14.09.07

KURRIMINE BEACH

Up and away, reluctantly, and drove to Kurrimine Beach. Arrived at 0930, all of 60 k’s.

Booked into the King reef Hotel Caravan Park this is on the beach. There is a Top Tourist Park but this is back a bit. Very long sandy beach , not as pretty as Etty Bay but if you had not been there first you would think this great. Etty Bay was something Special. This beach has a reef out about a kilometre and on a really LOW tide people have walked out to it( and some have drowned on the way back with a rising tide).It overlooks Mission Beach and Dunk Island, with Hinchinbrook in the far distance.

Spoke to some people on the beach who had returned and had two Sweetlip. It was quite breezy at that stage but in the late afternoon it calmed right down to glassy. The weather this trip has been magnificent and we are both enjoying Nth Qld more than before, maybe as we have more time to take it in.

Went over to the pub after tea and watched the AFL with Collingwood beating West Coast, an exciting game with 72 all at full time. Two five minute time on, and Collingwood got up by 19 points.

The country is very very green with the rainforest on the hills and the acres of sugar cane and bananas, there appear to be a lot of very nice newer homes and some have large areas of mown lawn and tropical trees surrounding them.

Kurrimine Beach is faily large with a lot of nice holiday homes, a few locals and NO shop just the hotel complex. The shop was blown away in cyclone Larry and hasn’t been rebuilt.

There is still some evidence of the cyclone in this area especially the trees, most of them were stripped of all leaves and you can still see the evidence of new growth. Not many homes left in a state of disrepair although in the main street of Innisfail there was big three story hotel still with the roof off and no remedial work being done( it pays to insure).

A lot of the fishermen here use tractors to put their boats in, most yards have one.