 
The council have provided a facility where you can leave your local shopping dockets so they can see the benefit of keeping the camping area going.

We left just after 8:30 and soon passed through Mareeba and onto Mount Molloy. From here to Mossman was all downhill with many twists and turns. Cape Kimberley in the distance and Snapper Island on the right side of the picture. The Daintree River flows into the sea just south of Cape Kimberley.

Once we passed through Mossman, it was only 24 km until we reached the Pinnacle Caravan Park at Wonga Beach.