4th October 2011
We left Foxy at home today with Val and Barry (2) calling in on her and taking her for walks whilst we had a long day out. We left at 7.00am and headed for the Skyrail terminal at Smithfield which again meant descending from the tablelands down to almost sea level via another twisty cliff side road, although not as bad as the previous one a few days ago. After initial difficulty finding the terminus due to a lack of signage we arrived just in time for our booked departure time, although that wasn’t critical as it turned out.
The ride up in the cable car over the top of the forest canopy was great, although the distant views still suffered from the smoke from numerous fires.
We did the short nature walk at the first intermediate station and then continued to the next intermediate station overlooking the Barron Falls Gorge.
As expected, there wasn’t a lot of water going over the falls because of it being late in the dry season and the fact that there is a dam at the top to hold the water back for the hydroelectric power station. The water that we did see on the falls was from a small spillway; however, it was clear to see that when it did rain enough to cause water to come over the dam wall it would be spectacular, which can be seen via the internet. We had not expected there to be much water as the Barron River runs into Lake Tinaroo where we are currently camped and the level is fairly low due to the irrigation system, and therefore not flowing on across the tablelands to the falls. We continued to the summit at Karanda and treated ourselves to a cake and cuppa at an extortionate price, and then walked through the town to the Butterfly garden. 
Here was an amazing display of free flight butterfly, but like small birds, they don’t sit and pose for photographs, at least not with their wings open to display the colours. Photography is very much hit and miss, but we did have some luck by using the burst feature of the camera. 
From here we went by pre-booked bus to a nature park to view a few of the local animals and then to an amphitheatre to watch some aboriginal dances. We then went to the boomerang and spear throwing demonstrations with the spectators being involved in the boomerang throwing with very mixed results.
The bus then returned us to the railway station in Karanda in time for the train ride down the mountain with a short stop at the Gorge station for more photos of the falls from the other side of the gorge. The train then continued on its way to Cairns with slow passages to show off the views and passing through numerous tunnels and stopping again at the bottom of the mountain at the Freshwater Station in the suburb of Redlynch. In the days when they started to build the railway, applicants for the jobs were told to go to Red Lynch, a redheaded man named Lynch who did the hiring and firing. This resulted in his name becoming the name of the suburb, and interestingly, those applicants also had to provide their own picks, shovels and any other tools they required for the job. It was here that we transferred to the pre-booked bus that returned us to our car at the Skyrail terminus. We then headed off on the 1.5 hour journey home arriving just after 7.00pm. It was a long enjoyable day, although we found it a bit rushed once we got to Karanda with the pre-booked entertainment. There is a lot more see so we may be driving back for another leisurely look at a later date.5th October 2011
We stayed at home to look after Karli (Val & Barry’s dog) whilst they do the Skyrail thing, so we took both dogs for two walks, and in Karli’s case, swims during the day.
6th October 2011
Nothing of interest during the day but finished with a group sundowner in the late afternoon after the threat of rain had moved over. We did drive through some light rain on the way back from Atherton that only gave Yungaburra half a dozen drops, and is the first rain we have experienced in many months.
7th October 2011
We drove to Lake Barrine and took the 5kms walk around the lake and saw a few more Mushy Rat- Kangaroos, a few birds that wouldn’t sit still for us, and an Emerald Python swimming in the lake.
There is a boat trip available that cruises around the edge of the lake which started out quite some time after us but unfortunately arrived back at the cafe just before us. As it carried a bus load of tourists that all desperately needed refreshments after the cruise we had a long wait to get a cuppa after our walk.
The afternoon clouded over and became extremely humid but didn’t rain, leaving the atmosphere heavy and unpleasant but fortunately cleared before dusk. Because of the fires in the general area the atmosphere is quite smoky and is not good for daytime landscape type photos but has offered some good sunset opportunities across the lake.
There is a boat trip available that cruises around the edge of the lake which started out quite some time after us but unfortunately arrived back at the cafe just before us. As it carried a bus load of tourists that all desperately needed refreshments after the cruise we had a long wait to get a cuppa after our walk. 
The afternoon clouded over and became extremely humid but didn’t rain, leaving the atmosphere heavy and unpleasant but fortunately cleared before dusk. Because of the fires in the general area the atmosphere is quite smoky and is not good for daytime landscape type photos but has offered some good sunset opportunities across the lake.9th October 2011
This was the second day of a 2 day rowing event on Tinaroo Lake so we took our chairs and cameras down to that stretch of the lake to watch for an hour or so. They had already had 2 races by the time we arrived and were already half an hour behind schedule with four crews ready at the start line waiting for the fifth crew to row the length of the course to join them, putting them further behind. The next race of females had been told to make their way to the start, which 3 crews had done but the fourth crew were still by the finish line where the boats were docked, and making very slow progress to get on the water. The other crews had to sit for nearly 10 minutes in 30°C plus, and despite the officials giving warnings that they might start without them they wouldn’t give in to Barry urging them to start the race and use them as an example. We left after 4 races as it was all taking so long between races that it was hard to maintain interest.
10th October 2011
We packed a picnic lunch and made for the Heritage Village in Herberton which actually allows dog to enjoy the experience, and is the best of its kind that we have come across. However, we had to go via Atherton so checked out Halloran’s Hill which offers great panoramas over Atherton, which is good as Atherton doesn’t offer much itself, and is an ideal spot for a family picnic with plenty to entertain the kids. We also called in at the old Chinese Temple but it is not open on Mondays and Tuesdays so they miss out on us. 
At Herberton there are 51 buildings to explore and they are all full of appropriate items of the era, with some of the collections (such as in the Toy Shop) being worth a small fortune. Some of the comics, Dinky toys and dolls are from way before our time as kids. This theme was apparent at the majority of the shops and workshops, such as the photographic and gramophonic shops (wish we still had our old 78s, but we do still have about 100 LPs in absolute mint condition, played once for recording purposes and more recently digitised to CD format). The village has a great sheltered picnic area where you can enjoy your own lunch, or you can use their Hotel/Cafe if you wish, plus your ticket is valid all day so you can leave and return up to 5.00pm. There is every imaginary type of shop, school, dentist, hospital, hairdresser, jail, blacksmith, mining equipment and much more. 
One building houses an immaculate fully operational model T Ford which they drove out of the building while we were there, so that they could put 2 new arrivals into the building and then replace the Ford in front of them. 
The first new arrival was an old Morris Van which apparently was used in the TV show ‘The Sullivans’, which we never watched, and is in reasonable condition but some work would be good. The other was a Chrysler in beautiful exterior condition but we didn’t get to see if either of them is operational as they were pushed into the building, but they look. After the Heritage Village we had intended to walk around the Herberton township buildings but the high temperature determined that we would come again one morning before it gets too hot.11th October 2011
We had intended having a rest day but after lunch we drove out to the Cathedral Fig Tree area again and took a dirt road through a National Park up to Gillie’s Lookout which was a great view but again very hazy.
We then drove part way around Lake Tinaroo in the opposite direction to the previous trip until we reached Lake Euramoo which we managed to miss last time.
It is a crater lake that had two eruptions side by side creating twin circle rather than a single circle, almost like a figure eight. On the way back Merry visited the Cathedral Fig Tree again whilst Barry and Foxy waited in the comfort of the air conditioning in the car as our afternoon temperatures are now getting up toward 35°C.
We then drove part way around Lake Tinaroo in the opposite direction to the previous trip until we reached Lake Euramoo which we managed to miss last time. 
It is a crater lake that had two eruptions side by side creating twin circle rather than a single circle, almost like a figure eight. On the way back Merry visited the Cathedral Fig Tree again whilst Barry and Foxy waited in the comfort of the air conditioning in the car as our afternoon temperatures are now getting up toward 35°C.
12th October 2011
We did our return trip to Karanda to check out the Barron Falls again and the other attractions offered by the town that our schedule didn’t allow time for on our Skyrail/train trip.
The falls lookout is accessed via a zigzag boardwalk through the rainforest and which eventually crosses the railway via a bridge to the lookout which is also accessible from the station. When we stopped there on the train ride we were advised not to go there as it is at the far end of the railway station and there wasn’t time for a relatively full train load to use it and return to the train before it left for Freshwater.
It provides a view that looks straight at the falls rather than slightly from the side which the station platform provides, but it didn’t provide any more water. We then drive round to another lookout that gave a hazy view of the distant scenery which was partially obscured by trees and shrubbery. Like many lookouts, they are great when first built but some years later when the trees and shrubs have continued to grow, they block the view. We always seem to visit them at the some-years-later stage.
We drove back into town and had our picnic lunch and then Merry checked out the Venomous House with snakes and spiders but came out complaining that it was the worst $17 dollars spent. Barry saved his $17 by not go in there as he believes the only good snake is a dead one. We moved the car and parked near the Market which was only 50% operational but what was open had a good array of gear of all sorts relevant to a market, and followed this up with a visit to the Bird house, which was good and worth the money, even though the Macaw bit the button off Merry’s hat and then tried to rip her earrings out. We moved the car again to be closer to the railway station and crossed over the station overpass to walk along the river bank, through the Jungle walk and back into town. We then headed home with the intention of deviating into Davies Creek Falls, however, as we crossed the creek bridge on the road home we noticed that there was no water to be seen and decided that the water fall would also be dry and gave the idea away.
The falls lookout is accessed via a zigzag boardwalk through the rainforest and which eventually crosses the railway via a bridge to the lookout which is also accessible from the station. When we stopped there on the train ride we were advised not to go there as it is at the far end of the railway station and there wasn’t time for a relatively full train load to use it and return to the train before it left for Freshwater.
It provides a view that looks straight at the falls rather than slightly from the side which the station platform provides, but it didn’t provide any more water. We then drive round to another lookout that gave a hazy view of the distant scenery which was partially obscured by trees and shrubbery. Like many lookouts, they are great when first built but some years later when the trees and shrubs have continued to grow, they block the view. We always seem to visit them at the some-years-later stage.
We drove back into town and had our picnic lunch and then Merry checked out the Venomous House with snakes and spiders but came out complaining that it was the worst $17 dollars spent. Barry saved his $17 by not go in there as he believes the only good snake is a dead one. We moved the car and parked near the Market which was only 50% operational but what was open had a good array of gear of all sorts relevant to a market, and followed this up with a visit to the Bird house, which was good and worth the money, even though the Macaw bit the button off Merry’s hat and then tried to rip her earrings out. We moved the car again to be closer to the railway station and crossed over the station overpass to walk along the river bank, through the Jungle walk and back into town. We then headed home with the intention of deviating into Davies Creek Falls, however, as we crossed the creek bridge on the road home we noticed that there was no water to be seen and decided that the water fall would also be dry and gave the idea away.13th October 2011
We spent some of the afternoon walking around Yungaburra to look at the heritage listed buildings which also gave Foxy some exercise along with us. Most of the shops are now used for something other than original planned but they all have a brass plaque telling what the original use was. The late afternoon produced some very threatening storm clouds that went round us, but we heard some thunder and everywhere south of us had ran and storms , especially Logan near Brisbane. In the evening we had a small celebration with Val and Barry (2) and Trish and Barry (3) who were due to leave in the morning.14th October 2011-10
We drove out towards Innisfail to the Mamu Canopy walk which was a pleasant stroll but the walkway didn’t come up to the standard of the WA treetop walk the Tasmanian Tahuna air walk but was better than the Victorian one in Otway as it was designed with wheelchairs and strollers in mind. However, we didn’t really think it was worth the money as there was no wild life and virtually no birdlife and it only had a few places to look out over the distant views. The best of these being from the top of the 30 foot tower at the end of the walk which looks out over the North Johnstone River.
After lunch we moved back up the road to Crawford’s Lookout, which we stopped at last time we came this way, and the view was a bit clearer than last time. We bit the bullet despite the high temperature and took the 1.7km walk to the river lookout which wasn’t without its difficulties as it zigzagged down the side of the mountain, however, the lower level view over the river was worth it.
We then backtracked 250 metres and went off down the 750 metre track to the river, which turned out to be steeper with a lot of steps. Arriving at the river didn’t allow much of a view of it as it was mainly rapids through the Basalt rock base and also had a plague of March Flies that we hungry for human flesh.
After getting our quota of photos we headed back up the track, which took a lot longer than it did going down and included several stops. On our eventual arrival back at the car we drove to a picnic area for a cuppa and a long rest before heading home with the intention of stopping at Malanda to look for the elusive Tree Kangaroos but the storm clouds had drifted in and we drove through rain (first real rain we have experienced in more than six months) from Millaa Millaa through to Malanda. We stopped to look for the roos but the rain persisted so we only had an unsuccessful look from the car before driving back to Yungaburra which once again didn’t get any rain.
After lunch we moved back up the road to Crawford’s Lookout, which we stopped at last time we came this way, and the view was a bit clearer than last time. We bit the bullet despite the high temperature and took the 1.7km walk to the river lookout which wasn’t without its difficulties as it zigzagged down the side of the mountain, however, the lower level view over the river was worth it.
We then backtracked 250 metres and went off down the 750 metre track to the river, which turned out to be steeper with a lot of steps. Arriving at the river didn’t allow much of a view of it as it was mainly rapids through the Basalt rock base and also had a plague of March Flies that we hungry for human flesh.
After getting our quota of photos we headed back up the track, which took a lot longer than it did going down and included several stops. On our eventual arrival back at the car we drove to a picnic area for a cuppa and a long rest before heading home with the intention of stopping at Malanda to look for the elusive Tree Kangaroos but the storm clouds had drifted in and we drove through rain (first real rain we have experienced in more than six months) from Millaa Millaa through to Malanda. We stopped to look for the roos but the rain persisted so we only had an unsuccessful look from the car before driving back to Yungaburra which once again didn’t get any rain.
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