FISHERY FALLS (29 - 31 JULY 2013)

We had booked three nights in Fishery Falls on the recommendation of a number of fellow travellers.  A lovely spot to relax for a few days en route back to Kurrimine Beach in a park boasting award winning gardens, a charming waterfall virtually in its backyard and a nearby pub was what we had been told.  All true.....and that's it!

 

 

This is  Fishery Falls, some 30 kms south of Cairns, in its entirety. The entrance to the caravan park is at the far right of the shot, the long building is the pub/cafe and next to that, an artisan glass maker's studio, all tucked up beneath the heavily forested mountains on the western side of the Bruce Highway.

 

But before we take a closer look at what really was a most delightful park, we have to get here.

 

We left Mossman in reasonable time, but not too early.  Experience with our earlier trip to Cairns to have the truck serviced had taught us that Cairns morning commuter traffic was to be avoided. 

On that particular day, when we had to be at the Toyota dealer by 0830 hours, we had been staggered by the number of vehicles jostling along the multi-laned Bruce Highway from about Palm Cove onwards.  It reminded us of the morning rush on Anzac Highway with long queues forming at the approaches to the many roundabouts which feature over the last ten kilometres or so into the Cairns CBD.  In fact, it was but a few days later that we noted an article in the local Cairns Post which was strident in its condemnation of the morning traffic congestion at these choke points.  Hear, hear! 

We were particularly pleased that the Mossman mill suffered a mechanical failure on the weekend prior to our departure.  With no mill soot deluging the van, and a sharp overnight shower, I did not have to scrub down the awning before packing it and everything else up in readiness for our next venture.



So with a perfectly practical reason to avoid a very early morning start we farewelled Mossman and made our way out of town and back onto the Bruce yet again.  The 15 kms of road to the Port Douglas turn-off is wide and flat, but beyond that the route to Cairns features many narrow mountainous sections

and a number of stretches where the road hugs the coastline.

It is impossible to overtake on much of this section of the highway (even for Queenslanders!), but a number of slow vehicle pull-outs cater for those of us in towing snail mode to be able to rid ourselves of the inevitable tail.  And some of these do offer brilliant views south along the coast.


  

Our plan to avoid the hubbub of 'commuter Cairns' worked perfectly.  We made our way along what is, by now, a quite familiar route.  The Bruce Highway through Cairns is also the road on which the Toyota dealer, Dan Murphy's and other critical supply points are located (we did actually resupply at Dan's).






So, restocked with the other liquid essential besides fuel, we chugged on down the Bruce, past the most appropriately named Pyramid Mountain,






through Gordonvale, which is really the southern outpost of suburban Cairns, and on to our park at Fishery Falls.

Despite what we had been told we were a little surprised to find just how small Fishery Falls actually is, (as can be seen in the first photo) but let's face it, a caravan park and a pub, which is accessed through the back fence of the park, is all that is really needed for a short break.

Our approach to the park entrance immediately confirmed what we had been told about the wonderful gardens which are a feature of this spot.

And it just got better and better once we were in. Our allotted site was huge, right at the end of this eastern park roadway.

 

Although shade was limited, and the morning sun did have the potential to bake the exposed side of the van, we used the shade cloth we normally run along the awning roller to good effect on the other side.







  

Most of the sites here at Fishery Falls are set between rows of palms, shrubs and flowers which form borders on either side of the site, 

and, as you can see when looking along this row of happy campers, the vans and associated bits and pieces are almost hidden in the shrubbery.  Not to mention the lawns....every open patch in this entire park is beautifully grassed.  Shade and privacy and lawns!  Three of the most prized features of a caravan park site.  Add to this the backdrop of the green mountain ridge and the picture is complete. 

 

 

 

And what is another very well received feature of a caravan park site...elbow room!

 

On our patch here at FF we had this in spades.

 

 

 

 

 

Just before we leave the park itself, I had to include this shot.  Aside from the fact it provides a somewhat panoramic view of the park amenities block you will note the 'green thing' mid shot which from here looks something like a nissan hut.

 

What is it I hear you ask?  A rather oddly designed king sized tent is the answer, which is just what I though when I first saw it.  But as I walked past it later I spotted a number plate on the base frame, then wheels.  This whole edifice is actually mounted on a large mobile platform, which one can only assume from the fact that it is registered, can be readily towed from spot to spot (with what we are not sure).  As you may have gathered by now, we had never before seen anything like this. 

 

But enough of the park.....other than to comment that it has been the recipient of a number of yearly awards for the quality of its gardens and surrounds...well deserved.  The only drawback we could find was the fact that it does abut the Bruce Highway and the main north-south rail line.  The regular deep throb of the diesel engines of large freight trains and the traffic noise on the Bruce does present a sleeping challenge, but this has obviously not deterred many who were clearly settled in for a long term stay.

 

 

 

 

 

Fishery Falls.  The name would indicate a nearby waterfall, and so there is, a brisk 15-20 minute walk up this roadway past the park and into the nearby foothills where

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the road morphs into a pretty benign track through the ubiquitous rain forest

 

 

which does throw up a surprise on the way....a pig trap....what else would you expect to find?  Apparently the local forest is home to a number of feral pigs, one of which has been recently threatening folk using the track to the falls.  I remain unsure as to whether the efforts to capture this porcine terrorist have been mounted to protect tourists or more to ensure the safety of Queensland Water workers.  The falls area forms part of a local water supply system (as will be seen shortly) which obviously requires the attendance of maintenance workers from time to time. 

Irrespective of the reason for the trap, its presence did give an added impetus to our reactions to any rustling in the forest!    

The good track eventually petered out and led us to a short flight of stairs

and on past the pond at the base of the falls.

 

From here a metal mesh walkway runs alongside a Qld Water cement spillway and off take channel,  

 from the end of which the falls come into view.

 

 

As can be seen, Fishery Falls do not present the most impressive display at this time of the year, but I am sure this is an entirely different matter during the wet.  As it was, the walk up the hill had certainly not been a waste of time.

 

Our return jaunt did present us with another offering of the natural beauty to be found in this part of the world....butterflies.  The startlingly electric blue 'Ulysses' is the undisputed monarch of the tropical FNQ butterfly world, a fact which becomes very evident by virtue of the fact that almost every tourist brochure and other advertising of all kinds feature this splendid creature.  We had seen several in our travels, but had never managed to catch one on film. 

 

Three very colourful cousins of the Ulysses were much more cooperative (after a fashion) on the Fishery Falls track.  After a concerted stalking effort and re-focusing of my somewhat limited photographic device, and the patience required (not my strong suit) to allow these flitting aerial acrobats to settle, I did manage three shots which give some idea of just how colourful the butterfly world is in the tropics.

 

 

This little red and black fellow was my favourite,  but he had a couple of close rivals in firstly, the orange team representative

 

 

and, bringing up the rear, the yellow peril.

 

 

 

As is evident, I can make no claim to expertise when it comes to this sort of photography, but I hope I have been able to give some feel for the colour these delightful creatures bring to the rain forest.

 

Whilst at Fishery Falls we did take a trip to nearby Babinda, another small town just off the Bruce Highway which is the home to the 'Devil's Pond', a section of the Babinda Creek with a tale to tell.  And it was here that we suffered our first taste of vehicle damage at the hands of local vandals, but that's a story for the next blog.

 

As I have occasionally had to do in the past, I must conclude this offering with an apology for the fact that I have been unable to centre the text alongside many of the photos.  For some completely inexplicable reason the programme which drives all this has spasmodic hissy fits and acquires a stubborn mind of its own.  This is invariably accompanied by frustratingly long delays in uploading the photos to the blog......I have spent almost six hours over three days on this one! 

 

In real time (it's now Sunday 18 August)  we are still at Kurrimine Beach, where the weather is, at last, absolutely wonderful.  Mild to cool nights followed by calm, warm days in the high 20's.  Just what we came here for.  We have almost forgotten what cold, windy winter blasts feel like, which is exactly the plan.  Our fingers are crossed for much more to come.

 

I'll hopefully catch up with our travels to date before I head off to Sydney this coming Wednesday for a few days with Stu and Cam prior to Stu's departure for the Persian Gulf and beyond.