Entry 7 Continuing with our Atherton
Table Lands experience. 7/5 – 28/5/2019
The Smicks had offered the use of
their home for as long as we liked, making us feel very comfortable day after
day. Though we were anxious not to overstay our welcome. Knowing we were able
to assist with some of their planned projects around their home we did a deal
where we would stay until we managed to move one large rock and relocate a tree
before moving on. Steve spent a couple of days digging around the subject rock
doing his best. Eventually he enlisted Michael’s help.
The socialising continued with
the Smicks and recent arrivals Nerilee & Grahame.
The three boys attempted to move
the subject rock to its final resting spot, unsuccessfully and needed
assistance from a vehicle tow winch.
We did enjoy the Smicks home base
setting with the added bonus of being made very welcome.
|
Morning sunrise |
|
Morning sunrise |
|
Morning sunrise highlighting our location |
|
Getting comfortable with Smicks Roller |
|
Smick was planning to show us around in his Roller |
|
Just prior our arrival it blew a head gasket and he was still considering repair options |
It was nearly three weeks
socialising with the Smicks – including the mini-muster, and with the projected
jobs completed, we thought it prudent to let them have their home back. Norty (from
entry 6, 1st paragraph,) had also offered the use of their Lake
Tinaroo residence all to ourselves where we relocated about 2 kilometres down
the road
|
Departing the Smicks |
|
Our new setting about 5 minutes down the road |
|
Looking back from the lake at our new setting |
|
Our new setting from the waters edge |
|
Our daily porch location on left with a separate guest room on right |
We utilized our time at Norty’s researching
information for the local area. The weather forecast had been for daily rain
over the next week, due to a cyclone approaching the coast a bit north. We decided
to stay put waiting for the weather to clear before proceeding into northern
regions. We did enjoy walking around the nearby forest around Norty’s.
|
We even had our own resident Bush Stone-Curlews |
|
Close by Rosella |
The water level of Lake Tinaroo
was nearly down to 100 % providing a very different setting at the dam wall
from our visit three weeks prior when it was at about 102% capacity.
|
Lake Tinaroo Dam at 100% |
|
Dam wall three weeks prior |
|
|
Three weeks prior a very different setting |
We still enjoyed socialising with
the Smicks every couple of days or so. Part of our socialising included Mary
spending time assisting Sue with some sewing projects etc., and Steve with
other outdoor projects on Michael’s future wish list, accomplished with Steve’s
help.
|
Mary made a diet strawberry cheese cake with an almond meal base. So yummy |
The skies were predominantly grey
with ongoing light drizzle. The ambient air temperature hovered around an
overnight low of 19 C to about 23 C daily maximum, quite comfortable. We spent plenty
of time sitting outside in the sheltered porch overlooking a beautiful lakeside
setting watching the kangaroos and bush stone curlews in our front yard.
Reading, relaxing and researching our potential options for appealing activities
we would like to participate over the coming weeks.
In the nearby town of Atherton,
we spent time in the “Crystal Caves,” an activity recommended to us by a
Canadian couple we met in Canada in 2017, (thankyou Ernie & Taylor.) It was
a collection of one man’s passion for crystals and fossils, presented somewhat
differently from the regular glass cabinet displays. It was presented via a self-guided
journey through tunnels and grottos with million-year-old natural crystals and
prehistoric fossils. We thoroughly enjoyed the “Crystal Caves,” experience with
the viewing way better than our photographs.
We had been experiencing rain
almost daily over the last month in the form of light drizzle, interfering with
our outdoor activities. Whilst in the north eastern regions of Queensland we
set ourselves a target to experience what Cooktown and its nearby areas had on
offer. Unfortunately Cooktown (about 300 kilometres further north) was also
experiencing daily rain at double the volume we were experiencing in the Atherton
Table Lands, enticing us to stay put, hoping for the weather to improve. Even
the “locals,” were getting fed up with the ongoing unseasonal drizzly rain.
Unfortunately the wet conditions
caught up with us at one stage, Mary slipped on a wet surface falling to the
ground. Her right ankle and left wrist both incurred the brunt of crashing to
the ground. Assistant doctor “Steve,” placed her on the bed, keeping her sore
parts iced up over several hours till she fell asleep for the night. The
morning started with more ice followed by a hot shower and thankfully Mary was
feeling better.
About 160 kilometres west was
another publicised location of Chillagoe with a weather prediction of no rain
with daily temperatures around the 28 C. We decided to head to Chillagoe the
morning after Mary’s injury for a few days away from the wet slippery conditions.
Another, “unfortunately,” our
main laptop computer decided to play up the previous night where the battery
would not charge even with the power connected. It was close to 3 years old and
Mary thought we may have obtained an extended warranty on the computer. In the
morning she rang our local, “Harvey Norman” store and yes the computer had an
extended warranty, expiring in a week. After dropping off our computer at the
Atherton Harvey Norman for assessment we were on our way to Chillagoe,
undeterred even with a late departure time at 1 pm.
At the 75 kilometre mark it was
enough driving for the day and we pulled over onto a bit of grass to the side
of the road, calling it stumps for the day.
With an early start we were at
Chillagoe by 9 am. Chillagoe main attraction is its underground cave systems.
We started at the national parks office booking three cave tours over two days.
We had previously visited Chillagoe 1991 on a road trip with a tent and our 3
children. At that time we camped in the national park, thoroughly enjoying our
Chillagoe time. 2019 camping options are controlled by two caravan parks both
very inadequate for the fee they charge. With a bit over an hour before our
first cave tour we parked our caravan at one of the caravan parks then drove
about 5 kilometres to the location of our first cave tour. Our guide, Eddie was
to be our guide for all three cave tours.
Our first cave tour was in
company with 7 other people. Cave tour two was in company with 12 other people.
Our previous cave encounters involved plenty of steep steps. Chillagoe caves
certainly had its share of steep steps providing a reasonably tough work out. By
the end of the day our bodies were very weary. The following morning cave tour
was meant to be with 5 people. The other 3 failed to show, resulting with our
own personal guided tour by ranger Eddie who also relaxed not having to
reiterate appropriate caving behaviour which we had heard during our previous
two cave visits.
|
Mother Mary descending |
|
This profile was titled "The Madonna." |
|
Cave coral above Mary's head |
|
Titled the bacon rashes |
|
Cave bats |
|
More bats |
|
This cave was unlit where we needed our own lighting with some tight passages |
|
More stairs |
At one stage Eddie our guide whilst
in company with the other 12 participants asked if anyone felt a little
adventurous and like to travel the “laundry shoot,” route? He was met with
silence, so Steve spoke up, yes please, which enticed one of the young lads to
respond with a yes. Eddie left the two boys alone for about five minutes to guide
the group around the cave to the laundry shoot exit before returning to take
the boys down the shoot. It was dark and tight with Steve ending up with his
clothes smeared in dirt. All three boys popped out of the shoot with big grins.
Other options at Chillagoe, we
spent time at a private Ford Vehicle Museum and viewing the Chillagoe smelting
yards.
|
Tom Prior showed us around his collection starting the motors on many of his vintage vehicles |
|
With the blue ute, utilized as his daily drive vehicle |
|
A nice sounding Mustang |
|
Add caption |
We thoroughly enjoyed our
Chillagoe experience with the added bonus of day time temperatures around 28 C
and no annoying rain. The below picture, shows the back ground scenery of
Chillagoe where we travelled along about 50 kilometres of dirt roads.
Our route to Chillagoe had highlighted
how fertile the Atherton Tablelands area was. Enhanced by a supply of water
from Lake Tinaroo by channels of water we saw flowing up to 50 kilometres from
the lake.
Unfortunately the prosperous food
bowl also attracts thousands of sulphur crested cockatoos and more.
We returned to Norty’s Lake
Tinaroo property appreciating the tropical environment, its stunning views
across the lake with a backdrop of peaks often shrouded by wispy clouds.
Norty (Norton) came up from
Cairns staying for 3 days attending to the ongoing maintenance required for a
home. He tidied up the grounds, mowed all the grassed areas including the
adjoining neighbour’s yards, placed bird seed about and conducted a general clean
up. (By the time of his departure we regularly had the company of about a dozen
different species of birds coming within a few metres to visit us.)
The three of us spent one early
morning at nearby “Hasties Swamp,” bird hide watching the early morning bird
activities.
And there were the enjoyable evenings
in company with Norty and the Smicks.
We were primarily now waiting for
our forwarded mail to arrive, for the return of our computer and hopefully for
the Bureau of Meteorology prediction to be true with a future forecast of
clearing weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment