Mareeba to Carnarvon Gorge
Monday 29 August to Wednesday 7 September
Mareeba is coffee and mango country so we had to stop at the mango winery and taste their wares and of course buy some and then we headed for the Coffee Factory. The countryside is quite high in the mountains and beautiful.
We headed down the mountain to Cairns, which is already familiar territory, to have some repairs done to the van and service the car. We even managed to wash both the car and van.
Right outside our van at the caravan park in Cairns two curlew birds, one sitting on a nest with 2 eggs and the other guarding the nest were getting angry when anyone came too close. Of course Mike managed to get them very annoyed. What a great sight.
We stopped off at Lake Tinaroo near the quaint village of Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands. We spent some time walking along the river and exploring the art works. Each little town has its special thing and here it was the curtain fig tree located in a rainforest, which was a must see. The air was cool and it was raining. The first cool rain we have had for weeks. We stopped at Malanda Falls and Millaa Millaa falls which looked just like in the postcards and all in the misty rain.
The next stop was Herberton, an historic mining village but very quiet and small. We headed towards Atherton itself where the crystal cave museum was fantastic. Well presented and beautiful crystals. Our final stop on the Atherton Tablelands was The Crater at Mount Hypipamee National Park, all old volcanic structures. If I was still teaching I would be collecting great photos for my classes.
We continued to travel further south west to the Undara Volcanic National Park to explore the Undara Lava Tubes. On the way we stopped at the Innot Hot Springs which is really just a little stream that has hot water bubbling up from below. The campsite at Undara was in a beautiful bush setting with lots of birds and kangaroos around. Our guided tour through the Lava Tubes was great. Val our guide knew so much about the geology, aboriginal history and biology of the area that she kept us entertained for hours. The photos don’t really do the colours in the Lava tubes justice. The caves are formed from the lava flow and the outside cools more quickly due to contact with the air above and the ground below while the centre remains hotter and more fluid and therefore keeps moving after the surrounding cylinder has solidified. Eventually when the lava flow stops from the volcano it leaves an empty tube. Amazing stuff.
This area is definitely cattle country and on our way from Undara Lava Tube to Charters Towers we saw a herd of Brahman cattle being herded by 4 drovers on horse back, all with their UHF radios. What a fantastic sight right next to us on the road. Mike said hello to one of the young drovers who asked where we were from. When we told him we were from Sydney all he could say was “Jesus, what a bloody long way”. It was a great interaction.
Along the way we saw 2 magnificent Wedge tail Eagles and a mother emu with her 4 little chicks.
Charters Towers is a lovely old gold mining town with lots of mining and WW2 history. We went up to the lookout late afternoon and really enjoyed the view, especially the rock wallabies.
Then we drove to Belyando Crossing where we stopped for lunch and finished the day at Clermont Caravan Park.
Our next stop was Emerald which is the heart of sunflower and chick pea country. Emerald has the largest painting on an easel. It is Van Gogh’s sunflower painting. Next to it there is a series of mosaics depicting 100 year history of Emerald.
Lake Maraboon and Fairbairn Dam in Emerald provide the water for the town and irrigation. Emerald has an ancient fossilised tree, 140,000 years old and a beautiful old Railway Station. All the little claims to fame that are always part of the explore.
We met up with some friends that we were together with at the Cape and had 2 lovely evenings together.
From Emerald it was a couple of hours further south to Carnarvon Gorge where we spent the day hiking and exploring the ancient Aboriginal art work, some of it 2000 years old, and enjoying the coolness of the moss gardens.
We climbed up and down, walked at least 12 km and still managed to be able to move the next day!!! Fred, the aboriginal elder at the art site was the most entertaining part of the day. He explained how his mob used the gorge mainly for burials and their totem was the emu. We walked some of the way back with him and he picked and fed us bush gooseberries, real bush tucker. The photos don’t do it justice because they don’t capture the dimensions, smells and sounds.
Monday 29 August to Wednesday 7 September
Mareeba is coffee and mango country so we had to stop at the mango winery and taste their wares and of course buy some and then we headed for the Coffee Factory. The countryside is quite high in the mountains and beautiful.
We headed down the mountain to Cairns, which is already familiar territory, to have some repairs done to the van and service the car. We even managed to wash both the car and van.
Right outside our van at the caravan park in Cairns two curlew birds, one sitting on a nest with 2 eggs and the other guarding the nest were getting angry when anyone came too close. Of course Mike managed to get them very annoyed. What a great sight.
We stopped off at Lake Tinaroo near the quaint village of Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands. We spent some time walking along the river and exploring the art works. Each little town has its special thing and here it was the curtain fig tree located in a rainforest, which was a must see. The air was cool and it was raining. The first cool rain we have had for weeks. We stopped at Malanda Falls and Millaa Millaa falls which looked just like in the postcards and all in the misty rain.
The next stop was Herberton, an historic mining village but very quiet and small. We headed towards Atherton itself where the crystal cave museum was fantastic. Well presented and beautiful crystals. Our final stop on the Atherton Tablelands was The Crater at Mount Hypipamee National Park, all old volcanic structures. If I was still teaching I would be collecting great photos for my classes.
We continued to travel further south west to the Undara Volcanic National Park to explore the Undara Lava Tubes. On the way we stopped at the Innot Hot Springs which is really just a little stream that has hot water bubbling up from below. The campsite at Undara was in a beautiful bush setting with lots of birds and kangaroos around. Our guided tour through the Lava Tubes was great. Val our guide knew so much about the geology, aboriginal history and biology of the area that she kept us entertained for hours. The photos don’t really do the colours in the Lava tubes justice. The caves are formed from the lava flow and the outside cools more quickly due to contact with the air above and the ground below while the centre remains hotter and more fluid and therefore keeps moving after the surrounding cylinder has solidified. Eventually when the lava flow stops from the volcano it leaves an empty tube. Amazing stuff.
This area is definitely cattle country and on our way from Undara Lava Tube to Charters Towers we saw a herd of Brahman cattle being herded by 4 drovers on horse back, all with their UHF radios. What a fantastic sight right next to us on the road. Mike said hello to one of the young drovers who asked where we were from. When we told him we were from Sydney all he could say was “Jesus, what a bloody long way”. It was a great interaction.
Along the way we saw 2 magnificent Wedge tail Eagles and a mother emu with her 4 little chicks.
Charters Towers is a lovely old gold mining town with lots of mining and WW2 history. We went up to the lookout late afternoon and really enjoyed the view, especially the rock wallabies.
Then we drove to Belyando Crossing where we stopped for lunch and finished the day at Clermont Caravan Park.
Our next stop was Emerald which is the heart of sunflower and chick pea country. Emerald has the largest painting on an easel. It is Van Gogh’s sunflower painting. Next to it there is a series of mosaics depicting 100 year history of Emerald.
Lake Maraboon and Fairbairn Dam in Emerald provide the water for the town and irrigation. Emerald has an ancient fossilised tree, 140,000 years old and a beautiful old Railway Station. All the little claims to fame that are always part of the explore.
We met up with some friends that we were together with at the Cape and had 2 lovely evenings together.
From Emerald it was a couple of hours further south to Carnarvon Gorge where we spent the day hiking and exploring the ancient Aboriginal art work, some of it 2000 years old, and enjoying the coolness of the moss gardens.
We climbed up and down, walked at least 12 km and still managed to be able to move the next day!!! Fred, the aboriginal elder at the art site was the most entertaining part of the day. He explained how his mob used the gorge mainly for burials and their totem was the emu. We walked some of the way back with him and he picked and fed us bush gooseberries, real bush tucker. The photos don’t do it justice because they don’t capture the dimensions, smells and sounds.
