THURSDAY 11 JUNE    CAIRNS

I am feeling a little better today, so we decided to have a big day out.

We drove south on the highway to Gordonvale. The highway goes through a kind of pass in the ranges, between the quite high hills of the coastal range, and the mountains of the Great Divide. Queensland’s highest peak – Mt Bartle Frere, is just south of here, and there are a number of others nearly as big, in the area. So it is a really beautiful area.

At Gordonvale, took the Gillies Highway up the Range, to the Atherton Tableland. It climbed steadily; apart from a couple of relatively short sections that were really twisty, it was a good road to drive. The face of the range was forest, but then we came out into fertile farmlands. The Atherton Tablelands is lush and green – a bit like a tropical Gippsland!

Passed Lake Barrine and went on to Lake Eacham, where we stopped to have a look at it. These lakes were caused by volcanic activity and are very deep – over 60 metres. I did not feel up to walking much at either.

Went on to Yungaburra and Lake Tinaroo, which is huge. We were keeping an eye out for possible places to stay in the future. Caravan parks at Lake Tinaroo and Yungaburra both looked alright.

Had our lunch at Lake Tinaroo, where there were hundreds, if not thousands, of ducks. We spent some time spotting, and identified Plumed Whistling Duck, Wandering Whistle Duck, Northern Shoveller. All the whistling ducks by the hundreds made a loud and unusual noise – it was constant.

Continued on through Atherton and on to Mareeba. At a farm gate stall, bought some avocadoes and 3kg of macadamia nuts – still in their shells.

Clearly, there is lots to see and do up there on the Tablelands, so it will be worth a future stay. But it is too far to do many day trips up here from Cairns!

From Mareeba, headed east again, on the Kennedy Highway – there’s Kennedy again! From Kuranda, it was back down the range again – steep, narrow, bendy, but not for too long. When  we are taking the van up or down the range, in the future, will have to choose between steady but long ascent (Gordonvale way) or short and sharp (Kuranda way).

On the way back, we booked the tour we plan for tomorrow, and quickly got things for tea. John wanted frankfurts, which I served up in bread rolls. I did not think mine tasted at all good, but John enjoys that sort of thing.

During the night, I had a major stomach upset – probably from the awful dinner, though John was alright. The cold may have affected my system, too.

Today’s drive covered 220kms.