Lake Tinaroo

We have well and truly left the outback behind and  are now in the Atherton a Tablelands which is a beautiful part of Queensland and an area we knew little about. We are set up in this very picturesque caravan park - Darryl and I are in an unpowered site and have no one around us, use of a camp fire right by and the birds are prolific! Dennis and Tops are nearby in a powered site as you can't run generators here and it hasn't been particularly sunny. We miss them being right by us as we are unsure when to get up ( usually the zip opening gives us a clue that it's get up time!)

This morning we walked along the Lake Tinaroo foreshore and were very impressed by the neat and tidy conditions and the lovely amenities. This dam was built in the 50's using many of the labourers from the Snowy Mountains scheme. It's primarily for irrigation and is a great recreation area for water sports. Everyone seems to have a lot of civic pride in all the little places we saw today.

Today we set off to drive to Cairns as it's about 90 mins drive from here but we got waylaid and really only did a circle around the lake! We never got near Cairns! We called into several NP camp sites and they looked lovely right on the foreshore with lovely grassy sites. However, we learned that these sites are to be closed soon so they can upgrade them - to be regimented and camps will only be on gravelled areas! We reckon the parks people are nuts! Then we stumbled on this lovely town called Yungaburra! It's got many heritage listed houses and the street scene probably looks like it did years ago.  This is the old pub - currently undergoing some restoration. 

       

Our lunch in a lovely quaint cafe was yummy and after we strolled around looking at some very different and interesting shops. Quite alternative really. The town has recently developed an amazing Avenue of Honour as a tribute to the soldiers in Afghanistan who lost their lives there. It's so beautifully set out with an avenue of Illawarra  Flame Trees setting off the scene and I found it very moving.

       

We saw a couple of strangler fig trees which are enormous and grow an amazing amount of  ferns and stag horns on them. We thought seeing these trees in amazing rain forest settings were much more amazing than the Daintree Forest walks that cost a fortune - and these cost nothing! 

     

We have looked at our books and think we'll head to the beach next so we can have a day trip to Cairns and maybe Karumba. 

When we reflect on our Cape York trip, we realise it wasn't as difficult as we had imagined. Yes, you do have to pre- book in National Parks but we easily found alternative places to stay. This prebooking is a very stupid system and we haven't heard anyone speak highly of it! 

We also worried about alcohol restrictions but that didn't have any affect on us as we stayed out of aboriginal lands and were in a designated wet area. Fuel was obtainable all along the way (even tho pretty expensive at times) and we didn't need max tracks. 

The weather wasn't horrid as we thought and we had no problems sleeping - or enjoying our busy lifestyle! I was armed with sandfly and mosquito repellents but except for one night at Loyalty beach, we had no insect issues at all. And the crocodiles and snakes didn't pose a problem either!  So whether we picked the right time to come up or whether  it was just luck, but our worries were unfounded! We'd recommend the trip to anyone.

Now everyday is again a surprise - what a great way to travel!  Love to everyone till our next blog xxxxx