Greg was up early to see the planets all in alignment and then went for a walk on his own. After breakfast we took the toilet cassette to the dump point, then drove up to the lookout on Grassy Hill; a steep climb in anyone's language! The wind up there was so strong the phone was almost ripped from Wendy's hands a number of times, but it was a rather speccy view.
Back down the hill to the van to get changed into riding gear to go and see some of the things we missed yesterday. Forgot the tourist map, again, but there are only three sites left to visit after visiting the Craft Centre, Cemetery and the James Cook Museum. The Museum was good but many of the exhibits which had been written about in the Cooktown History Centre. Seems like a bit of a duplication, however all still worth seeing.
Back home for lunch and a rest then Greg decided to take the right front wheel off to check the brakes for any sign of damage; none found, so that is a bonus. Mareeba does not have anywhere that will do a wheel alignment on a caravan, so we may have to take it to Cairns, depending on how it handles on our return trip on Sunday.
The boys went off on their bikes to the Botanic Gardens, that was established in 1878 and is among the oldest in Australia. It houses several important plant collections including original plantings from the 1800s, species collected by Banks & Solander in 1770, plants used by the local First People, rare and threatened plants of Cape York, and plants that were painted by local artist Vera Scarth-Johnson. The girls stayed home and undertook domestic chores and then a relax with crocheting for Wendy and knitting for Noel. The Botanic Gardens were excellent and exceeded our expectations considering the size of the Cook Council which maintains it all.
Pre-dinner drinks were had then dinner in our respective vans. Another full and satisfying day.
Early morning shots
The Lighthouse at the lookout on Grassy Hill
Photos of photos on Grassy Hill
The van park in somewhere in the blue oblong/rectangle thingy on the LHS of the pic
Cooktown Cemetery
Chinese Shrine at the cemetery, pity they have not kept it up
The 'Top Pub'
Cooktown Museum aka the James Cook Museum
The Endeavour model
Gold weighing equipment
Idols represent (L-R) Liu Bei, a political & military leader, and his generals Guan Yu, Zhang Fei. The three held an oath of brotherhood. The two generals were deified after death, and Bei was made an Emperor.
A several-tiered tower representing something
Killing machines of early times
Not part of the display, but it looked nice
A really old piano washed ashore from a shipwreck
Some cute figurines
Window art
Hmmm, imagine visiting the dentist in this chair - nightmares for life
View from the balcony of the Cook Museum
Dental instruments of torture are the same today
Pretty coral
The shop area in the James Cook Museum
The former convent, now the James Cook Museum
Our attempted ride from the cemetery to Hogg Street; came across a boggy area so had to turn back
Botanic Gardens
Finch Bay
