Cobbold Gorge to Mount Surprise

Saturday, 18 October 2024

Our fridge battery is being a problem. It has been refusing to charge properly for about a week now only managing to get to around 30-40% charge … at best. Fortunately, we’ve had refrigerators to move our supplies into overnight when the charge has been dropping lower still. Even our longer drive from Normanton to Cobbold Village (387km) on Thursday didn’t boost it much. Bernie has been telling me it’s a smart battery that is supposed to look after its health and only bulk charge when it’s efficient to do so and then trickle charge the rest of the time. However, for some reason it’s not bulk charging at all at the moment so it’s using more power than it’s drawing from the car battery.

Bernie thinks a re-set would fix it but that can only be done on the charger unit that attaches to mains power. That would be the charger that is sitting in the garage in Melbourne! It might have to come with us on future trips to give us the option of overnight/bulk charging on mains power if/when it’s necessary? Anyhow, Bernie’s latest idea is that in Charters Towers we are going to buy a solar charger to try to boost its power level to 50% or more. Fingers crossed that that works because it’s a bit of a worry carrying perishables when you’re (me anyway) worried about the car fridge staying cold enough to preserve everything.

We went to breakfast just before 8.00am this morning and had the bistro to ourselves with most other guests heading out on the Cobbold Gorge tour this morning. Yesterday all the breakfast items were pre-cooked, and the staff were dishing out eggs, bacon, etc from the Bain Marie. This morning, we were able to order our breakfast a la carte. A much better option when eggs are involved as they tend to be just right rather than overcooked. On Cathy and Steve’s recommendation we ordered the Eggs Benny. Which was poached eggs over spinach on sourdough toast which I would have said is Eggs Florentine? Anyway, we made them Eggs Benny by ordering them with bacon!

After breakfast it was time to pack the car again and keep moving east. Leaving the village behind us, we soon found ourselves outside the 9,000 hectares reserved for the Wilderness Refuge and driving through Howlong Station. We spied a dingo (pretty sure it was a dingo) standing on the side of the road before passing a roadside section where the Brahman cattle were relaxing in the shade watching the cars go by.

I spotted some more red-tailed black cockies in a tree by the roadside. Rather fortunately on a sealed section of road so we didn’t have to pull up in our own dust cloud. I clicked off a few more photos of black cockies because I am just a little bit obsessed with them!

We arrived in Forsayth and learnt that it is the southernmost end of the Savannahlander Train service that runs from Cairns to Forsayth on Thursdays. We took photos of the tiny train station. Bernie spotted toilets across the tracks, so we ventured over to use the loos. Ugh! Definitely the worst we have encountered. Bernie had entered the Mens first and I called out to ask are they OK?? Yes, they’re fine he says. I went into the Ladies and lifted the lid in the first cubicle and thought, YUK. I moved to the next cubicle and lifted the lid and thought, YUK. I decided to flush it to see if that improved the appearance of the bowl. OMG, I flushed a frog out from under the rim and then noticed that its buddy was sitting on the rim. Hmmn, I’m not using that one then.

Last possibility, how does the disabled toilet look? Surprisingly OK, especially since this one didn’t have a lid on it to keep frogs out. I used the loo and then washed my hands at an explosive press down tap that almost showered me from head to toe! And if it was supposed to be a water saver tap it failed miserably because the water gushed and gushed to the point where I thought it was going to overflow the basin!

In the meantime, Steve suggested to Cathy that she could use the Mens toilet. Are there frogs she asked, and Steve assured her that the bowl was clear, although he and Bernie had used the urinals. Cathy lifted the seat to double check and there WAS a frog! Cathy declared that she could hold on until we were back in Georgetown. I told her that I had been able to use the disabled toilet without incident so, still with some trepidation, Cathy used the disabled loo.

We walked through Caschafor Park which had some lovely mature trees in it making it several degrees cooler than it was outside the park. We were intrigued by the tree with its sausage-like seedpods hanging from it. The park had lovely electric BBQs but signs on them saying that there isn’t actually any power for the lights or BBQs in the park due to the town’s unreliable electricity supply.

We crossed the road to the Goldfield’s Hotel and general store to check for milk and fruit for tomorrow’s breakfast since we will be back to catering for ourselves. Not much stock at all so we decided to try again in Georgetown. Wouldn’t you know it, there are more public toilets next to the general store! We didn’t actually check but feel that they were probably in better condition than the ones on the other side of the railway line?

We also learnt from the notices on the notice board that on Thursdays it is possible to take a bus to Einasleigh to catch The Savannahlander there and ride back to Forsayth. That didn’t come up in our research, but it would be difficult to do The Gulflander on (eastbound Wednesdays and westbound Thursdays) and The Savannahlander on a Thursday. Besides it’s more interesting to ride a train from nowhere to nowhere than one that travels to/from Cairns.

Arriving back in Georgetown we visited the roadhouse again. This time instead of lunch we managed to purchase a pineapple and some kiwis for breakfast tomorrow. No A2 milk so that will be no milk on my cereal until Charters Towers. I’m sure Nutrigrain with yoghurt will be just fine?! Breakfast of champions, ha, ha. We had some discussion about whether to buy sandwiches to take with us to Mount Surprise but decided to take a chance on being able to buy lunch when we got there.

As we returned to the vehicles the Trans North coach pulled up, today on its way from Karumba to Cairns. The driver exited the bus and headed into the roadhouse. One of the passengers piled out hot on his heels desperately lighting a ciggie as he came down the steps. No doubt he needed to get a couple of those in him to survive the next leg of the journey??

We pulled out of Georgetown and crossed the sandy, dry expanse of the Etheridge River. After what we learnt yesterday about the Robertson River it is quite likely that the river is still flowing but underground. Not far out of Georgetown we encountered more of the single-track road sections. There are signs up that say trucks have the right of way on the bitumen and passenger vehicles are the ones that have to move over onto the shoulders. It’s less clear what the protocol is for passenger vehicles passing each other? Bernie was inclined to cede the bitumen to the oncoming traffic reasoning that we were less like to have stones flung up at us if the oncoming traffic was on the bitumen. Thank goodness though that it wasn’t 92 kilometres of single-track road.

In the rear-view mirror and side mirror it looked like the Trans North coach was back on the road and breathing down the exhaust of Cathy and Steve’s Subaru. We’re sure it wasn’t quite that close in reality but, when we saw the pull out for Casey’s Rest Viewpoint, we thought it was a good chance to look at the expansive view AND let the coach get ahead of us. After all the driver drives this route frequently and knows the road like the back of his hand and we’re tourists not in any particular hurry today to get to our next destination.

When we reached Junction Creek it was novel to see water flowing in it after so many dry river and creek beds. The creek is only about nine kilometres out of Mount Surprise, so it wasn’t long before we were pulling into town looking for the BP Roadhouse. Hmmn, that would be roughly opposite where the Trans North coach was pulled over for its next stop on the way to Cairns. Damn, the BP is having new bowsers installed so no BP fuel available at the moment. Fortunately, we were able to refill the vehicles at the Post Office Roadhouse. Not much food there, only a few pies in the pie warmer. Venturing back to the BP we found the roadhouse part open for business, so we were able to order freshly made toasties all round.

Next stop the Mount Surprise Discovery Park. We were originally booked at the Undara Discovery Park adjacent to the Undara Volcanic National Park. However, we were contacted before we left home with the news that ‘Management’ had decided to close the Undara park early to start off-season maintenance, so they had moved our booking to the park in Mount Surprise. OK, not as flash so we received a partial refund of the difference. Not as close so our tour tomorrow will start at 8.00am from Mount Surprise rather than at 8.30am from Undara. At least we will still be able to see the lava tunnels.

It was only 1.00pm when we arrived at the park so initially the bad news was that our cabins were not ready yet. Shame, we just wanted to get checked in and use the pool. There’s not much else to do in Mount Surprise and it was 35°C. We decided that we would just park in the shade and hope that the rooms would be ready soon.

Bernie spotted an ice-cream freezer so asked if we could buy ice-creams. We were let into the café (already closed for the season) and selected (from very slim pickings) pine-lime Splices. And then we were told we didn’t have to pay for them. I guess if they’ve closed the café that any stock left is surplus to requirements? We’d barely started on our ice-cream and the girl at the reception desk announced that our rooms were ready for us. Wonderful.

We drove around to our cabins and unloaded our gear into the cabin where we’ll be for the next two nights. We walked over to the laundry via the pool noting that it was in full sun at the moment. We sussed out the lines for drying our washing. Lots and lots of line space for drying. We headed back to the cabin, mucked about for a bit hoping that at least part of the pool would soon be shaded, sorted our washing, changed into our togs and headed out to the pool. While I lazed in the pool, Bernie was the one to go to do battle with the coin operated washing machine.

While the washing washed, we lazed in the pool. Not quite the same as the glorious infinity pool overlooking the dam that we enjoyed at Cobbold Village, but it was wet and cool which was delightful on yet another hot day. The mature trees beside the pool were now casting some much-needed shade over the pool BUT they were also dropping leaves and blossom into the pool. Bernie played pool boy and scooped some leaves from the surface before we went in but there was still leaf litter on the bottom. Not enough to stop us going in though! Large trees do make pool maintenance very difficult!

After our swim we all managed to lower ourselves into the world’s lowest sun lounges without capsizing them, ha, ha. Having gotten down into these lounges all of us were a bit concerned about whether we’d ever be able to get up again! Bernie had very efficiently hung the washing mid-swim so eventually we hauled our asses out of the sun lounges, collected our washing that was already dry and headed back to the room.

Off to the Mount Surprise Hotel for dinner. Not an extensive menu but enough traditional pub grub to choose from. We all opted for the battered barramundi, chips and salad. I forgot to mention that there were no chips at Cobbold Village because their fryer had broken down. That’s getting to be a recurring theme! OMG, two days, no chips.

When we left the pub, I was in the process of turning on my phone torch to see where I was going and what I might be stepping in – there’s kanga poo everywhere – when Bernie managed to fall over a knee-height rock and end up on the ground. Bloody hell, still trying to get my torch on so that I could see to help him up and check the damage as there was absolutely no point me falling over the same obstacle. On the plus side no broken bones but blood was pouring from just below his knee and down his shin. Alright let’s get back to the cabin and clean it up with disinfectant wipes and assess the damage and dress it with Savlon and bandaids.

So, it’s a pretty superficial wound. The point of impact seems to be a ten-cent-sized bump about six centimetres below his right knee then a graze extending for about ten centimetres below that. And a knock on his right big toe. Thank goodness, it could have been so much worse.

Bernie is not having a good night tonight. He opened a Coke – one which he put in the freezer for a while to cool it down fast – and yes, it was frozen and exploded on opening spray painting our cabin with Coke. Coke sprayed allover the door, allover the wall beside the door and allover the floor. Luckily only two small spots of Coke hit the fabric couch. A little bit of frozen Coke under pressure goes a long, long way. We found a Chux under the sink and Bernie wiped the door and walls with that while I broke out the disinfectant wipes again to look after the floor. Yuk!