Its the journey not the destination (barf)

Frances refused to say the above words since both "journey" and "destination" have been devalued by the jargon purveyors.  While "journey" has been trashed by the heirs of the snake-oil vendors,  "destination" has been removed from polite conversation by the tourism vendors. They are approaching "experience" as chunder-inducing non-words.  That being said our outing today was to look at the countryside and towns we passed through as much as getting anywhere particular so the phrase is no too far off.

On the subject of chunder, the Palmerston Highway, which we traversed today, is nowhere near as steep and twisty as the road from Yungaburra to Gordonvale or that from Julatten to Mossman.

Before setting out we took the small dog for a walk along the creek.  There we encountered a relative of Tinnaroo Man!

 On the way back we came past an intriguing mixed business: pharmacy and fishing tackle.  Apparently the world record barramundi was nailed in Lake Tinnaroo.  (While there have been bigger fish they have been on far heavier line.)

 The shop next door offers confectionery and water pumps!

We headed off towards Mallanda and found the Wet Tropics were living up to their name despite a clean screen of dryness on the BoM radar!  So we went through Malanda and Millaa Millaa.  Our first stop was at the falls just outside the latter.

 A pretty good drop but the place was canophobic so we passed on the next two offerings on the waterfall loop, heading down the escarpment.  We stopped at a look out on to the North Johnstone River (photos didn't come out too well)  but passed on the walking track which appeared to offer a 500m vertical drop in 1600m of horizontal travel.  Perhaps one for the future.  (We did wonder whether Johnstone was a reference to Sir Terry Pratchett's garden designer "Bloody Stupid Johnstone" - perhaps celebrating his cousins North and South?)

On getting to South Johnstone we found the outflow beds from the sugar and quickly nailed the promised Radjah Shelducks.

I also saw a Crimson Finch - bird of the day! - but it didn't hang around for either a photo or for Frances to see it.  White-breasted Woodswallows were much more obliging.

Here is the sugar mill in the town!

We then tried to get to Etty Bay following a basic map.  Unfortunately most of the roads weren't on it so we ended up further South than expected and thus turned right instead of left.  Eventually we found another map and sorted this out.  We got to Mourilyan and found the bakery for pie.  See review below.

Then on to Etty Bay (noting an empty Plodmobile parked beside the road, presumably gathering speed camera infringements while  the operator was indoors having a 'cup of tea') hoping for Cassowary.  None seen, but in keeping with looking for record numbers of this and that we came across this amazing collection of prohibitions.  I'd love to see the voting preferences of the residents - I suspect Our Pauline gets a big show.

 They did have some great mangroves on the beach.

 Retreating from these lictors we ended up at the sugar loading port of Mourilyan Harbour.  This was quite a surprise as I had never heard of it, but it seems huge.  Of course there is an awful lot of sugar grown in the area. This conveyor made a nice industrial sculpture.

A very colourful Coral Tree was near the boat ramp.

There were also a few commercial fishing boats around, with this one puttering in.  To my disappointment it wasn't followed in by a horde of seabirds.

Tough luck if you're a Francophone!

Obviously the Welcome Swallows reckon Spring - or whatever they call the breeding season up here - is on the way as it was gathering beakfulls of mud.

The first 'roo I have photographed on this trip.  I'm pretty sure it is an Agile Wallaby - the white stripe on the leg is a definitive field mark.

We then headed back to Innisfail, noting that the Plodmobile was still there.  Presumably the hossifer was having a second 'cuppa'.  After a very convivial chat with the guys in the VIC (a caravan in the main park) we went for a walk around the historic bit of the town.  The Shire Hall was quite impressive ...

... as was the Catholic Church.  Although it looks rather like the confections seen in Mexico the stained glass inside looked quite modern.

Good posters on the outside of a khazi on the banks of the North Johnstone River.

A pair of attractive old buildings.  From the Dividers at the top of the blue stripe, the one on the right was at some stage a Freemasons Hall.  It's now a martial arts centre.

The walk along the banks of the North Johnstone River was very well done.

As well as the fishing boats giving an air of reality they provided the raw material for some fish cakes which Frances acquired.  She mentioned to the serving person that we weren't sure if she could keep them cool for the trip home and a back of ice was duly provided.  They tasted very nice indeed!

A couple of memorials were above the walkway.  The usual War Memorial   ...

.. and this one to the Cane Cutters.  The Italian community of the area was greatly involved in the establishment and maintenance of this memorial.

As we walked back to the car we found ourselves passing the electorate office of Bob Katter (which may explain a few things about Etty Bay).  The front door was well covered with posters about the North Queensland Cowboys!

As we rumbled back up the Palmerstone Highway we stopped at a fruit stall for some produce: the bananas were excellent, but the papaya was sold out, as it was at a second stall we paused by.

Our final stop was at Blomfield's Swamp to check for Cranes.  A good flock were grazing below the lookout and on close inspection through my telescope, and a call by Frances, about half of them turned out to be Sarus Cranes rather than Brolgas.  A small amount of dancing was happening.

• Bird of the day: Crimson Finch.  Sarus Cranes were a contender for the individual award but in the end settled for the flock award.
• Vegetation of the day:  Mangroves at Etty Bay (much as I hate to give that prohibitory place an award).
• Memorable moment:  
• Comment of the day: I mentioned to a guy in the VIC that I drove a Pajero and a friend drove a Prado.  He replied "I forgive you both.  I drive a Patrol."  A contender was a guy at Mourilyan who say me tread on a $5 note I'd let fall and immediately called out "I just dropped that
• Pie of the day: Mourilyan Bakery Pepper Steak.  Very nice indeed with obvious chunks of steak and a good serve of pepper.  Crust crisp and strong.  The Queensland champion thus far,9/10.  Frances had an Egg and Bacon open top which she also rated very highly.  The owner said that the next batch were due in 10 minutes so obviously done on tyhe premises which also gets a tick!
• Troppo moment of the day. The lack of signs to Etty Bay when we got the to the Bruce Highway was both an indication that the Roads folk had been out in the sun too long, and caused me to become a bit troppo!

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