Cape York - Day 24, Elim Beach to Granite Gorge Nature Park 09/07/2018

We packed up fairly early as we had a dry night but it looked like it was going to rain and we din't fancy a wet pack up, on the way out of Elim we tried to drive to the coloured sands but unfortunately it was high tide and there was no access to the beach, ah well next time...

Anna was very keen to stop in at Mareeba so we could visit the Coffee Works and the Golden Drop Mango winery so this was our destination for tonight. We got chatting to another family at The Bend and they recommended the Granite Gorge Nature Park so we phoned ahead and booked in for the night.

From Elim Beach we made our way into Cooktown where we stocked up on supplies and diesel and then found the bakery for morning tea and a proper coffee.... We were back on the blacktop now and it was strange to drive along on smooth roads and not have the rattles and squeaks from the car. We pulled into Mcleods River which is a beautiful little free camp that we found on our 6 month trip and had lunch by the river.

Just north of Mareeba was the turn off to the Golden Drop Winery and we pulled in for some tastings and Anna picked up a few bottles of their sparkling and dry wines. When then stopped in at Target in Mareeba as it was starting to get cooler and Anna needed some warmer clothes... We (Anna and I) hadn't packed long pants and Anna really wanted a pair of jeans to keep warm on the cooler nights...

Granite Gorge Nature Park is 13km from Mareeba and didn't take long for us to find it, locate a suitable site and set up. Our crazy girls wanted to swim... so we found the swimming hole, the water was freezing apparently and the girls didn't stay in long before they got out and we had nice warm showers before settling in for the night.

Distance travelled = 354km



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