Day 51

DAY 51 – Sunday

We woke early to see the sun coming up over the Coral Sea.  The colours were beautiful.  Then we got up and had breakfast.  Today we were going to drive to Elim Beach to see the coloured sands. 

Sunrise from our Bedroom

Beautiful Sunrise

On the way we took a small detour to see Isabella Falls.  Much to Thomas’ delight, this turned out to be a water crossing which Darren drove through twice.  The water ran across the road, and then flowed down the waterfall.

The tourist brochures said that we needed a permit to go to the coloured sands and that we could get one from the campground when we got there, so we went straight to the campground.  We were greeted by Eddie, who proceeded to tell us that it was $10 for a car for the day.  We gave him the cash and then headed to the coloured sands.

The road was very sandy, and took us to a small parking area at the edge of a secluded beach.  We had to walk along the beach, across the high tide line, for about 500metres.  When we found the coloured sands, it was made up of large cliffs of varying colours.  We walked in through the bush and scraped different colours into bags so that we could make layers in jars when we get home.  Then we met up with another couple and they said that Eddie had told them that he doesn’t sell the passes anymore.  We decided that we would go and get our money back from Eddie, and go and buy a proper pass at the service station in town, so that the money would go the right place.

Colored Sands Beach

We made our way back to the campground and Darren asked Eddie for the Pass that we had paid for.  He tried to tell us that we didn’t need to get a pass, just needed to pay the money.  In the end after arguing the point, he agreed to give us or money back so that we could get a proper pass from the service station.
On the way back to Cooktown, we called in to Endeavour Falls for a look.  It is actually part of a caravan park, and you have to get permission from the park to access the falls.  They had no problem with us looking at the falls, and the boys even got to feed their pet barramundi first.

Endeavour Falls

When we got back to Cooktown, we drove down to the pier and the boys went to see if anyone was catching any fish.  There was nothing being caught, so we drove along the beachfront and headed back to the house.  We had lunch and then an afternoon nap. 

The boys decided to go fishing at the beach.  They met another fisherman down there who gave them an idea of the best bait and lures to use.  He even gave them a couple of lures to use.  After an unsuccessful bit of fishing, they came back to the house and we went to the RSL for a roast tea.