And we were off!

The big day finally arrived and we set off last Monday - 4 of us in 2 cars - on the first leg of our Big Adventure.  We met up with our friend Ken at Caboolture and so there were 5 of us in 3 cars.
Our first night was spent at Tiaro, just north of Gympie, where we managed to get the last three sites in the free camping area at Tiaro Memorial Park ... it was sooo cold! I think it was the coldest night camping I'd spent for a long time!  It wasn't a bad spot, but none of us slept very well that night because the park is just next to the highway. so we had the noise of semis on the highway all night long!
But we were all up and ready to go the next morning.  Next stop Rockhampton.  Unfortunately on our way there, Ann and Bob started having car troubles.  They were able to get to Rocky, and booked the car into the mechanic for first thing Wednesday morning.  But it was another sleepless night at Rocky, as the caravan park was right next to a  shunting yard.  Why shunting yards have to shunt 24 hours a day is beyond me!  But they did!
Next morning we left Ann and Bob at Rocky, in the hope that their car would be fixed and they'd be on the road by lunchtime and would be able to meet us at our next stop - Proserpine.
Unfortunately the news about the car wasn't good; parts needed to be ordered in, which could take at least two days, and then another two days' work to fit them, so Ann and Bob are stuck in Rocky while we kept heading north.  Hopefully they'll be able to catch up with us next weekend at Laura.
We spent Wednesday night at a place called Camp Kanga - a beautiful spot about 20ks north of Proserpine.  It's a Lions Club run site which looks like it caters for school groups, but there's also a number of powered sites for travelers.  Just near Lake Proserpine, it's a very popular spot for fishermen, and a number of them were gone before sunrise in the hope of catching a big one!  John was wishing we'd stayed as bit linger - and had the boat with us!  We also had a group of rock wallabies visit us for breakfast - I think they were used to being fed!
Our next night was spent at Black River, just north of Townsville.  We had planned to stay at a spot called Saunder's Beach, a free camping area also north of Townsville, but with only 15 sites, by the time we got there at 3.30, there wasn't a site to be had!  So we headed back to Black River, and I'm glad we did!  You couldn't get two more different campsites, but Black River was a lovely spot.  Wide open spaces, clean facilities, and an owner with a fetish for plastic flowers!
From Black River we headed north for Cairns, On the way, we stopped for lunch at a gorgeous, very picturesque little town called Cardwell.
We reached Cairns on Friday afternoon and set up camp for three days at Lake Placid, just outside Cairns.
We've had a lovely couple of days here, exploring Cairns and a day trip out to Green Island on the inner reef.
Tomorrow we pack up here and head to Cape Tribulation.

PS Having trouble loading photos, so will get come up on a separate post as soon as I can!