Day 170
Friday
16 June 2017 –
Atherton Table Lands
A sleep in yippee and I am awake at 6.50, hmm. Time to read
my book at least, which I did for an hour, making good headway into it. It was
still quite overcast outside when I did venture out for my shower.
We were all packed up and ready to head out on our adventure
for the day, checking out a loop of the Atherton Tablelands. We realised that
there was lots to see and do in the area so decided we would break it into a
few drips starting today.
We made our way south of Cairns first of all, before heading
west on the Gillies Hwy and beginning the windy climb up into the mountains
over Mount Peter. Doing this trip has made me appreciate just how flat Perth is
and in the grand scheme of things, these mountains aren’t exactly huge on a
world scale, but they are still different to what we are use to.
We stopped at Heles Lookout to admire the view before
continuing on towards Yungaurra. Just before this town there are two crater
lakes. We stopped at Lake Eacham for a wander around. I was glad to pull up and
get out, as the drive up played havoc on my stomach and I needed the fresh air.
The water of the lake was very clear and there were plenty of fish however,
much to Paul’s disappointment you aren’t allowed to fish.
We walked along a boardwalk, enjoying the view and stopping
to watch the turtles swim about beneath us and then returned to the warm of the
car. We hadn’t packed jumpers and were wishing we had, as the temperature was a
little cooler than we were used to.
We drove into Yungaburra and stopped, walking the street to
the platypus viewing platform over a water course. Unfortunately there were no
platypus to be seen, but their burrows were quite obvious.
We then walked the main strip, admiring the old buildings
and the art about the town. It gave off the feeling of a SW town a bit like
Pemberton and Denmark, however Paul thought there were too many hairdressers
for it to be authentic.
The next destination on the list was Curtin Fig Tree. This
tree started out growing on a host tree and sending down large numbers of roots
to the forest floor. With time the host tree died and the fig tree remained. It
stands at an impressive height and its intricate root system sure does act as a
thick curtain like a glass bead, string contraption hanging from a back door.
It was very impressive and rather imposing.
Our next destinations all involved food. First was Gallo
Dairyland for a full cheese tasting. If I could have I would have bought all
the varieties, but instead chose three. They also had chocolate on offer,
beautiful truffles so intricately decorated. We resisted the urge to buy any,
but Paul did slip in the choc coated coffee beans.
At the back we could watch the chocolatiers at work and see
this humungous lump of cheese been diced up into smaller lots.
As we left we noticed a rooster perched a top a car and
other chooks milling around, it was a real barnyard. We continued on to Lake
Tinaroo where we found a picnic table to eat our lunch. It was bloody cold and
was beginning to spit on us, which was a bit of a shame. Paul had his fishing
gear, but it didn’t come out. We did a quick walk of the frontage, admiring the
water and the interesting mosses growing on trees and pathway posts and then we
retreated back to the car.
We drove back through Kairi and on to Tolga to check out
Humpy Nut World. We tried their macadamia and peanut offerings, picking up a
couple of different varieties coated in interesting things and then it was on
to Mt Uncle Distillery.
Finally the sun was beginning to show and my bones were
beginning to warm up. We drove through a banana plantation as we made our way
up the drive and parked. I took some photos of the giant herbs and then we made
our way into the cellar door where a very large dog was seeking a pat tax as
you entered.
We had a couple of vouchers from tourist booklets which gave
us a tasting paddle of their range; vodka, gin, two rums, whisky and a
marshmallow liqueur. I am not a huge fan of straight spirits, they often taste
like a combination of aftershave and mouthwash and these were certainly no
different, however the Sexy Cat marshmallow liqueur was delicious and very pink
and therefore I couldn’t resist buying a bottle and was happy to hear I can get
it on Dan Murphys online when it comes time to refill.
With our purchase, we wandered around their gardens and
checked out the small farm animal zoo they have. Paul had a call from Jaden to
say my car had died and will need a new starter motor. Joy. He was lucky he was
next to the mechanic at home when it stopped going, but it does leave him without
wheels.
Feeling much warmer on the inside, we continued our drinks
journey on to Coffee Works in Mareeba. We were disappointed with this stop, no
free samples and therefore we weren’t interested in buying from their range of
coffee, liqueur or chocolates. They also charge $19 to go in and check out what
they do!
We beat a hasty retreat and made our way to Golden Drop
Winery instead. This winery uses mangoes as its base for the majority of its
range, but also has lemon, lime and mandarin cello and a dragon fruit port. We
made our way through their range before coming away with a selection.
Well sorted, we began our journey home, travelling back to
the van via Kuranda, through the tropical rainforest again and the twisty,
turny mountain road as we dropped back onto the coastal plain and back into our
caravan park for 5pm, both buggered from our long day out.
Once the car was unpacked, Paul began the pack up, ready for
our move tomorrow, while I loaded the photos and then began dinner eager for
the tasks to be out of the way so I could sit back and relax. We ate and then
Paul read his book, while I persevered with the rubbish internet before tethering
to the phone instead, loading bits and completing today's wrap.
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