Cairns to Carnarvon Gorge

admin Outback Queensland N01

Thursday 06 August 2020: Cairns to Jourama Falls : 265 km

Innisfail has French, Spanish, Italian, Moroccan and Anglo-Saxon Art Deco facades, a tribute to the multi-cultural past of the region.

Innisfail – Church (1891), Court House (1939), Shire Hall (1935), White Horse Hotel (1901)
Fishing boats moored on the Johnson River at Innisfail
Cane train bringing cut cane to the Tully Sugar Mill
Cardwell jetty with Hinchinbrook Island behind
Crab sandwich at Cardwell
Jesus birds (Comb-crested Jacana) appear to walk on water – Tyto Wetlands, Ingham
The upper photo is a juvenile, the lower an adult indicating successful breeding at the site 
Kreffts Short-necked Turtles share a log with a couple of birds at Tyto Wetlands
Italians migrants first settled in Ingham in the 1890s
We were delighted to find home made pastas and sauces (Photo courtesy Casa Pasta)
The road to Jourama Falls campground
Around Jourama Falls – Cycad with a new flush of leaves, a Pitta, a bush orchid
There’s a well built walking track from the campsite 1.5 km to the Falls Lookout
Water tumbles over multiple falls into pools below at Jourama

Friday 07 August 2020: Jourama Falls to Fletcher Creek: 244 km

Split log inn at Herveys Range, once a hotel for travelers from the goldfields to Townsville
It still has the original 1865 hand adzed hardwood plank walls
Crossing the Burdekin River
Another great camp at Fletcher Creek about 45 km north of Charters Towers
There’s lamb stew in the camp oven for dinner tonight
Strange to see a pelican wobbling through the bush

Saturday 08 August 2020: Fletcher Creek to Belyando Crossing: 240 km

Charters Towers public architecture is unrivalled in inland Queensland; a reminder of the riches brought by the discovery of massive deposits of gold in 1871.

The Charters Towers post office was opened in 1872
Classical structure for the 1891 former Australian Bank of Commerce
City Hall, built in 1891 at the height of Charters Towers wealth, originally the Queensland National Bank
The lacework cast iron of Charters Towers 1888 Royal Hotel casts a lovely shadow
At its peak, there were 65 hotels in The Towers
A Road Train pulls into the Belyando Crossing Roadhouse halfway between Charters Towers & Clermont

Sunday 09 August 2020: Belyando Crossing to Clermont: 174 km

A replica of a piano lodged in the tree during the 1916 Clermont flood which claimed 65 lives
Another ad for Apollo?
The Commercial Hotel is the last remaining old style hotel in Clermont – it was winched to its new location on higher ground after the 1916 floods
Four painted railway carriages illustrate the activities which made Clermont prosperous
“Carinya”, a magnificent old Queensland home built in 1912

Monday 10 August 2020: Clermont to Springsure: 178 km

Clermont was established on the northern banks of Hoods Lagoon in 1862
It was shifted higher up after the floods
Mural on the Capella public toilets shows how toilets used to be
Heritage listed, the ornate Emerald Railway Station was built in 1900

Tuesday 11 August 2020: Springsure to Carnarvon Gorge : 187 km

Virgin Rock, 4 km north of Springsure has a naturally formed likeness to the Virgin Mary and Child
Staircase Range Cutting
This section of the old path was carved out in 1905 by Chinese labourers using only hand tools
Rolleston Post Office, built about 1930 – the mail was delivered from Springsure by a 4-horse buggy
In 2010, this home in Rolleston was relocated 62 km from Springsure where it was built in 1882