Elections

Things are really looking interesting on the Aussie Government front.  Can you believe that people in this country would actually elect a 20 year old child into Parliament????  He wasn't even old enough to vote in the last elections..... a school kid!!  Never mind any sort of degree, how about a bit of life experience.  My God!

Party politics should be banned!  Members of Parliament should be there to represent the people who vote for them and should vote on their own conscience, not what the party dictates.

It will be very interesting if the Hung Parliament comes down to the three members who are independents.   Might make the rest of them think about what the Australian public really want. 

Musical Ship

How's this for a bit of fun on the weekend,  It has chimes, a xylophone and drums.  The kids have a great time on it, even the big ones!

Got home today, bit miserable, grey and overcast, with a bit of occasional drizzle.  Have a mile of washing of course, it'll have to wait till tomorrow.

Here's a couple of pics from along the way

Still in Cooktown

This is a really interesting place! Talk about history! Cooktown is as old as Australia is
itself. Where Captain Cook came ashore to repair damage done to the Endeavour after
grounding on the reef in 1770.

 There is a wonderful museum here housed in a beautiful old victorian building which was originally a convent in 1889. It holds the Endeavour's anchor and one of it's cannon along with a complete history of the region.

In the 1870's, once gold was found in the region it became a boom town with 50 hotels at one time. It was also the first port of call for ships coming into Australia from the north. Some of the buildings are 130 years old and are restored immaculately.

The Botanic Gardens were established in the early days and commenced in 1878 when the chinese gardens was established. The gardens were allocated 62.3 hectares (154 acres) and are the 2nd oldest botanic gardens in queensland. Many of the original plants are still there to be seen and the drains, wells and pools are still in use today.

Cooktown

Mount Molloy

Terrific free camp. There must have been about 50 odd vans, mobile homes campers and tents set up. They provide toilets and a cold shower for a gold coin donation. Met some very interesting people coming and going from and to cooktown. Up on the tablelands it is quite cold at night and we got some rain. Some folks stay for long periods, one van had been there for over 6 weeks.

Cooktown.
The drive down from the tablelands is fascinating. The landscape keeps changing as you go down. The top is bushland with grasses and Euclayptus, typical Australian bushland. At one place I would have sworn we were out around Mt isa as it was very dry and sparse. You soon know when you get close as we are back in tropical rainforrest.

Cooktown ~ love it! spent most of the day looking around the town. Surprising the prices are very reasonable, compared to the rest of the country, I don't know if they are subsidised but they are very camparative. Great little Italian restaurant last night, good tucka, terrific spagetti and yummy seafood risotto! anyone would think they were wogs! yummo!!

Had a nice night at the RSL tonight, Roast Pork & lots a veges, Real home cooked meal!...$25 bucks for 2. Even picked up 30 odd bucks on the Pokies. Sad to see our most vulnerable people, all indigenous, sitting at the pokies for hours on end, today is Wednesday ~ pension day.

Bit windy tonight, hope the annexe is still standing in the morning!.....

Mission beach - Tablelands

Mission Beach

The first night of our trip to Cooktown we cheated and didn't even sleep in the van. We spent the night at Mission Beach with Glen and the boys. Boy can Glenny cook a mean Laksa, lots of fish and prawns...to die for. Had a nice night catching up. The house is situated on the top of a hill and surrounded by gardens and natural rainforrest. He has a fabulous view, I think he has about 4 or 5 acres, not sure exactly.

Malanda

We decided to go inland today, and head for the Tablelands. We turned off the highway just before Innisfail and headed for Milla Milla. 'The drive is truly beautiful, there are canefields on the lower slopes and they are harvesting at the moment. We are often pleasantly surprised at what views are revealed when the cane is cut. Higher up there are wonderful vistas of mountains, green valleys, farms nestled in the hills and lazy fat cows with short legs on one side (so they can walk on the slopes without falling over).

Its quite a climb up the range, and the Cheep Jeep found out what a bit of work was like. She got a bit warm but pulled the van up without a worry. You can still see some of the aftermath of Larry ~ Trees broken off and uprooted, and even a house that was wrecked and hasn't been repaired. Quite sad really, they probably had no insurance.
On to Malanda and we are staying at the Malanda Falls Caravan Park. Will go for a walk later and have a look at the falls.

The falls are not high, only a few meters, but very pretty and they fall into a huge swimming pool. Pity it is so cool, it would be lovely to swim here. Must come back in summer instead of the middle of winter. It is amazing how much the temperature drops when you come up in altitude. It is lovely and warm down on the coast and really quite cold here, yet still the same latitude.