I know, I know.....no blogging whilst we are at KB. At least give me credit for resiting for the two and a half weeks we have been here so far. But enough is enough. Time for a quick (and I mean quick) update.
As I alluded to in my last post, the town of KB seems to have been enveloped in a time warp since we were last here. A few new houses have gone up and a few more are now showing the benefits of the insurance payments post Yasi, but by and large we have returned to a spot where all is as we remembered it. And the town is still for sale! Even the pub.
Our stay here this year has, so far, been little more than a series of social events. Primary amongst these have been 'happy hour', that standard afternoon activity in most parks, but here, to date, they have been very well attended.
On many afternoons almost the entire population of our side of the park has been gathering at whatever site happened to be vacant. As a result of a joke with our friends the Vogts, when I wandered into their annex and rang the brass bell I have been carrying with us for just such an occasion (to summon them to drinks), it has now become a camp tradition that I ring in happy hour each afternoon. I have to say that some of the newcomers have been a little taken aback at first, but it is amazing how quickly most have joined in. Indeed, a number of couples who have travelled extensively have commented on what a very welcoming park this is.
Even the weather gods have smiled on our festivities.
And, true to form, those who run the park have been playing their part in maintaining social bonhomie among their patrons. Wednesday morning scones are on again in the camp kitchen, and on Saturday last the staff threw on a free (basic) BBQ followed by the traditional karaoke session.
And, also true to her KB form, our Liz was one of the star turns of the evening, and was the
subsequent subject of some very favourable comment. She can actually sing a bit! Consistent with another camp tradition, our host Tracey ended the evening with a rendition of 'My Way', as only she can!
Another feature of this stay in KB has been Sunday evening meals at the local Motel. I cannot for the life of me fathom how they do it, but this august establishment provides a three course BBQ buffet for the princely sum of $10 per head. Needless to say, bookings are essential and the house is always crowded.
I must admit I suspected that the offerings may have been somewhat paltry for the price, but not so. Soup, sausages, steak, patties, simple but very good salads, stews, potato bake, veggie patties and a fine apple crumble and ice-cream all serve (?) to blunt the most ferocious appetite (and some of the locals certainly have an appetite...and a strange understanding of the purpose of a queue). Needless to say, we have descended on this food hall in significant numbers (after happy hour of course).
We have made a couple of trips into Innisfail, one to restock the larder and another to check out a by-pass road which we were considering as an alternative route back up onto the Tableland when we move on next week.
As this example shows (mowing the grass takes on a different style in FNQ), we have decided that any distance saved is not worth the towing hassle this back road presents
and therefore our current plan is to revisit the Tableland via the Palmerston Highway which is challenging in parts, but remains by far the easiest route from here to Mareeba, our next port of call.
We have booked into Mareeba for two nights at this stage, during which time we intend to visit the nearby Granite Gorge and a couple of 'interesting' local distilleries before making our way further north to Cooktown where we are planning to spend a week. We have had very differing personal reports about Cooktown from a number of our fellow travellers. I strongly suspect that it is a place which presents much for those with an historical bent, and very little for those seeking more spectacular forms of travelling stimulation. Time will tell. I am also hoping to do a fishing charter in the time we are in Cooktown, but this will depend largely on the wind conditions, which, unfortunately at this time of the year, are generally pretty fierce on the northern Cape.
And speaking of fishing, we are not (talking too much about it that is)! My sorties to date along the KB beachfront, river mouth and river flats have been little more than very long walks. Mind you I have learnt a great deal more about local conditions in the past couple of weeks and did manage to hook a sicklefish, the identification of which presented a challenge to even the local pundits. Fortunately there is a very good fish identification book kept in the park office into which I was diving headlong as this unknown piscatorial offering was sizzling away on JV's BBQ plate (along with a couple of trevally about which we were considerably more confident). Needless to say, my first port of call was the section which identified those species which are poisonous! As it transpired, sicklefish, otherwise known in these parts as 'butterfish', are "esteemed for their table quality". And so it proved to be....delicious. Have I been able to catch another? Not on your nellie. I hope there is not too much complacency in the sicklefish community of KB...we shall be back for another month.
Once we leave Cooktown, our plans include an overnight stay at the famous (notorious?) nearby Lions Den Hotel, and thence to Mossman which we'll use as a base from which to visit the Daintree and the surrounds, including Port Douglas, which is the only town in the Cairns area we really liked on our last trip to these parts some eight years ago. From there it will be back to KB for August.
Stay tuned....more travel tales in a week or so.
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