Day 50: Tue 14 Jun - Yungaburra

Day 50: Tue 14 Jun - Yungaburra

10 – 22°.  We woke to another very fresh morning, 10deg feeling like 8deg. The heater was flashed up again to take the chill out of the air in the van, while Greg and I went for our morning walk to the edge of Lake Tinaroo then back up the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour - a living memorial dedicated  to the memory of all who served and made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. It's a fantastic memorial, so thoughtfully designed and maintained. The Flame Trees planted along the avenue would be spectacular to see when in flower, usually from November through to January. We continued back to the lake, returning to the van for breakfast. There is no dump point (for toilet waste) at the caravan park, so after breakfast i drove to an RV dump point located on the opposite side of the dam (4km away), at the local sewerage treatment plant. Returning to the van, today's chores were done. Noeleene and i then played tourist for the day with Wendy and Greg driving us to some must see sights of the Atherton Tablelands. First stop was the short drive into Yungaburra for a wander around town and an early morning coffee - Noeleene and I also succumbed to a tasty bacon and egg roll. We then drove on to Malanda Falls, the township of Malanda, the Nerada Tea Rooms, the Curtain Fig, then via Atherton where we stocked up on a few essentials - milk, beer and wine. We arrived back at the Caravan Park at about 3:00pm, then Greg and I immediately dragged a couple of canoes to the lake for a paddle (kindly lent by Greg's friend Dave who lives nearby). I quickly found muscles in my back and shoulders which have not had for long time, but it was fabulous to be out on the water which happened to be also remarkably warm (no i didn't fall in). Sundowners tonight was with Greg and Wendy's friends Dave and Noy, and Martin and Heather at the lake. Short story, is both couples are also friends of Wendy's parents who owned the Yungaburra Pub with Dave from 2003 to 2006. Dinner was a range of nibbles, cheeses, dips and sausages by the lake as we watched another stunning sunset. It's been another day packed full with activities - little wonder we're feeling tired tonight. Tomorrow, Noeleene and I are driving into Cairns for the day with Greg while Wendy stays behind to so some work. 


Another magnificent sunrise - Lake Tinaroo

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Afghanistan Avenue of Honour

Morning at Lake Tinaroo looking towards our caravan Park - a great location

The Lakeside Caravan Park - our caravan site in the morning sunlight

A lovely old Church in Yungaburra 

Church in Yungaburra 

Our colourful coffee venue in Yungaburra - it was awesome coffee too

Another lovely old church in Yungaburra 

Yungaburra Post Office 

Yungaburra shops - it's a pretty town

Another coffee shop in Yungaburra

Yungaburra Pub - Wendy's Parents Rob and Tinky (who live in Canberra) owned this hotel for three years with Dave who still lives locally

Yungaburra shops - Noeleene looking!

Coffee venue

Yungaburra Pub - We'll have dinner in this lovely old timber hotel on Wed night

Malanda Falls

Malanda Township

Malanda Township

Malanda Township - the Big Pub (...it's massive)

Malanda - lovely old timber theatre

Malanda Township

View across the tea plantation at Nerada Tearooms

Tea facts

A major attraction near Yungaburra - The spectacular Curtain Fig 

The Curtain Fig has aerial roots which drop about 15m to the forest floor, is thought to be nearly 50m tall and more than 500 years old.

Spectacular Curtain Fig


A paddle on Lake Tinaroo

A paddle on Lake Tinaroo

The end of another magnificent day - sunset on Lake Tinaroo



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 58: Wed 22 Jun - Port Douglas to Cooktown

Image
Day 58: Wed 22 Jun - Port Douglas to Cooktown Towed 265km (5,124 towed this trip) 20 – 26°. Partly cloudy all day with light winds in Port Douglas, winds becoming stronger and gusty in Cooktown. The forecast is for winds gusting to 60km/h for the rest of the week in Cooktown, apparently not unusual at this time of year. We drove away from the Big 4 in Port Douglas just before 8:00am, and had a good run back up Mt Molloy onto the Mulligan Highway north to Cooktown. There was very little traffic and road conditions were fantastic  all the way - some of the best this trip. There were a couple of steep but short climbs along the way, but no problem - I'm very happy with the towing, handling and fuel economy of the Wildtrak. Even with about 10km of steep climbing today, pulling almost 3 tonne, we averaged less than 16lt/100km for the trip. We also had a very strong side wind which pushed us around a bit for the last 50km. After 155km, our first stop was for coffee at the Palmer Riv...
Read more

Day 36: Tue 31 May - Gladstone to Yeppoon

Image
Day 36: Tue 31 May - Gladstone to Yeppoon 151km Towed [Total driven this trip 3,626km - 3,300km towed]   15 – 27°. We woke to an overcast and mild morning, and a lovely pink sky. We packed up, said our goodbyes, and got away from Gladstone a little after 8:30am, and it was a good feeling to be back on the road again. It was only a short 151km drive to Yeppoon which we did without stopping. The wind which picked up slightly around mid morning had eased by the time we arrived in Yeppoon shortly after 11am. Our stay for the next 5 nights is at the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park - it's quite small, a bit dated, but very clean, and the caretakers are lovely. It suits us due it its central location and easy access to everything we need while in Yeppoon. The large concrete slab is a bonus too. After setting up, we locked the van and headed down to the beach for lunch - burgers overlooking the beach and stunning blue water. Next on the agenda was a visit to Capricorn Gardens Aged Care Facility ...
Read more

Day 61: Sat 25 Jun - Cooktown

Image
Day 61: Sat 25 Jun - Cooktown 21 – 27°. An overcast morning, clearing to a mostly sunny day. Winds still annoying at 26km/h, gusting to 41km/h (but it felt much stronger at times). Another huge day starting with a challenging  2 hr  morning walk to the top of Mount Cook with Greg, then we all went for a 32km drive out of town to the iconic Lions Den Hotel, stopping at the Black Mountains on the way. On our return we stopped for a walk at Keatings Lagoon, a wetland  5 km out of Cooktown  just off the Mulligan Highway. We got back to the van at about midday, had some lunch and a snooze, then I set off on a bike ride to a few more local sites around Cooktown and along the foreshore. When i returned, I carried out a few checks on the van in preparation for our departure to   Mareeba tomorrow morning ( We'll be pleased to see the back of these strong gusting winds) . We topped of another great day with lovely dinner at the RSL.  Views over Cooktown and Ende...
Read more