Chainsaw Man: Living in the Rainforest Pt 2

 May 10-13:  Over the next fews days at our Helpx gig at Home Rule, we put a good effort (especially Hal & Danny) into chainsawing fallen trees and putting the logs onto a bonfire.  Hal had told us that he and his son had put some barramundi in the dams, so on Thursday arvo, we got some live bait from the creek and tried our luck.  Hal's son had caught a couple of barra years ago, but since then no one has.  Including us.

 Friday we walked the perimeter of the 3 dams to remove any sicklepod weeds with our hoes.  Then we took Helen for her first walk to the "picnic area" which was a collection of rock pools off the main track to Cedar Bay.  That walk takes 7hours, so we decided not to do that one as you really need to camp overnight.

Danny saw a black snake as he was exploring the pools and a tree with the old man face.

  

On Saturday morning, we walked the 3 km into Rossville to the markets.  It was small, but had nice cakes and friendly locals to chat to, including some of the organisers of the Wallaby Creek Folk Festival.

Saturday arvo was some more chainsawing and logs for the bonfire.  Saturday night before Dinner, Helen gave us our second dance lesson - recap of the foxtrot and also waltz.  Hal especially was very light on his feet, but Danny and I weren't too shabby either. 

Sunday was spent doing some work in the hydroponic garden which was overrun by weeds.
We packed up and the horses came to visit Keith and have a look inside before we left. 

The above quote we randomly opened in Helen's book seemed to

ring true, particularly in leading us to Home Rule.  I am going to sound like a travel blogger, but you must stop in or go and stay if you are in the Cooktown area.

We had an excellent time with Hal & Helen and hope to come back again for the festivals, maybe next year... 

Living in the Rainforest at Home Rule pt 1

May 8: Black Moutain is made up of a big pile of black rocks which came from...?  Well, there are many theories, so you can look it up and decide for yourself.  It is indeed a strange spectacle, which amused Indigo Velvet greatly.

So after I conceded that I was wrong, we went back to the same turn off and headed along the dirt road past the Lion's Den Hotel.   Driving through the rainforest was amazing - dark and mysterious with rocky creek crossings and single lane bridges. 
Home Rule is a 105acre property consisting of camping grounds and huts, run on Hydro Electricity.  It is also home to the Wallaby Creek Folk Festival in September and Bush Week in July (pic of DJ booth palm frond face, still standing from 2010). It backs onto a pristine creek and is run by Hal, a fit and interesting 82yr old  from Rhodesia. 

After some deliberation, we parked Keith on the upper camping area.  Then Hal showed us around,   including a dwelling consisting of 2 donga's that make up his sleeping quarters  (and his family when they visit).  That night, Helen who lives in one of the huts, cooked us the first of many great meals, which we ate in a communal kitchen/dining building. We had an interesting chat with 2 botanist guys from Cairns - one a  bonsai collector, studying and documenting the local bush tucker.

 

 May 9:  We got an early start.  Hal, Danny, Indigo and me all headed up the 2.5km track to the waterfall.  The boys carried a piece of sheet metal with a length of wood bolted to it.  It was a steep climb to to the top, with remnants of the old hydro pipe clamps and machinery.  Hal and Danny placed the metal sheet in the rock pool, to divert more water towards the pipes that carry it hundreds of meters to the creek.  We also gathered pieces of wood to send up to Hal via rope to protect the pipeline from falling rocks.
The walk was very difficult in parts, but enjoyable to get over the fear of rock climbing.   Indigo even found it difficult to navigate the rocks and fallen trees.

 

That arvo, I cleaned the 'Ablutions' block and Danny & Hal got up on the roof of the dongas to remove vines from a large fallen tree which just missed his bedroom.  The only way up was via a steep ladder (Danny is not too keen on heights) and coming down involved holding tightly onto a rope and trusting your feet to find the ladder rungs.   Danny also went for a photographic expedition on his push bike around the property and up the road to Rossville. 

Where the bloody hell is Wonga?

May 7:  Wonga is a beach about 15mins from Mossman.  It's won best beach in Qld and it was not hard to see why... 

We parked Keith under the natural tropical folliage of paperbarks and coconut trees and Danny went for a cast net in the ocean.  Despite the stinger sign which says "summer months"  a group of Italian men & boys were out there with a drag net in jeans, long pants or pantyhose. 

Danny braved it in his board shorts and I overcame my fear of bikinis and posed for a shot with Keith!
We had arranged to meet friend's of Lissie & Buzzy's at their place, but they weren't gonna be back from Lake Tinaroo until later, so we did a little trip up to Daintree Village.  
Danny whipped out his cast net down at the jetty where the water was crystal clear...but no fish.  We had a nice chat to a man who drives a Croc Tours boat and bought some biscuits at the very overpriced cafe/shop. 
Let me say this, the Daintree River is very beautiful - no wonder the crocodiles have made it their home for probably millions of years.  

We caught up with Jacqui, Earl & their kids late in the arvo and parked Keith on their block, next to a shed with toilet/shower.  On a whim, we decided to ring a Helpx Host - Hal, from Home Rule (He was one of my first Helpx favourites) and see if he wanted some helpers, like, tomorrow?  He said yes and that he was old, but there was also a lady in her 50's living there who would cook for us.  Sounded good to us.

May 8:  I did a big food shop (cans etc) and went on our way up the Great Dividing Range.  On advice from the checkout chick, we looked for the petrol stations she said would be along the way.  We missed one and a slight panic set in as we slowly ascended the big mountain.  Luckily, we still had 10ltrs of fuel from our time at Agnes Water and so Danny pulled over at the Lookout and he poured it in.  We made it!  And filled the tank at the top in Julatten.
We had a quick lunch outside the Lakeland servo  (no dogs allowed outside of vehicles for some strange reason?)  and Danny stopped to photograph a rocky knob on top of a hill. 
Lissie & Buzzy had told us about the danger of cows on the road up to Cooktown and the signs were there too.  We did see cows, and even one on the edge, but none on the road.  
The highway was very good and even though it was the biggest trip Keith had made so far, he was cool in so many ways.
When the time came, we made the turn at the Lion's Den Hotel sign...but sometimes I get possessed by the idea that this is the wrong way and I know the right way!  So we turned around, off the dirt road.
Well, OK I didn't know and we ended up heading up the highway towards the spooky and mysterious...BLACK MOUNTAIN!!!

Keith hangs out at Machans Beach & Yorkey's Knob

April 30:  So Danny, Indigo and Keith turned up at Lissie and Buzzy's place on the beachfront at Machans.


I had spent a couple of days staying at my sister Lynda's and catching up with my pregnant niece, Melanie which was great.  I went to Lissie's school musical (v. good) and even watched "Avatar" for the first time.  I know,  I am the last person on earth to see it!  It was worth the wait 

 


 May 1, 2 & 3:  The next few days were spent enjoying the hospitality of my family. Machans is a wonderful place full of interesting houses and a really cool vibe. 

Danny and Buzzy did some time down the beach cast netting, then out the front with the rods...but to no avail.

Other locals tried cast netting out front (waist deep in water that can sometimes contain crocs and sharks!!)  but they did no good either.  A few prawns is all the boys caught.  But fishing is about more than just catching fish, isn't it... 

 Unfortunately for Indigo, Howard & Martha did not want her to stay at their place and so she slept (with 1 night of howling) in Keith.
They did all go for walks together around Machans and across the bridge to Dungarra Island. 






Danny spotted this pair of Birdwing butterflies along the esplanade.
The female is larger and brownish and the male a bright green & black.
My sister has a particular plant that the birdwing caterpillas love to eat and they grow quite big and fat before they go into their coccoons.

Danny and Buzzy also put on a bonnet scoop for Keith to decrease the amount of heat in the engine bay and help with the valporisation issue.
Before we left, Danny painted it white and it looks like it has always been there.

May 4-6:  
So we said our goodbyes on Friday morning (my nephew Elliott's 21st birthday) and went off up the highway, a few beaches away, to our 2nd Helpx gig at Yorkey's Knob. 
Villa Marine is run by Peter who also takes bookings for Cairns & it's surrounding attractions.  He was very busy so we didn't get to spend any time with him personally, but he was friendly to us and Indigo.

First, we went for a long walk on the beach to the river mouth.   Unfortunately there wasn't a villa for us, so we stayed in a bessa block duplex a few streets away.  Luckily for Indigo, a foster dog arrived that night and they had a couple of good plays in the back yard.

The Helpx work was cleaning windows & screens, mowing and whipper snipping, cleaning the pool and making up the 4 star rooms.  Each room had a slightly different theme and they were very tastefully decorated.  I learnt how to roll towels into a nice shape, do hospital corners on the sheets and we both whipped around the units as a team doing the basics:  kitchen, bathroom and floors. 
On Sunday arvo, we went off to the Yorkey's Knob Boat Club  (as suggested by Peter) for a Jimmy Buffet tribute.  Well, we got there late and there was a lot of middle age drunk people in Hawaiian outfits.  We had a Corona (on special for $5) and disappeared into the back room to play pool.  We called it a draw, because the table was shitty and so the decider game which we started in Reddo, will be played at a later date, somewhere on a better table.

Machans Beach  - always such a pleasure to see you and all my Cairns family!