Mareeba with John and Marion

Saturday 9 August

We packed and had breakfast then drove down the street to John and Marion's arriving by about 8:30am for a coffee.

Today was designated a domestic day after so long away for John and Marion at such short notice. We all hopped in their car, collected mail in Mareeba, then drove south to the Malanda Dairy Centre. As we had left the house we noticed there was a blackout. We found out it was across a huge area with radio coming from Mt Isa. By the time we got to the Dairy Centre power had been restored so we had an early lunch and a quick look at the diary museum before travelling further south towards Topaz and the Galaji Nature Conservancy of John and Marion's.

Their house is not quite finished but work had progressed significantly in the time they had been away. John and Marion spent some time being shown details by the builder and making decisions about where fittings and fixtures should go.

Back out to Atherton for some grocery shopping then home to cook dinner before rushing back to Atherton for a flamenco guitar recital by Andrew Vievers. His playing was fantastic and so energetic but the hall was freezing. The event gave John and Marion time to chat to friends who were all concerned about their well being.

Home to collapse into bed and warm up by 10:30pm. A very late night for us.

Sunday 10 August

After breakfast, a bit of washing and a long inspiring chat about Artist's Trading Cards, we all headed south again in heavy mist and rain through Atherton and Yungaburra to John Nott's house to deliver old newspaper and have a cuppa with his wife Peta. His house is just as incredible as I remember it from my 2001 visit and their Rose Gums Wilderness Retreat is a thriving eco holiday business with tree houses for the guests.

As the weather was incredibly wet and dismal we only made a quick stop at Lake Eacham then headed to Lake Barine where we had a delicious lunch at the tea room. We took the short walk in the rain to see two majestic Kauri Pines and marvelled at their magnificence.

On then to Yungaburra where we visited the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour, a very peaceful setting on the shores of Lake Tinnaroo commemorating those who had died on military duty in Afghanistan, one of whom was a local lad.

Our next stop was the platypus viewing platform at Yungaburra and we actually saw a platypus even though it was only mid afternoon.

On then into Malanda where Marion did a little more shopping. We then headed quickly onto Gallo's Dairy for our chocolate fix (not Kathy of course) for afternoon tea and to buy some locally made cheeses both for our travels and for our stay in Mareeba.

Home via Halloran's Hill for a view of the very misty countryside and home via Granite Gorge past some huge lumps of granite.

Once home we quickly got in damp washing and then caught up on our charging and documentation while John had a much-needed snooze and Marion caught up on emails.

We even had a possum show his face on the apex of the verandah roof just before dinner.

Monday 11 August

We both had a great solid sleep last night and woke ready for another busy day.

A slow start but we got going by about 9am and drove to the top of the Skyrail with a detour via the lookout half way down because we missed the turn off to Kuranda.

Kathy and I caught the Skyrail while John drove down to do some business at the bottom. Meanwhile Marion went to Atherton for an Art Society meeting.

The Skyrail trip was at times stunning and at others breathtaking. We got off at both stops and spent time doing the short boardwalks with fantastic views through the rainforest to the Barron River. Again the train was in at the station on the opposite side of the gorge.

At the bottom we had a coffee then rang John to collect us. He then took us to Holloway's Beach for a light lunch right at the beachfront.

On the way back up to Mareeba we took a detour to see the Cloheys River figs. After 8 kms and 3 creek corssings we found a 300m boardwalk that led us past an Orange Footed Scrub Fowl mound and a number of magnificently huge figs.

Back to Mareeba where we eventually found Marion and had coffee at the Coffee Works. I also bought a bag of dark chocolate dipped dried mango – it is delicious. I also bought a mozzie coil holder that looks effective.

John pointed out some fantastic looking chocolate “pizzas” that would make wonderful birthday or Christmas cakes. We also bought some Davidson Plum gelato for our dessert.

Back home to settle in for the evening.

Tuesday 12 August

Up earlyish and away by about 8am to drive through the crops of sugar cane, tea tree, failed Milletia, basil, limes and mangoes to the west of Mareeba. Our destination was Chillagoe where we had booked a cave tour.

We called at the Hub to collect our tickets then had an appauling cuppa at the pub before driving around to Trezkinn Cave.

The formations in the cave were quite stunning. There were a lot of stairs and even ladders but they were relatively easy to negotiate. Kathy and I were not even the slow ones in the group.

After our cave tour we met up with John and Marion again and drove further west to Mungana where we found The Archways caves that we could explore ourselves. We found a fabulous small cool cave to have our picnic lunch then went for a wander through the other caves in the complex. The feeling of being in such tall spaces made of rock was quite awesome. The limestone was weathered to quite rigid and extremely sharp knife edges. Apparently it is not the sort of rock you want to fall onto.

We visited the aboriginal art site close by then headed back into town for a visit to the craft shop that sold all sorts of things made of the local marble. I bought two polished marble chips that are wonderful to handle.

Off then for an ice cream before visiting the lookout over the old smelters. Then we had the long drove back to Mareeba (actually only about 1.5 hours).

We enjoyed dinner together but then all collapsed early as we'd had quite a long hot day.

John and Marion at last

Thursday 7 August

We woke to a chorus of birds, a rooster and a dog barking. Once up and showered we had breakfast on the house verandah watching the many visitors to the bird feeders.

We then packed and headed back to the Visitor Centre very early for our 11:30am boat tour on the wetlands. This gave us time to chat again with Margaret and Greg and the Dutch guests, charge camera battery and catch up on diary.

It was peaceful on the water but the sprinkle of rain made it a little cool.

After our tour I drove south to the Tolga Woodworks where we had fresh spanacopita for lunch (delicious) and I bought two of Marion's paintings (I've no idea how I'll get them home).

On then to the caravan park to settle in and do two loads of washing. Unfortunately we had to use the drier as well as it is still raining on and off.

After updating the blog and catching up on emails I rang Mum's cousin Ivy who lives nearby and she was thrilled to hear from us. She drove into town to visit us then took us to visit her daughter, grandaughter and 3 great grand children. Then we followed her to her home to share soup and toast for dinner.

Back to our cabin in the bitter cold and wet and even turned on the heater so we could stop shivering.

Friday 8 August

Up and packed then off to get the windscreen replaced. We strolled around town, had a coffee, bought a new thermos and did some grocery shopping for John and Marion as they would be arriving home to an empty house after three weeks away.

Once the car was done, we drove out to Herberton and really enjoyed a stroll around the Herberton Heritage Village. It has such an array of things on display in old buildings that have been moved to the site from surrounding areas.

We had a delicious lunch in the tea rooms, just excellent plain cooking.

Rain was intermittent all day and drove us to the car soon after lunch. We drove a little way west to see if we could find the Herberton acacia, the only known purple acacia. However, there was none in flower so we could not even tell if we'd found it.

Back to Atherton then a drive east to see the two big figs – the curtain fig and the cathedral fig that actually has a walkway into it.

Back again into Atherton but still no reply from messages we'd left for John and Marion so we drove on to Mareeba where it was quite dry and free from the drizzle we'd had for the last two days.

We found a camping ground that would allow us to camp (all other cabins etc in town were full). It happened to be in John and Marion's street. Just after we'd pitched our tent we heard that they were just leaving Cairns on their way home.

When they arrived we shared the wine, cheese and tomato we'd bought for them and enjoyed a long exchange of stories about our respective three weeks.

They left for home and we settled in for the night hoping that the fine weather will hold through the night.

The Daintree Rainforest

Tuesday 5 August

We woke to bird calls. I even heard a Rifle Bird and the Blue-winged Kookaburras. We were soon out for a walk to the creek but no sign of platypus this morning. We then went back to the orchard for some more birdwatching then took a stroll along the quiet lane.

It was very peaceful sitting and sipping my coffee watching all the birds that visited the bird feeders just off the verandah.

On the road again by 9:30 heading north through Mossman and on to the Daintree River. We crossed on the ferry then drove the slow winding road in the Daintree Discovery Centre and Canopy Tower. There was no parking so we continued on the side road until we found parking which was right near the Jindalba Boardwalk.

We had a lovely stroll along the boardwalk then drove back to find parking for the Tower. We had lunch at the Tower cafe then spent about an hour walking the tower and all its associated board walks. I photographed one butterfly (or moth) but we did not see many birds or other wildlife. Plenty of plants I was not familiar with and a rather large Selaginella.

As it was about 1:30pm by then we decided to head straight for Cape Tribulation, arriving at about 2:30pm (an hour to do about 20km). We booked a cabin at PK's Village – very basic and hardly adequate. We only have a double bed, no tea and coffee making facilities and no screens on the door and window. We'll vertainly only be here one night. What a pity, as it is in quite an idyllic garden setting.

After an icecream while watching a Ullyses butterfly and two other types we walked along the boardwalk through the mangroves to the beach. It was lovely to feel the fresh sea breeze and watch the waves as we strolled along but huge dark rain clouds loomed so we headed back to make ourselves comfy for the evening.

After our scrounged dinner of salad veges, fruit and biscuits the rain started bucketting down. Luckily we had a well sheltered verandahg to sit out on in the cool.

Wednesday 6 August

Thank goodness we were not in our tent last night! Our basic ensuite cabin with only a double bed kept us dry and protected from the rain that fell all night and was still falling when we had to pack the car.

We left without coffee intending to get it on the road but it was so wet and twisty that we got all the way to Daintree Village before we could actually stop and relax.

We took our time in Daintree intending to stay overnight but as it was so wet and only late morning we had devonshire tea for an early lunch then left. We took the road towards Cairns marvelling at the views of the coastline on our way.

We turned up towards Kuranda and the tablelands, our aim being to see Barron Falls and get to the Mareeba Wetlands as we had noticed something about accommodation there.

It took us a little time to navigate the myriad poorly designed signs to the falls but were pleasantly surprised by the excellent boardwalk when we got there and the fact that there was at least some water in the falls. The train was pulled into the station when we got there too.

On then to the Mareeba Wetlands. I had not remembered such a long drive in off the highway but we perservered and once we arrived I remembered it all. The visitor centre is a beautiful John Nott pole building that Surrey and I had visited in 2001.

We arrived to find “no room in the inn” (or safari tents anyway) but we must have looked honest enough as we were offered a tent space on the manager's front lawn (Margaret and Greg) and the use of their toilet and shower. How fantastic to meet such generous people.

We were also just in time to join the 4-W-D safari wildlife tour in behind the wetlands. This provided an opportunity to see many new birds for our list including a Jabiru. We also saw some kangaroos and four wild pigs.

Back to the centre for complimentary wine and cheese before being taken to the house to set up our tent. We returned then to dinner overlooking the wetlands and chatting to some of the other guests, especially a Dutch family of four.

While we were chatting, a northern quoll came up onto the deck and entertained us all trying to find a feed. It was obviously well familiar with the centre.

Back to the tent for a fabulous sleep.