After leaving Rollingstone we moved a little further up the coast stopping at Kurrimine Beach which lies about 27km south of Innisfail. This is a Big 4 but very reasonably priced at $180 per week less the normal Big 4 discount; the 2 year Big 4 membership we paid for is working well and thus far we are well in front of our joining fee. The “pay for 6, stay for 7” discounts offered by a lot of parks makes sense if you are staying for a week or more but at times it can be limiting as to where you can go.
There is another park here which is at the Reef Hotel; this is only 500m from the Big 4 and is $30 per night or $180 for the week (dearer) and does not have anything like the facilities here.
Available for guest use at the Big 4 Kurrimine Beach is a massive pool, jumping pillow, playground, outdoor chess set, table tennis, games room (coin machines) and kids toys, another games room with a 42” plasma and Wii console & games (free but $20 deposit on controllers) and a gym with all equipment (free).
On top of this the park has one of the best kitted out camp kitchens we have seen on our travels; it has every appliance you would need along with pots, pans, crockery etc, it also has projection equipment for movies on a big screen along with a flat screen telly.
The amenities are cleaned at the nominated time and checked regularly throughout the day and kept spotless. Kurrimine is a small town with a servo with some grocery lines, cafe, fish & chip shop, motel (does meals) and a great pub (food is very good). It is advisable to stock up if you are going to spend a week or so although Mission Beach now has a woolies (25km) and there is plenty to chose from at Innisfail (27km).
Our site above; all sites are slabs with 1 or 2 grass sites if you prefer. Grounds are well maintained. If you like peace and quiet with plenty to see in the surrounding area Kurrimine Beach is worth a week at least.
Shady looking characters I know (only joking guys); Marcus & Kay are the owner managers and are eager to please and will ensure you have a great stay and is on our list as “must do again” (we had a ball).
Above is the pool at the park with all the flotation gear you could want; you can also see the jumping pillow in the background.
During our stay we drove out through Silkwood and headed to Paronella Park; briefly it was the dream of Jose Paronella to build a castle which he did do on 5 hectares beside Mena Creek Falls. It is surrounded by approximately 8’000 tropical plants.
Construction commenced in 1930 and was completed in 1935; over the last 2 years the original 1930’s hydro power plant built by Jose has been restored and is now fully functional so all power in the park comes from this original hydro power generation plant.
Above is moss and grasses that grows on most of the original structures.
Above is the suspension bridge that swings well above the falls; I made it out for a photo.
Linda did not; this is as far as she got before her knees locked up. I was waving a $50 note as bait but to no avail; she still got the money off me later anyhow.
The above winery is just as you turn off the main highway to Kurrimine Beach; the name comes from the road it is on (yep, Murdering Point Road). The winery has some great wines mainly made from fruits such as pineapple, passionfruit etc are very nice and well worth calling in for a taste. Wines are $20 (750ml) and they do some very nice ports at $25 a bottle.
Not only is there heaps of banana trees in the area but also plenty of Paw-Paw trees; Linda & I hate these things but we know a lot of people love them, each to their own.
We ran out of sugar but up this way you don’t need to panic; Linda just headed of into a cane field with a spoon in hand to stock up, in she went and was chased out 20 minutes later by the irate property owner and a rather large rottweiler. Think we will just buy the stuff from woolies after this; after all $1.20 kg is not to bad a price to pay.
We are now back at Kurrimine for a few days having left Cairns after doing our Cape York trip; the next posts will be Cairns and then will probably post Cape York in 2 or 3 parts.
Our plans are at this stage leave Kurrimine Beach (Thursday 27th May), catch up with friends at Mission Beach 2 nights before spending 2 nights in Townsville to see family friends. We are then heading out towards Mount Isa but our first stop is Charters Towers (3 or 4 nights). If you are traveling in a similar direction let us know; it would be great to catch up.
Until our next post ( I have some catching up to do) stay well and if you are on the road drive safely.
Love & regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
