Day 62 - Friday 23rd July 2021 – Chillagoe
After 29 sleeps in Port Douglas - one of our favourite spots - it was time to depart. We departed at 8am and headed north, then south, then west, then north again. 220 km later were arrived in Chillagoe - sort of 140 km west of Mareeba.
At Mareeba we turned right/west and headed down the wheelbarrow way - named after the miners who moved their worldly goods into the goldfields by wheelbarrow. I took a photo that reminded us of where we were.
We encountered around 12 km of gravel road, some of it was OK. However, we had set up camp in Chillagoe by 11:30 and headed off to buy our cave-tour tickets.
Lunch over we headed to the starting point of "Royal Arch Cave" tour. We were now in the land of interesting rock formations.
We donned lights and joined 12 other people and our guide, Sam - a very friendly local lady - for the 1.3 km underground tour. At times it was tight, and low and dark, but the tour was impressive.
We saw bats, and spiders and fossils.
I will post some photos when I get a few spare minutes.
After the tour we headed back to camp for a well deserved coffee. Then we headed out to see "Balancing Rock" and some rock art - and some more impressive rock formations.
It was time to call it a day, so we headed back to camp for a cold drink. I then cooked the casserole that I was about to start 50 hours ago - when the knife went awry. It was good.
Day 63 - Saturday 24th July 2021 – Chillagoe
For those of you who have been fortunate to see a fair bit of this great country, Chillagoe engenders memories of Marble Bar (although they actually have marble here), Lightning Ridge and the Bungle Bungles.
Shirley and I have had our busiest and most enjoyable tourist day since our big trip two years ago. We have visited caves, historic sites and museums. We have seen rock art, rock formations, creatures, a weir and a popular swimming hole.
Our first visit was to the Chillagoe Smelter. In the 1880's prospectors discovered silver, lead, zinc and gold. In the first half of last century the local smelter produced 60,000 tons of copper, 50,000 tons of lead, 6.5m ounces of silver and 175,00 ounces of gold.
For those of you who have been fortunate to see a fair bit of this great country, Chillagoe engenders memories of Marble Bar (although they actually have marble here), Lightning Ridge and the Bungle Bungles.
Shirley and I have had our busiest and most enjoyable tourist day since our big trip two years ago. We have visited caves, historic sites and museums. We have seen rock art, rock formations, creatures, a weir and a popular swimming hole.
Our first visit was to the Chillagoe Smelter. In the 1880's prospectors discovered silver, lead, zinc and gold. In the first half of last century the local smelter produced 60,000 tons of copper, 50,000 tons of lead, 6.5m ounces of silver and 175,00 ounces of gold.
From the smelter we moved to Trezkinn cave. We soon found out that there are 120 steps up to the start of the tour at the cave mouth (Shirley counted them), and 87 stair-steps immediately down inside the cave (I counted).
After this excitement we took a photo of the less-than-impressive first hole of the Chillagoe golf course. However, I guess the locals love it.
It was then that Shirley decided that we needed to visit the local 'souvenir" store to maybe get an ice-cream ('and stuff'). We missed out on 'the stuff' as the store was closed, but we scored an ice-cream elsewhere.
Day 64 - Sunday 25th July 2021 – Atherton Tablelands
We were up early and ready for our fourth and final cave tour at 9am. Before we headed there we took a photo of a couple of historic buildings.
Old Post Office
Old Court House & Current Police Station
We had the same guide (Sam) as for earlier guided tours. She was excellent.
The "Donna" cave was really impressive with some great features. All caves had their great points. The spiral stairs at the end of this cave made us happy that we did not have any more caves to walk though.
"Queen Victoria"
We saw bats and spiders, but could not get a decent photo of the former. The local snake was hiding.
Yiinthi Spider (Huntsman family)
We promptly returned to the caravan park and hitched up the caravan. There was a coffee shop that demanded attention - which we duly attended to. The coffee was great and a sample of local marble was also purchased.
According to a local a lot of the Chillagoe marble is exported to Italy then imported by Australia as "Italian marble". Work that out - she did not know why.
We had really enjoyed our three days (two nights) in Chillagoe. It has a lot going for it, from a tourism point of view - caves, indigenous rock art, mines, history, the smelter, marble and rock formations.
We headed east and stopped at the Dimbulah bakery. Their pies were superb, and are loved in Chillagoe - which does not have its own bakery.
Onward we moved and headed into the food-rich Atherton Tablelands, passing crops unknown as well as sugar cane, cotton, mango, vegetables - and many others. We stopped at the same car-wash in Mareeba that we had visited about five weeks ago. Red dust was removed from car and caravan. It was a wise investment.
Around 40 minutes later we arrived at Lake Tinaroo Tourist Park, where we checked into for three nights.
A couple of kookaburras, above the caravan, had a laugh as we sweltered in the heat to establish camp.
After coffee we went for a walk and checked out the lake.
Lake Tinaroo
We rested our cave-weary bones before a quiet drink and getting ready to watch our first bit of the Olympics. Dinner was left-overs.
We were up early and ready for our fourth and final cave tour at 9am. Before we headed there we took a photo of a couple of historic buildings.
We had the same guide (Sam) as for earlier guided tours. She was excellent.
The "Donna" cave was really impressive with some great features. All caves had their great points. The spiral stairs at the end of this cave made us happy that we did not have any more caves to walk though.
We promptly returned to the caravan park and hitched up the caravan. There was a coffee shop that demanded attention - which we duly attended to. The coffee was great and a sample of local marble was also purchased.
According to a local a lot of the Chillagoe marble is exported to Italy then imported by Australia as "Italian marble". Work that out - she did not know why.
We had really enjoyed our three days (two nights) in Chillagoe. It has a lot going for it, from a tourism point of view - caves, indigenous rock art, mines, history, the smelter, marble and rock formations.
We headed east and stopped at the Dimbulah bakery. Their pies were superb, and are loved in Chillagoe - which does not have its own bakery.
Onward we moved and headed into the food-rich Atherton Tablelands, passing crops unknown as well as sugar cane, cotton, mango, vegetables - and many others. We stopped at the same car-wash in Mareeba that we had visited about five weeks ago. Red dust was removed from car and caravan. It was a wise investment.
Around 40 minutes later we arrived at Lake Tinaroo Tourist Park, where we checked into for three nights.
A couple of kookaburras, above the caravan, had a laugh as we sweltered in the heat to establish camp.
After coffee we went for a walk and checked out the lake.
Day 65 - Monday 26th July 2021 – Atherton Tablelands
It was a good night for sleeping - our coolest in nearly six weeks. While Shirley continued her slumber I headed to the edge of the lake for the 6:45 am sunrise. There were two of us, me sitting on a rock, and a pelican enjoying the early solar rays.
A peaceful time of day
"Love those warm rays of sun"
A leisurely shower preceded breakfast.
Around 9:30 Shirley and I decided to drive 14 km into Atherton to buy a couple of items - mainly fruit. On the way Shirley suggested that we go for a drive - maybe to Yungaburra - so we did. Instead of 10 minutes we arrived in Atherton 5 hours later.
However the coffee in Yungaburra was excellent, and so was the two metre slice of "black wattle" that I bought to take home and make 'something'. I may have to store it under Shirley's mattress!
We wandered down to the creek and went looking for a platypus in the wild. We found one, plus a tortoise.
It was a good night for sleeping - our coolest in nearly six weeks. While Shirley continued her slumber I headed to the edge of the lake for the 6:45 am sunrise. There were two of us, me sitting on a rock, and a pelican enjoying the early solar rays.
A leisurely shower preceded breakfast.
Around 9:30 Shirley and I decided to drive 14 km into Atherton to buy a couple of items - mainly fruit. On the way Shirley suggested that we go for a drive - maybe to Yungaburra - so we did. Instead of 10 minutes we arrived in Atherton 5 hours later.
However the coffee in Yungaburra was excellent, and so was the two metre slice of "black wattle" that I bought to take home and make 'something'. I may have to store it under Shirley's mattress!
We wandered down to the creek and went looking for a platypus in the wild. We found one, plus a tortoise.
Above & Below: Yungaburra residents
Next stop was the "Curtain Fig" tree - an amazing plant. It has been around for a long time and has a fascinating history.
Curtain Fig Tree
Shirley was on a roll and had us stopping at Mt Hypipamee Crater and Falls. On the walk into the rainforest we saw the "Cauliflory" plant - so called because it has cauliflower-like flowers. Unlike other rainforest flowers it lives lower down below the forest canopy.
Mt Hypipamee Crater
The above crater is around 70 metres deep and the landing on which I took the photo is 57 metres above the water level. The water in the crater is a near-constant temperature from top to bottom - just over 17 degrees C. A fresh water shrimp lives in the water - and is believed to exist no-where else on Earth. The green water colour comes from a 'native duck weed' that supports the shrimp.
An alternate walk back to the car took us past numerous water falls, some of which are shown below. It was a pretty site. I swapped 'cooee' calls with a young boy some distance away.
Not finished yet, Shirley directed us to "Bloomshields Crater", the outcome of some earthly action(s) zillions of years ago. It was maybe three km in diameter, and contains marshlands that encourage many water birds to visit around sundown. The view was OK.
Shirley had, by now, run out of ideas and so we headed to Malanda for lunch (another excellent pie) and then Atherton for our shopping. Over the day our one or two items had increased in number.
We arrived back at camp overdue for a coffee.
Shirley had, by now, run out of ideas and so we headed to Malanda for lunch (another excellent pie) and then Atherton for our shopping. Over the day our one or two items had increased in number.
Day 66 - Tuesday 27th July 2021 – Atherton Tablelands
The washing was complete and on the line by 8am - in time for a leisurely breakfast.
We spent most of the day around Yungaburra with David & Bev who had driven from Cairns for the day. The key highlight was a visit to the Afghanistan War Memorial, near the southern tip of Lake Tinaroo.
We arrived back at camp in time for a coffee and watched 4 kookaburras and 2 sulphur-crested cockatoos jostle for tree space. I think the kookaburras won.
Kookaburra & Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
The washing was complete and on the line by 8am - in time for a leisurely breakfast.
We spent most of the day around Yungaburra with David & Bev who had driven from Cairns for the day. The key highlight was a visit to the Afghanistan War Memorial, near the southern tip of Lake Tinaroo.
We arrived back at camp in time for a coffee and watched 4 kookaburras and 2 sulphur-crested cockatoos jostle for tree space. I think the kookaburras won.
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