Planes, boats, a train and an automobile - hai Karumba!

[Noah Count]

Thanks for posting, I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos you have posted and the experiences you have shared. I like the TR thread to learn about new places or read about places you may have been to and the things missed.

 

[bPeteb]

These are the butterfly cottages. They look nice. A decent walk away from the resort buildings. No byo alcohol here, or anywhere



Here's the resort floorplan.



Rooms to avoid - every studio on the ground floor as you'll have a view of either a really high retaining wall or the stairwell/fire hose/extinguisher. Every studio facing the stairwells on the next two levels. The last three beach facing rooms on the ground floor. I'll try to work out the numbers at some point.





Daily activities. We went on a turtle tour





and it was interesting but if not for some idiots last year who tried to lift a turtle out of a pool we would have been able to see all of the turtles instead of just this one

 

[bPeteb]

A truly beautiful sunset









the S21 can do some odd things to pictures when it is nearly dark

 

[bPeteb]

if breakfast was ordinary dinner certainly wasn't. Good food and great service



the crocodile



and the emu



the beef cheek (bAl said it was cooked beautifully but was a bit plain)



the pork belly was great



to dessert



banana brulee excellent



the panna cotta

 

[bPeteb]

another 7:30 breakfast, this time the eggs anyway



the pool is so much more inviting when it's empty, that is until you look behind the pool bar. Nothing like a few dozen milk crates sitting around, or the back of a drinks fridge. Weird



then there's this odd table and chairs where they could have a couple more loungers



the great retaining wall of Fitzroy island



and a daylight view from our verandah



We went snorkelling up past Foxy's. Plenty of people were snorkelling off the beach without stinger suits but we weren't game. The water was warm if a little cloudy, the coral terrific, there were a decent number of fish, and I just took videos but have just found out that the Windows Photo software can take photos out of videos so here's some shots from the morning snorkel

 

[bPeteb]

In the afternoon we went out on a guided snorkel tour. It was $50 each and although the info given was really good, and we learned some stuff we didn't know, the actual snorkelling was pretty ordinary and the water was even cloudier than the morning











we went back to Foxy's for happy hour (3-4) and decided the red sangria was much better than the white.

we had another snorkel straight out from our room in search of turtles but no luck

another magical sunset

 

[bPeteb]

Back to Zephyr for dinner

Calamari



spiced kangaroo fillet



soy glazed duck salad (really fantastic)



the rosella and white chocolate mousse was tasty but a big serving, and heavy, exactly the opposite of what I expected



reflections of the yachts anchored off the beach



that's our room, all lit up

 

[VPS]

There are three walks on the island, four if you include the walk to Nudey beach - Secret Garden, Lookout loop and Lighthouse.

We should have started at 6 when we woke up but instead we walked on the beach, had breakfast, then started up to the lookout going anti-clockwise.

It was so f'n hot and so f'n humid. I have trouble with any kind of walking up steps and this was nearly a walk too far but I got to the lookout with some careful cajoling by bAl, my japanese manrag and a whole lot of water. The view was excellent.

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from the lookout is was nearly all downhill except for the diversion to the lighthouse

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you do look very warm

 

[bPeteb]

We were up very early and walked back around to Nudey Beach.





We had a swim, sans stinger suit, then went back to pack.

Foxy's not looking that inviting set up like this



We hadn't bothered to book for breakfast but hadn't realised that all of the people off yachts there for a race were able to come in and eat, even though it's supposed to be guests only



We joined the queue, were told there was only 8 or later available (it was 7:50) so told to come back in 10 minutes. There was so many empty tables. Why not just seat us and give us water, or juice.

So we went back to the room, finished the last bit of packing, and were back at the restaurant just after 8. It took nearly 30 minutes fo coffee to arrive and another 20 before our food turned up. Clearly they lost control due to the yacht crews being allowed to have breakfast. They apologised at about the 45 minute mark and offered more coffee or juice but we wanted to get finished and ready to leave on the 9.30 ferry.

scrambled egg croissant



The previous day there were issues with the big ferry, the Fitzroy Flyer, A couple of services were cancelled and the little ferry was doing most runs. When we were sat at Foxy's the Flyer came in and then when it left I commented to bAl that it did not sound well.

Clearly it wasn't because we were taken back to Cairns on the beautiful Dreamtime Dive & Snorkel boat.



Foxy's from the water





our flight wasn't until 12:15 so plenty of time to get an Uber and have a relax in the moderatly busy Q pub.

My shadow stuck again so some nice pics as we took off over Green Island a few minutes early. Brisbane was expecting a storm and he wanted to get us down there before it arrived



chicken sandwich that was stuck to the box but it was ok



In a few minutes early with no storm in sight. It struck just after I got back from a quick trip into the city to get something from the office. Lots of heavy rain and a fair bit of hail but luckily nothing damaging for us.

Until next time, when we're going back up to Port Douglas and Palm Cove for six days over New Years.

 

[drron]

Loved the great TR with excellent pictures.So long ago that we Drove from Mt.Isa to Karumba and then across to Cairns. the road looks much better than then.
The Undarra lava tubes were fantastic but back then you could wander through at your leisure without a tour group.Brekkie hasn't changed though.

 

[bPeteb]

We can't stress enough how much we enjoyed this holiday. I think we both went into wondering how it would go and it was just so great.

The people up in FNQ are so greatful for visitors, even crazy ones travelling this late in the season. Cobbold had extended their season because they had so many people wanting to book. Our Uber driver back to the airport thanked us for visiting and when we said we were coming back in December said thankyou for supporting us. We needed to do a bit more planning and should have gone no later than late September.

We'll go back. We'll definitely go back to Undara to see the microbats leave the tube at sunset and to do the 12km walk. We'll potentially drive from Townsville across to Charters Towers and then up the Matilda Way to Normanton and Karumba. We want to go fishing at Karumba again and will go out twice - once up the Norman and once out into the Gulf. We'll stay at the same motel. We want to go to Adel's Grove and Lawn Hill National Park. We'll go back to Fitzroy, not book a studio, and find those bloody turtles and make sure we slip a bottle or two of something into our backpacks with a middle finger to their dumb rules.

I usually include links to everywhere we stayed and everything we did so here's the list -

Mount Garnet Travellers Park - http://mount-garnet-travellers-park.com/ 07 4097 9335, 0437 330 627
Cobbold Gorge - Outback Queensland's Best Attraction - Cobbold Gorge & Tours and we booked a Cobbold Explorer Package Cobbold Gorge Packages - Combine Popular Tours & Accommodation
The Purple Pub Normanton - Accomodation - Purple Pub
The Gulflander - https://www.gulflander.com.au/Pages/Default.aspx
End of the Road Motel Karumba - https://endoftheroadmotel.com.au/
Mick's Fishing Adventures Karumba - 0477 803 576
Croydon Club Hotel - https://www.croydonclubhotel.com.au/accommodation/
Undara - https://www.undara.com.au/
Eco Village Mission Beach - https://www.ecovillage.com.au/
Bingil Bay Cafe - https://bingilbaycafe.com.au/
Paronella Park Mena Creek - https://www.paronellapark.com.au/
Fitzroy Island Resort - https://www.fitzroyisland.com/

 

[kookaburra75]

Fantastic trip report - thanks for putting it together. I drove through some of that country 30+ years ago, and certainly Karumba looks a lot more up market these days. On the list for a trip soon.

 

[VPS]

We can't stress enough how much we enjoyed this holiday. I think we both went into wondering how it would go and it was just so great.

The people up in FNQ are so greatful for visitors, even crazy ones travelling this late in the season. Cobbold had extended their season because they had so many people wanting to book. Our Uber driver back to the airport thanked us for visiting and when we said we were coming back in December said thankyou for supporting us. We needed to do a bit more planning and should have gone no later than late September.

We'll go back. We'll definitely go back to Undara to see the microbats leave the tube at sunset and to do the 12km walk. We'll potentially drive from Townsville across to Charters Towers and then up the Matilda Way to Normanton and Karumba. We want to go fishing at Karumba again and will go out twice - once up the Norman and once out into the Gulf. We'll stay at the same motel. We want to go to Adel's Grove and Lawn Hill National Park. We'll go back to Fitzroy, not book a studio, and find those bloody turtles and make sure we slip a bottle or two of something into our backpacks with a middle finger to their dumb rules.

I usually include links to everywhere we stayed and everything we did so here's the list -

Mount Garnet Travellers Park - Mount Garnet Travellers Park - Australia 07 4097 9335, 0437 330 627
Cobbold Gorge - Outback Queensland's Best Attraction - Cobbold Gorge & Tours and we booked a Cobbold Explorer Package Cobbold Gorge Packages - Combine Popular Tours & Accommodation
The Purple Pub Normanton - Accomodation - Purple Pub
The Gulflander - Gulflander
End of the Road Motel Karumba - Home
Mick's Fishing Adventures Karumba - 0477 803 576
Croydon Club Hotel - Accommodation
Undara - https://www.undara.com.au/
Eco Village Mission Beach - https://www.ecovillage.com.au/
Bingil Bay Cafe - https://bingilbaycafe.com.au/
Paronella Park Mena Creek - https://www.paronellapark.com.au/
Fitzroy Island Resort - https://www.fitzroyisland.com/

Another great TR and thanks so much for all those links - bookmarked and I think I'll start planning but mine will be in June or July when it's cooler

 

[Ade]

We can't stress enough how much we enjoyed this holiday. I think we both went into wondering how it would go and it was just so great.

Amazing TR and I really loved looking at the pics you've posted. Especially the ones from the outback. I'm a huge fan of anything historical and from the past ... I also loved the food pics you had posted. Anyways, reading your TR reignited my passion for things in the outback. I will certainly visit these places some day.

 

[bPeteb]

A couple more places that I forgot to link

Jaques Coffee - Jaques Australian Coffee - as I said we buy coffee from Jaques via subscription. Spend over $80 and it's free delivery

Mamu Tropical Skywalk - MAMU | Rainforest Canopy Walkway