Undara to Atherton

Wednesday 30 July

When Ernest returned from his early morning swim we had breakfast together, a bit of chat about pumps and irrigation then said our goodbyes. What a pity to leave Ernest and miss Robbie. Kathy and I were on the road by about 7:30am and heading north.

Our first stop was at Greenvale where we bought fuel and had a picnic morning tea of biscuits and water. On again to Undara where we quickly booked in, found our camp site then had a late lunch.

Then it was time to pitch our tent. This proved more difficult than we have had because the ground is rock hard. The pegs are not in properly and we are just hoping that bodies in the tent will hold it down in what is currently just a light breeze.

For our afternoon activity we drove out to the Kalkani Crater and did the walk up to the rim then along the rim in both directions. But we decided there was not enough time to do the whole circuit. We took our time, marvelling at the plants that we found, particularly two different Grevilleas and a Bat Wing Coral tree (Brachychiton sp.).

Back to camp for a cuppa and to sit a while before cooking our dinner. Hopefully the kookaburras will have gone to bed and not steal our food this time.

Thursday 31 July

After a fairly sleepless night for me we woke, had a quick breakfast and dismantled a damp ten in time for our 8am tour of the lava tubes. Even though I had done the walk before it was just as magnificent. We visited two of the tubes and even saw some microbats.

Back to the car and on the road again. We had a long hold up at roadworks just south of Mt Garnet where new tar was being laid.

We stopped at Millstream Falls for a picnic lunch of avocado sandwiches then walked down to see the falls. Such a lot of water in this area compared to every where we've been since leaving Kilcoy.

I knew of Mt Hypipamee National Park so we stopped there to see the breath taking volcanic crater. The fence on the viewing platform actually slopes out over the crater so it is quite scary.

Once we arrived in Atherton Kathy did the runaround to find someone to repair our windscreen. No luck yet but she decided we needed a cabin tonight so we booked into Halloran's Leisure Park. We spent time ringing and emailing to organise the changes in our itinerary over the next few weeks up here on the Tablelands and further north.

Friday 1 August 2014

While Kathy took the car to speak to the windscreen repair man I put out our washing. We have now made an appointment to get a new windscreen next Friday morning. Meanwhile we'll head for Cooktown tomorrow as the crack does not seem to be growing and is not hampering the driver's view.

Our first stop today was the Tolga Woodworks where we both could have spent thousands. We did buy a few small items each.

Then into Atherton to replenish supplies and take them back to our cabin to sort and have lunch.

Off then for a cool rainforest walk in the Wongabel Forest. We heard all sorts of birds we could not identify but saw a few we could. We also saw a red footed pademelon hop across the path and glimpsed others in the forest.

Then we had a drive to Hasties Swamp National Park and sat for an hour or so in the bird hide watching hundreds of waterfowl and even a water dragon. There were even some microbats in the bird hide.

Home then for a bit of car packing, food organising and cooking dinner. There was also the usual photo downloads, diary and blog updates to be done.