Innisfail via Millstream-Its important to have a twinkle in your wrinkle 

Innisfail 9th April

In two short  drives we moved from vast dusty parched flat plains to mountainous drenched rain forests that drop straight into the ocean.

On our way to Innisfail we parked up on a rest area near Millstream. Nice handy spot for our journey. I was up at sparrows fart as usual but unusually I could hear many other campers talking and moving around as well as moving their vehicles. Now there was only two other campers at the site when we went to bed so i was expecting some large groups of travelling families that had landed overnight. What awaited us outside the van curtains however was the fact that we were now centre piece to a farmers market come car boot sale !

You may just make out the sign for Donkey Manure for sale behind the gorgeous Alsatian pup.

With the rain from the recent cyclone the water levels were showing off all the water features of the area

We headed to the River Drive campsite .Its camp kitchen is amazing with more frying pans than a commercial kitchen and a river view second to none. We took the time to knock up a few delicacies to vacuum seal for meals on the road . Italian meatballs and Chicken Thai curry.

We got talking to a group of young Fijian guys who it turned out were working on a banana farm for 6 months, picking 8 hours a day six days a week . The visa system for them is such that they can do this for 6 months then they have to return home for 6 months but then they can come back and so on. Apparently a couple of years doing this can put you in the position of buying your own farm in Fiji. They had been playing rugby union for the local team but the “Banana Boss” had now forbid them to do this . They reckoned they didn’t know why but a few shared looks between them may have revealed some fun and games had been involved pre-ban !

We had a walk round Innisfail which has some fantastically preserved art deco building frontages over the modern day shops

We then headed off to the beach for sunset. Bramston Beach was amazingly relaxed ( a family having a BBQ on the beach were “relaxed” off their face ). Seriously though it was idyllic. Couple of beers on the beach and a fruitless fish hit the spot. Fishing by the light of the full moon was cool too. As we are now in saltwater crocodile country you have to be very wary anywhere near the waters edge of any watercourse . The campsite manageress told me about a young man in March who at 2am had been dared to jump into the harbour at Innisfail , he did so claiming that crocs only took backpackers not locals. One saltie ripped his arm off but he survived by punching the croc with his good arm. This isn’t just a “manageress fact ”  it appears to be true .

On day two we headed south with a visit to Cowley Beach and Etty Bay . Etty was a tiny but beautiful beach where we twitched our first Cassowary which look more like dinosaurs than most dinosaurs . Despite the beach having a lifeguard and a netted area swimming was forbidden due to marine stingers being around .

We then headed off to Cowley bay which was a thin strip of sand that dissected sea on one side and mangrove swamp  on the other , what they both had in common was that they were beautiful and reluctant to give up any fish ( low tide was my excuse ).

What a great find .

I excitedly entered the bar and asked if i could meet Fish . They pretended that they didn’t know about one of Dalkeiths finest musician  (probably to protect the great man) however I think I caught  sight of his  mullet and headband in the kitchen . All that was missing was Kayleigh belting out over the speakers.

In the evening we talked custard creating techniques with a couple of swiss tourists Heidie and Stefan (  thats how we roll when living on the edge ).

They travel Australia every two to three years in their old converted  landcruiser. They have a neat sleeping solution that involves removable slats that fit in the upper section of the car to create a bed .

We then met with our new pals the Fijian banana pickers.

First of all they made a snicky snacky snoo of bacon egg and 5 kg of flour turned into bread .

The camp manageress who loved mothering this group was pressing them on the fact that their freezer was emptying quickly ( it had been full of barramundi fillets donated by the rugby club). All that was left was some  duck. She pushed them on the duck , ” so do you know how to cook duck ?  ”  ” what do you need to cook duck ” etc etc. One of the boys says , “yes no problem miss- Duck and banana curry “. She was ok with the reply  and walked off . I then called him out and said curry  no way  you could say that for anything  ! . He cracked up exposing his wide smile and the fact he had no idea where to start with a duck . I am however at some point in our trip going to attempt to create a duck and banana curry .

We had the berth right next door to the wonderful camp kitchen which was great apart from the fact the the Fijian Banana Pickers (need their own website) would start preparing their meals at 3am , they suddenly weren’t Kates mates anymore !

Nice early morning 5k run blew out the cobwebs and rewarded with a stunning view off the Johnston river bridge

Now I like concrete as much as the next man….. or maybe I dont ?

The camp kitchen book swap shelves did nothing for my weakness for double entendres and schoolboy humour !