East towards the Queensland Coast

After spending two days at Normanton we continued east towards Mt 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 at the changes that have been made here since our last visit.

They have erected sculptures representing the various groups who helped settle and establish the area. 

In 1881 William Brown took up Croydon Downs Station and pastoralism to this day is still the main industry of the Croydon Shire. The industry is represented by the stock whip, saddlebag and hat.

This sculpture represents the history of the Croydon goldfields. Between 1887 and 1906 gold production here was only surpassed 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 in the late 1800's. They were cooks, storekeepers and tendered 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 honor roll but unfortunately the sun was in the wrong position to do justice to this photo.

The spear and boomerang represent the local aboriginals of the Croydon area. They were the Tagalaka clan.

Continuing on towards Georgetown the road conditions changed over the next 147 km. The majority of the road was now just a single strip of bitumen just wide enough for the 4wd and van. Whenever we encountered traffic and that was quite often, we would move off the bitumen and stop on the dirt. This giving them total access to the strip of bitumen which for our part, lessens the chance 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. 

Its now a free camp but there was no one there when we went through probably due to the heat. The whole site is one large bull-dust mound with the only appealing aspect being the waterhole with the 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 were the paddocks covered in nothing but dirt. We saw many dry dams with cattle just standing around. The majority of the cattle were all skin and bones and in some paddocks there were dead cattle. Its 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 provide tours to the Undara Lava Tubes. Its a great little park with a swimming pool, a full restaurant and cafe and they also cook wood fired pizzas.

We stopped in 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. May have something to do with the poor wet seasons.

There was a dramatic change in the country just after we passed Ravenshoe. On the western side the country was brown and dry and within minutes the vegetation was green and lush with lovely rolling hills. We passed the Windy Hill Wind Farm that produces enough power from its 20 turbines to power 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 towards the bush as far as possible from the road to ensure we had a peaceful nights sleep. 

There is a donation box to help for 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 down hill with many twists and turns. Cape Kimberley in the distance and Snapper Island on the right of picture. The Daintree River flows into the sea just south of Cape Kimberley.

Once through Mossman it was just 24 km until we arrived at the Pinnacle Caravan Park at Wonga Beach.