Yungaburra, Atherton Tablelands

This week we are spending our time up in the beautiful Atherton Tablelands. Yungaburra is a small picturesque village perfectly situated in the tablelands to visit the many attractions this area has for the visitor. The caravan park we are staying is situated on the banks of Lake Tinaroo. Today we did a bit of exploring, first up we headed north to "The Peanut Place"in Tolga. Shane is a bit of a peanut lover so we left with peanuts in the shell, peanut brittle, macadamia nut brittle and some smoked peanuts, all locally grown and processed. Mmmm yeah I think we have enough. We then headed back down south to Atherton to The Crystal Caves. I have been here before but really wanted Shane to see the amazingness this attraction offers. Established back in 1987 this is the work of one man Nelleke Boissevain. In that time he has collected well in excess of 600 crystallised mineral specimens, gemstones, fossils and rocks from every corner of the world.

Amazing Quartz Generators

 Even though there are many wonderful specimens the cream on the cake is the amazing Geode named The Empress of Uruguay, which is the largest Amethyst Geode in the world. Standing at 3.27 metres tall and weighing 2.5 tonne this amazing gift from mother nature was created some 130 million years ago. The only word I can use to describe this Geode is spectacular.

I have no words to explain just how amazing the Geode is

Our next destination was at the amazing Curtain Fig. As one of the largest trees in North Queensland, the Curtain Fig is fascinating and unusual.

The Curtain Fig

The Creation of the Curtain Fig

Oh I almost forgot we also called into Shaylee Strawberry Farm and indulged in a yummy ice-cream and also left with a jar of strawberry jam, a jar of plum jam and some beautiful red plump delicious strawberries.

So many strawberries.....

Our day ended with the most amazing sunset over Lake Tinaroo.

Cooktown, Queensland

Cooktown is a charming historic little town situated between the Endeavour River and the Coral Sea in Far North Queensland (FNQ). This region is famous for it's discovery by Capt. James Cook back in 1770, when his ship the endeavour sustained damage on the great barrier reef and he and the crew had to fine a safe place for repairs. Cook's 48 day stay in the harbour was to be his longest onshore stay for his entire 3 year voyage. Cooktown is also famous for it's pristine environment and the amazing Aboriginal culture.

The view of Cooktown from Grassy Hill Lookout

This is my second time visiting Cooktown and I was excited but felt strange driving here. The last time I was here was about five years ago just after my father had died who I had cared for for two and a half years. My time here was spent all by myself and I would say it was my time of mourning my loss. It was definitely a time I needed and was an extremely healing time. So for me I feel a real connection with the area and know I needed to return. 

Cooktown Wharf

We are staying at the Cooktown Caravan Park for three nights. It is a nice little bushland park with really lovely owners. Cooktown itself is quite small but has loads of history, such as the Post Office being established in 1887 along with the Cooktown RSL which was built in 1885. 

As with most of Australia Cooktown also has a Chinese History.
I loved the words inscribed on the figure on the right.
 "A person without a smiling face should not open a shop"
Words that I think is very relevant even today!!

Weather-wise yesterday was a very interesting day. The day started out quite sunny and warm, so we decided to start out with a drive up to Grassy Hill Lookout and Lighthouse. This location is such a great spot to view Cooktown and the surrounding area. But as we looked south we could see a huge series of black clouds role towards us. It looked amazing and I was happy to get some photos - and then all of a sudden it hit with some huge rain drops. 

The storm clouds rolled in ready to give us a drenching

The rest of the day was pretty overcast and very windy, but still Cooktown is a great place to spend some time. Today is a lazy day getting ready to head south again tomorrow (not very far though). Cooktown is also known for it's win. Ask anyone who has lived here or even just visited and they will tell you it's nearly always windy in Cooktown and believe me it hasn't let us down.

These strange steps just sitting in the middle of 
know where appear quite odd .
The Queen's Steps - made for HM Queen Elizabeth 11
for her visit in 1970 to open the James Cook Museum

Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation

The Daintree Rainforest is a wet tropical rainforest located approx. 125km north of Cairns. The Daintree as it's affectionately known as, is the worlds oldest rainforest at 150 million years old - Yes that's 150 million years old. I have visited the Daintree River in the past but I have never been deep into the Rainforest before. The forest is just amazing, it is so dense my imagination was going wild thinking of just what this jungle like surrounding would hold.

What you see when you really really look

Female Golden Orb Spider

Crossing the Daintree river

Daintree Rainforest

Next we drove onto Cape Tribulation which is the end of the sealed road before heading onto the Bloomfield Track to Cooktown. We've decided not to tackle the Bloomfield track due to all the rain we have had over the past few weeks. Cape Tribulation was named by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770 after his ship the endeavour was damaged on the reef. Cook recorded in hi notes "...the north point is named Cape Tribulation because here begun all my troubles". As in most areas up here in Far North Queensland there are some amazing beaches but unfortunately you cannot swim there because of those big things with sharp teeth that are always hungry ....... CROCS!!

Amazing Cape Tribulation

Kuranda and Barron Falls

Today's outing was up the Kuranda Range to the small market village of Kuranda and also a walk to view the Barron Falls. I have been to Kuranda a couple of times before but still enjoy visiting all the various market stalls. Although I must admit not much has changed from my last visit five years ago.

The Barron Falls ( Din Din in Aboriginal) is a steep tiered cascading waterfall on the Barron River. These falls are said to be the most visited waterfalls in Queensland. Due to all the recent rains the area has had we were lucky enough to see the falls well and truly flowing. The Barron Falls are not just for the tourist to enjoy, they are also play a major role in supplying thousands of Cairns households electricity from the Barron River Hydroelectric power station.

Barron Falls 

One of the tiny forest inhabitants

The forest vines are intriguing to look at

Beautiful Far North Queensland

Crystal Cascades

Today was a day of shopping, voting early in Australia's upcoming Federal Election and relaxing. But we thought we would drive the 10 minute drive to Crystal Cascades. Crystal Cascades is a series of small waterfalls that flow into large pools (salt water crocodile free) suitable for swimming. To enhance the beauty of the Freshwater River it is surrounded by large impressive granite boulders. At the end of the easy walk through the forest we were treated to the Cascade Waterfall.

Crystal Cascades

Crystal Cascade Falls

Unfortunately this area is not so beautiful for everyone who visits. In 2014 and 18 year old man drowned when he failed to resurface after slipping over the edge of the waterfall, while he was swimming in a restricted area. From what I could tell he was one of three people who have died in this location.

What the!!! Now I have to watch out for a Stinging Tree as well as spiders, snakes, crocs!!

OK I've found the plant..... No I wasn't tempted to touch it!!

What a way to finish my day. One of the best Garlic Prawn Pizzas I've ever had.

Relaxing in Cairns

After having a night in Myrtle in Laura and starting to get our possessions back into some sort of order we headed onto the town of Mareeba for a night before heading back into Cairns for a couple of weeks. I had heard some good reports about staying at the Mareeba Rodeo grounds so that was where we decided to lay our heads for the night. At $18 for the night and with very clean showers and toilets it was a very comfortable place to stay.

There were a few others joining me in this sunset tonight!!

But we certainly did get a surprise as we drove through the gates and saw over 100 caravans all set up. I asked the caretaker if this was unusually busy and his reply was "Oh no we only have 120 here, next month will be over 250". Certainly is a very popular place. Mareeba is situated in the northern part of the Atherton Tablelands and the countryside is extremely picturesque. 

The next morning our drive down into Cairns was an interesting one to say the least. The highway to Kuranda was great but then it got quite narrow and extremely windy as we descended down the mountain. As if that wasn't enough we also had to contend with drizzly rain and fog (or cloud cover) so thick you could only see a couple of metres in front of you. I am so so glad Shane was driving as I don't think I would have coped very well driving down there with Myrtle on the back. I wish I had taken some photos but my mind wasn't on my camera at the time. 

Cloudy Cairns

But in the end we arrived at our caravan park in Cairns safe and sound. I have now been in Cairns for 7 days and today is only the 2nd day it hasn't absolutely poured - but it's still drizzling. Shane is in Darwin for his annual boys week away. We won't be leaving here for another week, hopefully it stops raining so I can get out and take some photos. I think I'm getting a bit of cabin fever!