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.

Sapphire and Charters Towers

Sunday 27 July

We woke at about 6am again and waited till dawn to get up.

After breakfast we drove to Armfest sapphire fossicking centre where we washed and searched a bucket of scrapings. This provided us with a great learning opportunity about gems of the area and we found some of our own in the process.

Back to the cabin to find maps and have coffee then off to Rubyvale to visit the Miners' Heritage walk-in mine. We had plenty of time to browse the shop first. The mine tour was another chance to learn a lot about mining gems – sapphires and zircons – in this area both in the past and now.

We followed this with lunch at the Rubyvale Gallery then drove back to Sapphire visiting M&M Sapphires and Pat's Gems (where I bought two matching star sapphire for earrings to match my ring). Surrey and I bought the stone for the ring back in the 1970s when we were here and had it mounted at The Rocks in Sydney.

Back home to pack away the tent which is now dry and all the big things so we can have a smoother pack in the morning. I also had time to update the blog. I did dinner duties then we both had an easy evening watching TV.

Monday 28 July

Kathy and I were out on the road before 8am and took the direct road to Clermont where we had morning tea and bought some sandwiches for our lunch later. On the road again and somewhere between Clermont and Belyando Crossing we stopped to watch a huge flock of brolga on a property dam. There were over 500. Across the road there was a stubble field and there were lots feeding on the dropped seeds. There was another car stopped as well and we chatted to them for a bit then leap-frogged along the road with them as we saw brolga closer to the road. A little further along we also saw an emu.

At Belyando Crossing we ate our lunch and met the couple again so another chat ensued. We had to top up with fuel but at 200.9/L we decided we did not need to completely fill the tank!

On again north where we passed a large mob of cattle feeding on the long paddock and in really poor condition.

By 4pm we arrived at Ernest and Robbie's home at Charters Towers. Unfortunately Robbie is away. Our guided tour of the garden was fantastic with so many new tree and shrub plantings and a great vege patch.

After a chat and cheese and biscuits we enjoyed pumpkin and sweet potato soup followed by Weiss Sorbet.

As both Kathy and I were rather tired we were off to our beds soon after 8pm in two beautifully appointed huge bedrooms.

Robbie and Ernest's fridge magnets of note:

“Old ain't dead”

“Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light”

Tuesday 29 July

Ernest alerted us to the news that the Charters Towers Agricultural Show was on so after we breakfasted together he left to judge the horses and then we left to spend time wandering before the heat and crowds arrived. We watched a bit of the horse judging and were pleased that the horse I loved most actually won.

We bought strawberries to eat whilst there and also some to take with us and some to give to Ernest. Kathy bought a hat and a scarf. I bought a 3-in-1 handbag that even fits my wallet in it.

We then headed to the Venus Battery – a gold mining site that is now a museum. We were just too late for a tour so decided to fill with fuel and do some shopping at Foodworks then returned for the 11am tour. It was amazing to hear about the gruesome conditions for the workers and the legacy of pollution left by the processes that used mercury, cyanide and arsenic. It is very lucky that the once very full creek has now silted up as the water would have been quite toxic.

Back home to get lunch and soon after Ernest arrived home. During the heat of the day I was able to catch up on emails and photo downloading ready to update the blog tonight.

As we drove out for our afternoon activity we noticed a large crack in the windscreen. As nowhere is open to even think about fixing it, Ernest says it will be easier to fix it on the Tablelands so we'll be trying to find something when we get there.

Out to town to find the museum closed and most other things closed as it was show day. The Information Centre was open so we collected a few leaflets for the next part of our journey. We then drove up to the Tower Hill Lookout to the fantastic views.

Home to browse through the leaflets to organise the next few days then some diary typing before dinner.