My Gardener at Work

We had some sugar cane mulch delivered and I immediately sent my gardener to work. She does a great job, I must say. But I made her a cup of tea.

A fabulous Train Ride on the Savannahlander

Today I'd like to tell you about a fabulous train ride in far north Queensland. In fact the best train ride I've been on in Australia. I am, after all what they call, a train buff. Not to be confused with train spotting.

The Savannahlander consists of a back to back railmotor, with a capacity of 96 passengers. If more people book the trip, they can add a central carriage. but that wasn't the case on our trip. In fact we only had 17 passengers on board.

The units were built for QR in 1963. Each unit consists of a 250HP Cummins diesel engine and Alison Auto gear box. OK, the technical stuff out of the way.

 The Savannahlander departs from Cairns railway station on Wednesdays at 6.30 am at daybreak, then proceeds up the Kuranda rail track to Mareeba and from there all the way to Forsayth some 400 km inland, through cattle farms, woodlands and over creeks and rivers to the delight of passangers.

The whole trip takes four days, stopping at various places for the nights and visiting wonderful caves, gorges and lava tubes. No doubt you'll see those on the Blogger's blog. I am just concentrating on the train itself.

The Savannahlnder at Cairns railway ststion

Anthony and Will are our drivers

The train emblem

The train is very comfortable

There are seats at the from, including next to the driver, which passangers can use for periods of five minutes. These seats offer fabulous views for photographers.

Anthony drives us through the hills

The drivers alternate between driving the train and being train guards. They have merchandise on board which can be purchased during the trip

Of course I had to buy a cap

The Blogger enjoys the trip

At Bullock Creek, in the middle of nowhere, the train stops, the drivers disembark and set up for morning tea for the passengers, it's just wonderful. A cup of coffee, a piece of cake and a empty train out in the boondocks. 

Morning Tea

Almaden Station

Every now and then, the train has to stop, the drivers get out and  to shoo off cattle or other wildlife on the tracks.

The drivers communicate by two-way radio

The Savannahlander crosses the Stoney Creek Falls Bridge

I have travelled  bit on trains in Europe and the United States , but who would have thought I could have so much fun on this four day trip though the Queensland Outback.

There are not many trips I've done that I would repeat, but this one I would, it's just a delight moving around on this 60s rail motor seeing the Australian outback.

HDR Photos From our Trip to Far North Queensland

After exploring far North Queensland for three weeks, I have turned some of my shots into HDR format, using NIK software HDR Efex Pro 2. Now HDR is an individual thing, dividing the photographic community world wide. Some people love it, others hate it. I'll let you deside.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Savannahlander at Kuranda Railway Station

Cooktown Sunset

Daintree River

Cobbold Gorge

Far North Queensland Beach

Plane Wreck Horn Island

Paronella Park Castle Ruin

Paronella Park Entrance to Ball Room

Forgotten hat at Undara Lava Tubes

Mining Bauxite in Weipa

For days on a fabulous train

We've recently spent four days on a fabulous train through outback Queensland. The train is the 'Savannahlander' from Cairns to Forsyth via Mareeba, Mutchilba, Almaden, Chillagoe and Mount Surprise.

Here's my video of the trip:



I can highly recommnd it.

Home on the Sunlander

We have another two days train trip ahead of us. Today, we board the Sunlander from Cairns back to Brisbane.

The Sunlander in Cairns

 The Sunlander runs three times weekly between Brisbane and Cairns, a distance of 1691 kilometres and takes 31 hours to complete.

Then we'll be home again.

Thanks for following us.

All Good Things Come To An End

Today, after breakfast, we transfer to Horn Island by ferry, then board a flight over the vast Cape York Peninsula, to arrive back in Cairns where our Cape York Tour ends.

We fly back to Cairns from Horne Island

But we have another exciting trip ahead tomorrow.

Thursday Island

Today, we cruise up to Thursday Island. In the 60s, while living in Papua new Guinea, a group of friends organised a weekend on Thursday Island and we paid for it. Then on Friday, I was called to an urgent job in Rabaul and had to cancel this experience, so now I finally make it.

Thursday Island

Thursday Island, also known as TI or Waiben, is the administrative and commercial centre of the Torres Strait Islands. Lying 39 kilometres (24 mi) north of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia in the Torres Strait, Thursday Island has an area of about 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi). The highest point on Thursday Island, standing at 104 metres (341 ft) above sea level, is Milman Hill, a World War II defence facility. At the 2006 census, Thursday Island had a population of 2,546.^[1]