4th October to 14th October 2011

4^th 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.

5^th 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.

6^th 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.

7^th 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.

9^th 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.

10^th 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.

11^th 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.

12^th 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.

13^th 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.

14^th 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.

26th September to 2nd October 2011

26^th September 2011

Once again we drove into Atherton to the Post Office and this time we were lucky and able to collect the long awaited parcel, which as it turns out had been available since 5 days earlier but because merry had enquired after a parcel in the name of Line she was told there was nothing.  It had been sent to the post office without our name on it and it was only because Merry said it was a parcel and then able to state the name and address of the sender that was written on it that they agreed to give it to us.   We then went on to Mareeba to check out the various museums and on arrival Merry elected not to do the heritage museum as we will be doing the Herberton Village soon so we moved on to the military museum.  This supposedly is the largest privately own collection in Queensland, which it very well could be, but it is also the worst laid out museum we have come across.  It is a huge collection but most of it is in very shabby condition and crammed together so that it is impossible to look inside anything or to take a photograph of any one item.  Because of the huge open ended hangar that the display is in, the photos are always backlit which doesn’t help.  The display also included aircraft such a Canberra bomber and a twin tailed Vampire which Barry used to watch at his local airfield in West Malling when he was a kid.  Again, photos without other clutter under the wings were impossible, and it was also impossible to get far enough away to get all of the individual aircraft in the frame because of the limited room to move, even on wide angle.  We didn’t stay too long as it was a case of walking along the pathways and out again.  We moved on down the road to the Aviation museum which had been closed on our last trip to Mareeba, and was still closed, so we headed home after a disappointing museum exercise but pleased with the collection of our parcel.   We probably will not bother visiting anymore aviation museums as we have seen the Perth and Darwin Aviation Museums which are both excellent, and therefore can stop being disappointed with other inferior ones. 

27^th September 2011

Generally a lazy day but we did drive out to Hastie’s swamp, about a 15 minute drive, to watch the birdlife at sun set.  In particular, we were hoping to watch Sarus Cranes come in to land for the night, and were rewarded at about 6.00pm when quite a few groups came in with an overhead fly past and then circle round on a landing run. 

Unfortunately they prefer to land on the far side of the swamp so all photograph is long distance and not real good for full zoom with a moving object.  The overhead shots tend to be silhouettes against the sky and the landing shots have a dark tree background, however we did achieve a few acceptable shots considering the lack of light.

28^th September 2011

We had to go into Atherton once again to return our outside TV as its power pack has died, but unfortunately it meant returning the whole lot to the agents in Cairns, meaning it would take about six weeks at best.  As we were not planning on being at our current location for that long we elected to take it to Cairns ourselves and try to simply get them to order a new power pack, and then post it to us. 

The good news is that on the way into Atherton we spied some Sarus Cranes in one of the local fields and were able to get some slightly closer shots.

In the afternoon we drove out to Tinaroo Falls Dam and found more cranes on the way and then found that there are no falls as such, and that it is just the name of the small village on the edge of the lake and fairly close to the Dam wall. 


There is a section of the wall that would resemble a waterfall if the lake level was a lot higher to pour over the weir but this is near the end of the dry season and rain still some way away.  Also there is an outlet from the dam which is feeding irrigation channels to the cane fields which is permanently lowering the level.  We continued on to over the dry river because of the lack of water over the weir and past the dam wall on the other side and continued until the road became a dirt road to several camp grounds for boat fanatics and fishermen.  We stopped at one point that claimed a 20 minute Lake walk which only took us 10 minutes and only had glimpses of a lake and then expected to eventually meet a dead end and have to return the way we came. 

That didn’t happen as it joined a bitumen road that took us to a carpark to the Cathedral Fig Tree which is in opposition to the Curtain Fig Tree, but we preferred the Cathedral Fig as the winner although both are quite amazing.  The road eventually joined the Main road into Yungaburra and back to our base.

29^th September 2011

We took the TV into Cairns via the Gillies Highway which passes through the Gillies Range and down off the Tablelands back to sea level, about 1200ft, which is a very tightly winding road for about 20kms with great views if you dare to look out over the severe drop off the side.  Going down meant we were on the inside of the road which creates the slightly saver feeling but still hair raising, especially knowing that you will be on the outside coming back up.  Cairns is bigger and busier than we expected and the traffic became more frantic with little regard for red lights.  After sorting out the TV problem, ordering a new power pack for posting to us, we found a Jaycar agent and bought some cable, an appropriate plug, a soldering and solder.  This is to allow Barry to make up a cable to join the 12v outlet on the outside of the caravan to power the TV from the vans battery, which means the new power pack will be put into storage when we get it.  After also shopping in Cairns Central we drove to the beachfront, and along it for some considerable distance, looking for a parking spot with eventual luck and stopped for lunch.  This was followed by a trip to the Botanic Gardens to find it a ‘No dog” area so gave Cairns the flick and drove up to the Tablelands with a couple of stops to admire the view, although this was rather hazy, which according to the TV news was the result of smoke from fires near Mareeba.  On arrival back at the van Barry made up the cable for the TV which allows us to use the TV without the power pack.

1^st October 2011

We started out early to Millaa Millaa to do the waterfall circuit taking in Millaa Millaa Falls, Zillia Falls and Ellinjaa Falls and then continued along the Palmerston Highway to Mungalli Falls. 

Some used a viewing platform but others allowed access to the base of the falls which involved winding our way down 80 metres and obviously back up so we gained a good workout on several occasions.  We continued on to Henrietta Creek which offered several ‘No Dog’ walks but we used the park benches for our picnic lunch anyway before continuing to another group of falls. 



The first being Nandroya Falls but this was a ‘no Dog’ deal with a long walk involved and the time required for the walk was way too long to leave Foxy in the car with a 30°C plus temperature. 




We continued on to look for Crawford’s Lookout but didn’t find initially but we did on the way back and then stopped off at the entrance to Wallacha Falls and Tchupala Falls which used a common start point but splits two ways, and we chose the longer way to go first to Wallicha Falls. 

On the way back we turned off to Tchupala falls and found the final section of the path closed off due to cyclone damage (2 years ago) that hasn’t been repaired yet and stopped us going down to the base of the falls, but allowed a no-so-good view of the Falls part way down.  Our run on waterfalls was over for today but detoured to Millaa Millaa Lookout which was good, but slightly spoilt by the smoke in the air from the fires that has been in the Tableland area for several days. After arriving home we had a short rest and then walk across to the side of the local Lake Tinaroo and photographed the sunset.  There are several more waterfalls to explore but due to the ‘No dog’ regulations anywhere close to something of interest, we will leave Foxy at home for the next trip.

2^nd October 2011

This was to be a rest day but Val and Barry (2) asked us along to the Ravenshoe heritage train trip and as we also wanted to visit the Millstream Falls in that area we agreed. 

The train trip in its own right was somewhat disappointing for us as it had no photographic opportunities of views along the way or at the destination, where we had a Lamington and cuppa.  The were occasional patches of trees that had clusters of Teddy Bears and other fluffy toys tied into them to entertain the little rug rats, but nothing else of note.  The return trip obviously was the same but as it was only 4.00pm we still had time to check out Millstream Falls, however, Merry’s navigational skills took us towards Little Millstream Falls along Tully Falls road.  Somehow we missed the sign to Little Millstream Falls and continued for 20kms and arrived at Tully Gorge Lookout, which is also the lookout for Tully Falls.  Unfortunately we are at the tail end of the dry season and because the water that would normally fall into the Gorge has been diverted to a Dam servicing a power station, the falls requires a serious rainfall to become a waterfall again.. 

The 293 metre deep Gorge view was great with the obvious signs of where the waterfall would be when sufficient rain happens.  On the return to Ravenshoe we spotted the turn off to the Little Millstream falls and as it was only a short distance away we gave it a go.  The falls are viewable from the pathway down giving a good overall view from top to bottom. 

It turned out to be the best of the falls that we have visited in the Tablelands so far, with multiple water entries, and because of the diversion to the gorge we had arrived at a time when the sun was setting right behind the falls, creating a great photo shot opportunity. 

The Millstream Falls (the widest falls in Australia) which were the original destination will have to wait for another trip.

17th September to 25th September 2011

17^th September2011

We had a lazy day today but in the late afternoon drove the 3kms to Yungaburra and visited the amazing curtain fig tree and then went to the platypus viewing platform and were lucky immediately.  The platypus put on a good show for us that helped catch some good photos and videos.  We then parked in town and took Foxy for a walk through part of the town, across the river via a swing bridge and along the river bank back to the platypus viewing platform and back into town which introduced us to some of the picturesque buildings of the township.

18^th September 2011

We packed a lunch and drove down to Malanda and visited the Nerada Tea Plantation and Factory.  Unfortunately the factory isn’t actually operative at this time of year as it is a seasonal like most if not all agricultural crops.  Consequently we didn’t do a factory tour just to only see the equipment whilst stationary but we did look over the showroom displays and had our lunch in their gardens followed by a Devonshire tea as an excuse to try one of the tea blends.  The tea Merry selected to try smelt and tasted like tobacco. 

We moved on back into the township of Malanda, stopping to take photos of the Johnson River, and continued to the Museum and a tour of the township for more photos. 

We followed this with a short trip out of town to the Malanda Falls which wasn’t as spectacular as we would have liked.  It is quite small height wise and not very wide and falls into what was once a natural pool but the Shire has turned into a swimming pool by building concrete sides along each side with ladders for entry/exit. 

Also a footbridge has been placed across the narrow outlet of the pool to give access to the other bank.  With the flow of water, particularly in the rainy season, the narrow end of the pool has collected a lot of debris that has come downstream.  For some reason the Shire doesn’t deem it necessary to clear this rubbish to improve the look of the place and safety of the swimmers.  There are a couple of walks that could be interesting but as always ‘No Dogs’ so we returned to Yungaburra and did the riverside walk from the same start point as last but in the opposite direction. 

We were fortunate enough to have a long range view of a Tree Kangaroo in a treetop but only feeding, not moving.  They are the only one of the roo family that can move their hind legs independently and can therefore walk/crawl rather than hop everywhere, which must help with climbing trees.  We also had a brief look at another platypus and the now redundant old iron railway bridge to finish the circuit walk back to the car. 

As we entered the drive through the Eacham National park to get to the caravan park we had a Musky Rat Kangaroo cross the road in front of us, and on arrive at our van was greeted by Val and Barry (2) who had arrived from Mission Beach area.

19^th September2011

 In the morning we took the 3kms walk around Lake Eacham which only offers a view of the lake at the carpark/picnic area.  During the rest of the walk you only see glimpses of the water close to the bank as the path is a short distance from the bank with steep slopes down to the water.

 However, the walk was through beautiful rainforest with Musky Rat Kangaroos and numerous birds to entertain us, but unfortunately none like to stop and pose for photos and being in a national park Foxy had to stay at home.   In the afternoon we drove to the Gallo cheese and chocolate factory but were disappointed with the cheese although merry did buy one overpriced lump.  The chocolate didn’t exactly get us excited but again did buy a small amount but the most noticeable aspect was the smell from the cattle yard that permeated through the shop which was not particularly pleasant.  We drove on into Atherton to the post office to collect the Bivouac Junction shirts that we had ordered in Charters Towers and a parcel from Perth, but that had not arrived yet.  On the trip back home, as we entered the national park we stopped several times to get photos of the Musky Rat Kangaroos on and beside the road and then turned off to explore a side road which ultimately returned us to the entry to the park again for another photo session.  It would have helped if other traffic had stopped as well as they frighten the little critters away, but with going round twice we had a reasonable amount of success

Once we had unpacked and checked the shirts we went up to the park office which is also a cafe for a coffee, and were entertained by a bird feeding session with Chestnut Breasted Mannikins, Red Browed Finches and King Parrots, along with the usual Rainbow Lorikeets.

20^th September 2011

This time we drove into Atherton to unsuccessfully check on the post office again and then drove north to Tolga and had a quick look at the fine wood craft and then stopped off at the Memorial Park which is both a rest area and a free camp area  so long as you are completely self sufficient.   We had our picnic here and then made for Mareeba and Emerald Creek Falls. 

The general area looks very dry and we expected the falls to be dry but having done the dirt road to get there we walked the approximate kilometre, each way, to the Falls which was on an uphill gradient with 86 steps included. 

The falls were putting on a good display despite the lack of rain for some considerable time, and made its way down the rock face to a succession of pools, and was well worth the effort to get there. 

 When we returned to Mareeba we turned off to visit Granite Gorge which offers several walks of varying length and difficulty, with the start of the walks being on Wallaby Rock where the majority of tourists feed the rock wallabies. 

We don’t fed wild animals as we disagree with it in the belief they should feed themself, rather than rely on humans to do it for them and probably with incorrect food.  We found a female with a 'Joey' in amongst numerous boys and others demonstrating their ability to stay put on near vertical rock faces, then after spending a while with the wallabies we set out on the difficult walk which involves a lot of very difficult rock clambering exercise and eventually veered off, in the interest of our safety, onto the shorter walk as our agility wasn’t quite up to required standard.  Sad to admit it but age tends to require common sense to be used.  By the time we had finished the walk we were ready to head home.

21^st September 2011

We left earl to visit the Lake Eacham Display Centre and then headed to Malanda to try and spot Tree Kangaroos in the Malanda Falls area where they are supposedly seen regularly, but not today.  We had our lunch by the carpark and then moved on to the Malanda Museum which is also the visitor centre, and gained some information about the Barron Falls and the Skyrail rides, for future use.  We then moved to the other side of town to the Majestic Theatre, which is the oldest continuous running theatre in the country, to watch the Film ‘Red Dog’ as we lived in red dog territory for many years and were members of the Red Dog 4 Wheel Drive Club, and still use the club shirts. 

The theatre is very old and still very original and its central bank of seating consists of heavy wooden frames with hessian attached at the low front bar and higher rear bar so that you semi lay in the seat so that your eyes are automatically looking up on an angle at the screen.  This overcomes the lack of a rising floor towards the back of the theatre to raise the seating, and allows you to see over the seat in front of you.  However, they are very difficult to get out off.  We sat on regular chairs at the side of the framed seats which were obviously introduced to increase the audience capacity.  There is an array of lighting equipment which indicates that the theatre originally did, and maybe still does, perform live entertainment shows as well as films.  We thoroughly enjoyed the film despite spotting the obvious poetic license and padding used to enhance the story, but only people that have spent some time in the area would notice this.  It contained silly little things such as showing ore trains with ‘Robe’ on them because at the time those trains had ‘CRRIA’ on them, and they had nothing to do with Dampier and Hamersley Iron where it was based.  We returned home and again saw Musky Rat Kangaroos by the road as we drove through the national park to the caravan park.

22^nd September 2011

Drove to Atherton post office again and was unsuccessful again, so it is looking like the expected parcel isn’t going to arrive.

23^rd September 2011

We packed up the camp and moved across town to the other side of Yungaburra to a caravan park alongside the tail end of Lake Tinaroo.  It is not as shady as Eacham but is quite a bit cheaper and offer plenty of room for taking Foxy for walks.

24^th September 2011

We went through to Mareeba again to visit the Coffee Works that we didn’t have time to fit in last time we were in this neighbourhood.  It is designed as an all day event or at least a long time one, with the hope that you will also have lunch there.  On arrival you can either do the $19 each coffee tasting, museum, check out the extensive giftware and coffee sale area and use the cafe if required.  Or save $19 each and check out the giftware and coffee sales and/or use the cafe.  If you choose to do the tasting, you are given a talk about the coffee variations and then let loose on 21 different coffees and about 16 variations of chocolate samples.  You also have access to the largest museum collection of coffee pots, grinders, roasters and all things coffee dating back for hundreds of years, in the world.  However, all of this didn’t interest Barry to any great extent as he prefers instant coffee, but he did taste several of the coffees to get his money’s worth and did actually enjoy the ‘Swiss decaffeinated‘ coffee and the plain dark chocolate samples. 

We left, with our stick-on badges, and went into town for some necessities and then showed our badges for re-entry for lunch.  Whilst having lunch we also did more tasting which means we didn’t have to buy drinks with your meal.  We found that we will need another trip to Mareeba at some time as there is a military museum, aircraft museum and a heritage museum to look at.

25^th September 2011

We went to Atherton for the Tableland Garden Expo which was a load of stalls inside a Hall with a few stalls on the outside, all hoping to sell their wares with some display orchids which may win someone a prize. We were only there for about half an hour which lets you know how good it was.  We followed this up with a visit to Crystal Caves gem display which kept Merry occupied for a much longer period whilst Barry elected to stay with Foxy.