Adventures in Australia and South East Asia: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Feb. 27, 2012

Off to Proserpine to visit my cousins daughter and her family. They live about 120 Km north of the village of Marion, which is in the Pioneer valley and is part of MacKay council region.

It has been raining for 5 days now and I have had a problem with posting to my blog as the electrical storm have been interfering with the wireless connection. Have had 10 inches of rain and we were told that the road to Proserpine might be closed due to flooding, but although the water was over the road it was passable.

Had a good visit and returned later in the evening to rain showers and a chorus of frogs.

one way traffic through the flooded area of road.


flooded fields


you can just see the center line


This is the same area about 6 hours later and there is no water on the road at all

The water was about 6 to 8 inches deep for about 2 Km and because of a very high tide caused the road to flood and on our return about 6 to 7 hours later the road was virtually dry.

Feb. 28, 2012.

Getting packed up, leaving my cousins in Marion and off tomorrow for Sydney, going by train again, but it may be an adventure because just heard that the rail has been cut at Gympie which is about 660
Km from here on the way to Brisbane. I go to Brisbane and then take the bus to Casino where I get the train to Sydney. Have to take the bus because the gauge of the rail in Queensland is different from the rail gauge in New South Wales and so one has to take the bus to catch the train.
I arrive in Sydney and it is the Mardi Gras weekend, had a time finding a hotel as they all were booked up, but had my Best Western Card and finally found a room in a hotel that I had used while in Sydney 3 years ago. the Hotel Stellar, which is near Hyde Park and not far from most sites.

Had a good visit and returned later in the evening to rain showers and a chorus of frogs.

one way traffic through the flooded area of road.


flooded fields


you can just see the center line


This is the same area about 6 hours later and there is no water on the road at all

Sarina and the Sarina Sugar Shed.

Feb. 26, 2012

No rain this morning so off to Sarina which is 30 KM south of MacKay. It relatively unspoiled area in a farming region. Also home to a sugar mill which is supplied by the surrounding cane farms. One of the largest coal port facilities in the world is sited on the coast here at Hay Point.
Spent the morning visiting the Sarina Sugar Shed, the only miniature sugar mill and distillery in Australia, which is adjacent to the sugar mill. Here you learn about planting, growing, harvesting, getting the cane to the mill, milling and refining of sugar. The tour is about 2 hours and is very interesting and you get to sample sugar juice and after the tour sample some of the distilled products. Rum, Coconut Rum and other liquors that are distilled here. They distill molasses into alcohol to produce the liquors that they sell .
The Plane Creek is adjacent to the Sugar Shed and it crushes in excess of 11,500 tonnes of cane per day or up to 1.8 million tonnes of cane in a season. From this cane a total of 240,000 tonnes of low color raw sugar is produced as well as 60.000 tonnes of molasses for conversion into ethanol a the company's adjoining Sarina Distillery. . Crushing commences in early June and runs for up to 6 months.

Later walked around the village and had lunch at the local pub.

After lunch drove out to Hay Point / Delrymple Bay and the coal port.
The cold port is one of the largest in the world and only coal is exported from here. Coal comes to the port via rail from 7 different coal mines . This port in one of five that are along the coast of Queensland for export of coal.


Local pub

Drive through beer, wine store

old cane equipment

Plane Creek Mill at Sarina adjacent to the Sugar Shed

Distillery for Sugar Shed

samples

miniature cane processing equipment

Old equipment used on Cane Farms.

Hay Point Coal Port

Loading ships at coal port

Sarina and the Sarina Sugar Shed.


Local pub

Drive through beer, wine store

old cane equipment

Plane Creek Mill at Sarina adjacent to the Sugar Shed

Distillery for Sugar Shed

samples

miniature cane processing equipment

Old equipment used on Cane Farms.

Hay Point Coal Port

Loading ships at coal port

February 22,23,24, 2012.

23rd. went to town to do some shopping, started to rain this evening and has 2.5 inches of rain by the morning of the 24th. Have had a series of storms ever since and as of the morning of the 25th had had 6 inches of rain and some of the river to the south of Mackay have caused some flooding. Has cooled off by about 10 degree C and have had to put on some warmer clothing, everyone here thinks that my internal thermometer is out of order as I love the hotter weather.

Have not been doing much for the last few days because of the weather but plan to take a trip to Sarina on the 25th as the weather is going to be better, at least I hope it will be.

In the evening when it stops raining or between rain showers there is a chorus of frogs. The green frogs on the window ledge were so loud that we had to turn the TV up. There is also a very small frog that is in the drain and one that is behind the temperature gauge on the wall that make an even louder sound somewhat like a dog with laryngitis but very loud. In the morning you wake to a chorus of birds, some from the yard next door where they have cages of birds but mostly from the native birds in the area.

Australian Magpie

Green Tree frog on the window ledge

Australian Magpie

Green Tree frog on the window ledge

Feb. 19, 2012.

Off to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest. This area is also part of the world heritage Park which is 90000 hectares is size. It is the oldest rain forest on earth. The tour company is Billy Tea Safaris and there is 13 on the tour. Got to sit up front so have a good view of the, stopped first in Mossman for tea and then on to the Daintree River for a hour long cruise on the river . Did not see any crocodiles. or other wild things. See several birds, and the guide told is about the tree and vegetation that grows along the river. Was very interesting. This lands us on the other side of the river where the tours bus is waiting to take us up the Alexandra Range and a walk in the tropical rain forest on the elevated boardwalk. Off again and this time we stop at Lync-Haven for a barbecue lunch. One can feed the tame kangaroos and wallabies and view some of the colourful birds of the rain forest.
We then have a long drive to Emmagen Creek for a swim in a cool pool and afternoon tea and sample tropical fruits, most of which I had already eaten. To get to Emmagen Creek you have to go on a 4WD track, but compared to our 4WD tracks was very good and is just like our gravel logging truck roads.
Then back to Cape Tribulation beach and a walk to the view point and the Coral Sea. Looking for Cassowary birds on the way back, seen three two in the bush and did not get good photos but one was in a open area in the water and did get a good photo.

Having taken the river tour embarking on the Mossman side of the Daintree River we now have to take a ferry to cross back to the Mossman side of the river again to get back to Cairns. When the river is in flood the road to Cape Tribulation is not assessable. You can get to Cookstown you have to take the inland highway, which is relatively new.

0n the way back to Cairns we drove past a paddock with a couple hundred wallabies, but could not get a photo as it had just stopped raining, most of the way back to Cairns we drove through a tropical storm.