Dance Brolga, Dance!

Crossing the Atherton Tablelands we saw, some of the prettiest scenery so far on our trip. We were surrounded by green rolling hills, covered in big black and white dairy cows, then we were driving through thick rainforests, then cute little villages.

 

We stopped at Ravenshoe, a town that boasts 'the highest pub in Queensland". We HAD to stop there and have a counter meal and a cold beer.

Pulling into the BP at Mount Surprise, I went inside to enquire about staying at the caravan park behind the petrol station. I met the rudest man I have ever encountered! I don’t know if I caught him on a bad day or he was just grumpy. The only reason we decided to stay there was because my dad had just told us about a Dancing Brolga who lived at the park.

We chose a site near the fence, climbed out of the car and took some carrots over to feed the miniature ponies and watch the brolga put on a show for us.

 

 

 

 

It had been a long and hot day in the car, so we put on our bathers and headed for the pool. Will, Dan and Zac were already in, and before I joined them I pressed the button to turn on the spa. As soon as the bubbles started a huge cane toad jumped out of the pool. Needless to say, I no longer felt the need to go swimming!

 

Up early the next morning, we headed to the Undara Volcanic National Park. The area is situated within the McBride volcanic province and contains 164 volcanoes, vents and cones. The lava tubes are regarded amongst the largest and longest on the planet. The word Undara is Aboriginal and means ‘a long way’. The volcanic activity that formed the tubes occurred approximately 190,000 years ago and the volcano Undara expelled massive amounts of lava onto the surrounding Atherton Tableland. In total it was estimated that over 23 billion cubic meters of lava that was released covering an area of 55 km2.

 

We spent a couple of very relaxing days camped next to mum and dad on the banks of Fletcher Creek. The boys had a lovely time jumping in the river and floating down to where Dad and I sat on the grass fishing.

 

One morning I woke early and managed to catch sight of a magical sunrise.

 

 

On our last morning with mum and dad, before they continued south to be home for the birth of my brothers' baby, we had a father's day breakfast in Charters Towers.

 

Charter's Towers was founded in the 1870s when gold was discovered by chance at Towers Hill on Christmas Eve 1871 by 12-year-old Aboriginal boy, Jupiter Mosman. Jupiter was with a small group of prospectors, searching for gold, when their horses bolted after a flash of lightning. While he was searching Jupiter found both the horses and a nugget of gold in a creek at the base of Towers Hill.

The Charters Towers gold field produced over 200 tons of gold from 1871-1917, and was Australia's richest major field.

 

 

We are now heading west back to Outback Australia to catch up with friends and explore the Northern Territory!

A secret treasure hunt!

After leaving Cooktown we headed inland again. Stopping at a fantastic roadhouse at Archer River, for one of the biggest hamburgers we have ever seen, then a quick walk down to paddle in the river. The boys spent some time searching for gold. They found some beautiful rocks but unfortunately - no gold!

We pulled up at a campsite next to Rifle Creek in Mount Molloy. It was a really busy little place as its one of the very few campsites in Far North Queensland that's free to stay at. 

 

We almost felt like we were returning home when we arrived back at the rodeo grounds in Mareeba. We have now been here for a combined total of four weeks. One of the longest stays on the trip so far!

 

While in Mareeba I discovered the world wide treasure hunt known as Geocaching! Geocaching is a free real-world outdoor treasure hunt. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using a phone or GPS and can then share their experiences online.

Sam and I spent one afternoon driving and walking around Mareeba trying to find our first 'cache' but had no luck. We went on a wild goose chase through the local cemetery, getting clues and trying to figure out where the cache was hidden. We ended up at the hiding spot but it was very overgrown and filled with huge spiders in their tangle of webs.

We had to go back and forth to Cairns a few times to get the car repaired, and it was on one of these trips that I found my first Geocache. I was like a little school girl, jumping up and down on the footpath, and then remembering that I was supposed to be discrete. It was just like finding the treasure on a treasure hunt. I was hooked! Now wherever we drive, I look up to see if there's any 'caches' close by.

 

 

 

We caught up with the Cronan family, who are staying and working in Palm cove. It was great to see them again before we head inland and south through the centre. You never know when you will see fellow travellers again, so it's good to catch up when you can.

 

 

 

A day trip up to the Daintree was long but worth it! It was as beautiful and tropical as I had imagined.

 

 

 

 

The view from the lookout over Port Douglas was spectacular!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left the caravan at Mareeba and spent the weekend of our 12th Wedding Anniversary at Chillagoe. We stopped at the campsite and set up our tent.

 

Chillagoe was once a thriving mining town for a range of minerals but is now reduced to a small zinc mine and some marble quarries.

It got quite warm so we found a beautiful little swimming hole to cool off in,

 

Just out of town is the Mungana Caves National Park containing limestone caves. There are between 600 and 1,000 caves in the Chillagoe-Mungana area. The caves, the spectacular karst landscape and the mining and smelting history are the main tourist attractions to the region.

 

Although mum and dad offered to babysit the kids for us, we decided we wanted to celebrate our anniversary with them and the kids. The Post Office Pub at Chillagoe was fantastic. Free pizza entrees were served, and for every pot of beer, you rolled a dice and if you rolled even, the drinks were on the house. We only ended up paying for one drink for the entire night!