Day 9: 25/8/25, Cairns to Karumba.

 

25/8/25, Cairns to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria, by coach, 751 Km, about 12 hours including stops along the way.

 (I apologise in advance for today's photos, most of them here taken with my phone from a moving bus)

Up at 4:30 AM, a time we haven’t seen for a long time, so we can drive into Cairns Central Railway Station. As it happened we arrived about ½ hour early but better than being late.

The coach to Karumba is the regular commuter service, but of course, today was a big day because of all us tourists so the coach was about ¾ full including 5-6 people which we dropped of at various locations along the way.

The coach is also the small parcel delivery and collection service for these remote locations so we stopped at various Post Offices, freight depots and the occasional letterbox along the route.

You really are on your own out here and at the mercy of your fellow traveler. At one point our driver stopped at a wayside stop to ask if a truckie was OK, generally people will go out of their way to keep everyone safe.

Eventually we arrived at Karumba, and after a quick allocation of accommodation in various Motels, it was back to the central location for an excellent dinner of fish and chips (and very reasonably priced given the remoteness of our location). Of course the fish is caught out of the local port (we had Spanish Mackerel and it was excellent) but I’m fairly certain they don’t grow potatoes around here anywhere. Dinner for Maritta and I, granted we are not big eaters, plus a bottle of wine was less than $50.

And, apparently, our bus driver will leave at 6AM again in the morning to go back to Cairns, and then do it all again on Wednesday.

 
 Ravenshoe Railway Station

 

Part of the display, In the railway yard (which is in the centre of the caravan park) sits the mighty steam locomotive,” Capella” and her carriages. She is the only operational steam locomotive of her kind (D17 class) in the world at present.

Currently she is not running due to track repairs which we have now been granted Accreditation to complete and we are working very hard towards this goal.

The carriages are a trip down memory lane for those of us who remember the days…

https://www.ravenshoesteamrail.com.au/ravenshoe-steam-railway/ 

 

 
 

You have to be alert for cattle along the road as most of them a not fenced


 

The county side is vast with not much of anything for 100’s of miles


 
 Our chariot for the day, not quite an Alvis, but comfortable enough.


 
 The centre of Croydon, Qld, in the opposite direction from the coach photo above.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1: Blackbutt to Lake Callide Resort (455 Km).

Image
  Day 1: 17/8/25, Blackbutt to Lake Callide Resort (455 Km). Following on from our Murray River houseboat trip last year, this year’s adventure with our long-time friends, Lyn and Tristan, is into North Queensland. For our Overseas friends, our starting point this year is from our Blackbutt property which is three comfortable day’s travel (about 1800km) north from Avonsleigh, Victoria, where we have lived for many years.    Lunch at Mundabbbera on the Burnett River with a fitting companion (Maritta of course but also the train)                                                         Lunch stop, Mundaburra overlooking the Burnett River   Still at lunch stop, it must be spectacular when the river is at 20 Metres (look closely at the white post, centre of shot, visually slightly above the brid...
Read more

Day 14: 30/8/25, Mt Surprise to Cairns.

Image
 Day 14: 30/8/25,  Mt Surprise to Cairns.   Today we continue our journey aboard the Savannahlander to Cairns. Whilst the trip would normally terminate in Cairns, unfortunately a bridge is out so the train will drop us in Mareebra and a coach will take us back to Cairns. We knew this when we booked but felt it was still important to support the efforts of the great people who keep this train operating. Maybe at some point in the future we will be able to do the final little bit. Anyway, today's journey begins in Mount Surprise. One thing you do notice is that there are rails lines going in all directions along the currently use-able section of track and in it’s heyday the rail system out here must have been incredible.   Myriad of lines leaving the Mt Surprise rail yard. The Brahman cattle watch our progress with curiosity Termite Mounds (just a sample, some are much bigger) Termite mounds are everywhere out here and out train drive come tour guide gave us ...
Read more

Day 18: 3/9/25, Gladstone.

Image
 Day 18: 3/9/25,  Gladstone. Gladstone is essentially an industrial town with several heavy industries present. This is mainly due to it’s deep water port and it’s relative proximity to coal and other mineral deposits. Bauxite is transported here by ship from Weipa and Gove (NT), coal is nearby, and a 549Km pipeline rings natural gas to be liquefied and then transported by ship to southern Queensland and the rest of the world.   The proximity of the Coral Sea and an extensive river system means boats are everywhere (Boyne River near Tannum Sands)   One of two bauxite refineries. On average QAL (this plant) produces about 11,000 tonnes of alumina each year. Cargo ships waiting their turn to dock More than 120 million tons of cargo comprising of 30 products pass through Gladstone Harbour each year. The park overlooking the bauxite refinery Industry puts a lot of money back into the community with parks, gardens and extensive community projects Exten...
Read more