So in the way that we love to do, mum and I set off on another adventure. There are lots of photos and it took me a whole day to go through them all, so bare with me as I share our trip.
Day 1: We left from Banksia and headed to a good friend and second mother of mine on Solferino station out of Clermont. Going through Sarina, we stopped to visit my Aunty Sue for a cuppa which was lovely to catch up. Then on we went to spend the afternoon drinking lots more cups of tea and catching up with Melinda and Colleen at Solferino.
Day 2: We spent the day touring and checking waters. Saw some cute little koalas that I got some nice pictures of and I managed to get a bit of a nanna nap in the afternoon before going on a bit more of a tour. It is so lovely to see the place as I hadn't been back for many years and there have been so many improvements. That night I got in some night photos.
Maaa and I
Not a real photo, but I had fun doing it anyway.
Day 3: We left Solferino after breakfast and headed towards Charters Towers. Stopping at the Belyando Crossing for smoko and avoiding a near miss with a road train that was a bit of a road hog, we made it to Charters for lunch on the hill. That afternoon we went for a little shop before checking into a nice old style hotel. Pub feed for tea. Mum and I always share our meals on our trips because it works out just perfect and then there is sometimes room of dessert.
Day 4: We left Charters fairly early and headed towards Undara. The landscape is so bare and it's heart breaking to see the barren landscape. Despite this however, the few cattle that we did see looked well enough. We headed into the Undara visitor center, but we weren't able to see the lava tubes until the following morning nor were we able to get accommodation because of the opera that was on. So we walked up and old volcanic crater for a look before heading on to Mt Surprise. Being the end of the tourist season, we weren't able to get a feed anywhere, so luckily we had the trusty Engel fridge packed and we had nibbles, beer and ham and salad for tea! Pretty good I thought.
We stopped at the Oasis Roadhouse, which was an old watering hole that I used to visit on the year that I first met Justin. Not much has changed which is nice.
Old crater track
Fatty here got a bit puffed going up the steep walk to the crater.
Got to test out my drone and have an aerial view of the crater which was cool.
You can actually see the lava flow in some of the rocks at the top of the crater which I thought was cool.
Undara is a lovely place and they have restored a lot of old train compartments which are a really lovely feature.
Day 5: We left Mt Surprise and went for our tour of the lava tubes at Undara. It was awesome, something that everyone needs to do! We were just awestruck by the sheer size of them. Not to mention the difference in country from the outside compared to inside.
This photo is taken from literally meters away from the tubes.
This is the forest edge that is beginning of where the caves are.
Inside the caved-in part of tubes.
This is the start of one of the tubes that shows a cave in as well which is cool.
It's hard to get a picture that shows the size of the tubes.
Originally the tour used to take people right up to the end of this tube and then through a tight squeeze that led into an opening of another big tube.
The caves are just to the right in this photo.
In our tours we found this old truck and thought that it was the perfect opportunity for a photo or two.
Day 5 cont..... After the lava tubes, we made ourselves a cruskit with a bit of salmon and tomato thanks to our trusty Engel fridge and then on-wards to Ravenshoe for a lunch that I'm not going to bother mentioning but it left much to be desired. We decided to keep going to Atherton via Herberton where we stopped at a historical village that was well worth it and two and half hours was only just enough time to see it all. Then we checked in at Atherton. After the lovely Apple pie and ice-cream we had at Herberton, we opted for half a sausage roll each for dinner, bit scabby but we were full!
Did not realize that you could make a living farming termites! I'm in the wrong business :)
See them in the distance.
Herberton Historic Villiage
Bet the suspension was great!
Old pharmacy!
Chainsaws were a bit wild!!
Couldn't resist some of these old photos!
Whoops! what now?
Day 6: We left from Atherton and headed back down to Malanda to a dairy. We were a bit early so we stopped at some falls there and were over the moon to see our first platypus ever!! Couldn't believe our luck! Was just a baby and all alone, so very cute!! Still waiting for the dairy to open we did some shopping only to discover that the dairy was closed on Mondays. Poor mum was starving, she had forfeit breaky for the feast there. We headed back towards Atherton and to another dairy on the way called Gallo, but we were too late for the milking and they weren't making cheese. So we had a very nice cheese platter, bought a few cheeses and chocys and continued to the curtain tree fig. Quite impressive although we didn't hang around because it started raining. We went back to Atherton to the Crystal cave there which is well worth the look and my photos don't do justice to all that you will see there. I bought a fossilized serving platter and mum bought me a bowl to match. Then we went to a coffee place in Mareeba, but we were too late for the tour, which we weren't worried about. We had a coffee and with our new buzz we headed to Kuranda for the night. Since we only had sausage roll the night before we thought we better make and effort for tea, but the only place open was a little pizza place. So pizza it was and wasn't too bad either.
We were like kids in a candy shop!
Atherton Crystal Caves
These have not been cleaned or polished or anything, these rocks are just like this.
We stopped for a bite to eat in Atherton and there was a art gallery/ shop there. They were selling this "Australia Post" for $240. I'm starting to think how much money I have laying around at home in Australian Posts!
Curtain fig!
This was just on the edge of a creek outside our cabin at Kuranda. I just love how the 'flow' in the lava was captured in stone.
Day 7: Kuranda Markets. So we shopped and shopped. Had a beautiful crepe at a Petite cafe which was awesome and we were grateful to have found it, but after walking around for an hour with lots of shops that were closed, we discovered we were in the wrong spot. Not to worry, we had fun searching about for good deals until our feet got too sore and we left to go to Cairns to look at a caravan that mum wants to buy. Then on to Mission Beach for the night, where we stopped at Millers on the beach! OMG the best food ever! It was to die for! Just awesome!
Day 8: Unfortunately, while we were away, Justin's best mate's father had passed away. So this morning we made our way to Townsville for the funeral. It was a lovely service and it was nice to see everyone but shame it wasn't under better circumstances. Mum spent the arvo looking at another caravan.
Day 9: We got up this morning and went out for breaky, which was a change because normally we had been eating cereal or toast. We met up with Justin before he had to head back home. Then to the shops! Mum and I both bought some nice dresses and a couple of other bits and pieces. That night we went out to tea for a seafood platter. The menu stated platter for two $60. Well at least that's what we thought it said. So we hooked in a devoured the most beautiful feast, gloating on how cheap it was and how lovely the meal was. Anyhow, as you have probably guessed, it was actually $60 per person. Well, luckily we enjoyed it while we were eating it! Was very nice though, would have been nicer for $40 per person.
Day 10: We decided we had, had enough of shopping, so we went for a river walk and then to the reef head quarters. The walk was nice but the reef thing was much to be desired, compared to Maroochydore it was pretty slack. After that we did my favorite restaurant, 'Cactus Jacks' for some buffalo wings, delicious. Then we grabbed some chinese for a relaxing afternoon watching movies and eating food!
We were looking at these little jellyfish saying, "they look sick, they are all up-side-down". Then we read the name tag 'Up-side-down Jellyfish', another mystery solved!
Love these lion fish!
Still got lunch in it's mouth.
Can you see the fish?
This is the look I got when she went to get milk and came back with four grocery bags full!! OMG
Day 11: Time for home and the long journey from Townsville; made that bit longer by the half hour that was spent behind this 'house', that got stuck on the bridge and then when they jacked it up to get it over the bridge, we thought it was going to over balance and fall off because it was swaying from side to side. Luckily it turned off and we kept going. Just south of Sarina we called in to see some friends that I have broken in horses for. It was lovely to catch up and break the trip up a bit, but we couldn't stay long. We got home to Banksia just before 6pm and Justin had been out with his mate, but not many fish had been captured so we had sausages for tea. Mum headed back to Rocky the following morning and our trip had ended.
