Surprise encounter at Georgetown

Leaving Mareeba proved to be more difficult than I though, packing after being in a place for such a long time was very challenging, so much so that after hours of packing I had enough and on a desperate attempt I asked Carlos to stay another day, but it was not meant to be, we soldiered on and at 2:30pm we left Rohan’s property and said goodbye to Mareeba. Our initial plan was to drive all the way to Normanton but because we left so late we only made it to a near-by free camp not far from Ravenshoe which was actually really nice, had a flushing toilet and a beautiful creek, but what really got me where the stars. Usually when I look up at the night sky its the Milky Way that grabs my attention but this time the stars were really bright and spread out? Like a disco ball in the sky with sparkles everywhere, can’t say that I have seen a starry night like this before and I loved it.

We left early the following day, again, planning to make it all the way to Normanton but life had other plans, this time we only made it to Georgetown. I had read on Wikicamps that the town was caravan friendly and that it provided free tokens to use the town's pool and showers for free and after free camping we really could do with a good shower. As we pulled over in front of the information centre I saw a caravan that looked very familiar, the kayak on top of the car and the brand of the caravan made me think of Sharon and Peter who we met back in Toowomba, but it couldn’t be… I walked in the information centre and to my surprise and delight there they were, Sharon and Pete, I could not believe my eyes! I gave a bit of a squeal as I said hello and decided to have some lunch together by the pool. We swapped stories about what has happened in the last couple of months and laughed at the mere coincidence of been at the same place at the same time.

After lunch Pete was kind enough to help Carlos change a tyre (we noticed a small leak) and it was then when we decided to stay the night in Georgetown and spend more time with our lost and now found friends. As we caught up they told us about Cobbold Gorge and they kindly offered to look after our dogs while we went there, so next day, off we went to check it out.

Cobbold Gorge was like nothing we have seen before, we have been to many gorges but this one was spectacular in its own unique way. We paid for the tour and since there was no one else we had Ross, our tour guide all to ourselves. It started with a walk to the top of the gorge, learnt about bush tucker, the history of the property and the gorge and many more interesting facts about the area.

Once we got to the top we were in awe with the view and were very glad to have done the tour.

We then came down and got in a small boat that took us through the bottom section of the gorge and that was unforgettable. The perfect blue sky, the reflection of the rocks and the water and the stillness made this one of our favourite tours not alone, places.

Cobbold Gorge itself is a favourite tourist destination with an infinity pool, kayaking, standing paddle boards and a beautiful outdoor restaurant, I find it truly amazing and hard to imagine that you can find a place like this in the middle of nowhere.

Back to Georgetown and a few people had recommend the local pub and of course, if food is recommended we usually tend to check it out. To this day, Carlos swears that he has had the best T-bone and rump steak in Georgetown where the beef just melted in his mouth. I cannot really comment more on this for obvious reasons.

On the second day we were there Carlos had the tyre fixed by a local mechanic and that is where we met Eric. With an Asian background Eric was an inspiration to our family. A humble “everyday” man organised and built himself with his own hands a “Peace Monument”

Eric background was in the Army and when he retired from the Army having experience a lot of sorrow and sadness, he felt he needed to do something that would give people hope and inspiration. He then went to the council to ask for land and wrote many letters to get support in building this very special place. After months of planning and organising he finally did it, and the Peace Park has short biographies of people who have influenced humanity by their positive input into society. He did not have to do this but he wanted, a change from hearing the negative and remembering the positive. We said thank you to Eric as he had inspired us to be better and to reinforce the principle that one person can have such a great effect on others.

Originally planning to stay one night, we ended up staying three, evenings were our favourite as we caught up with Sharon and Pete and to Carlos delight Pete enjoyed port so Carlos had a good excuse to open a bottle of Chocolate Chilli port we bought at Mt Tamborine. With Pete’s special port glasses we had great laughs, great company and apparently great port.

We left Georgetown wondering when we were going to see Sharon and Pete again, soon I hope and just so you know, we did stop at the Georgetown butcher to fill our Engel fridge with what apparently is the best beef in Australia.