Paronella Park

What a wonderful day we had yesterday - beginning with watching hot air balloons gently landing - one landed in the paddock behind us whilst others went over the road. It was a lovely way to start the day!

                                           
We packed up and left Ringers Rest and turned southwards - and of course ran into some showers around Millaa Millaa! Morning tea was at Mareeba and we enjoyed the Falls there plus a beautiful rain forest walk. The trees were lovely and a treat was to see all the turtles looking for a feed. The drive off the tablelands was spectacular with forests, mountains, tea, sugar, bananas - such a rich area agriculturally.

Our destination was Mena Creek to see Paronella Park - so many people have told us we must go, so we heeded their advice and wow, we were amazed at everything. We set up behind the hotel and although we were supposed to be self contained, we did use their showers and toilet. This area is going to be set up as a real camp ground as the ground next to the park is very small. We thought the deal was very reasonable as we camped free, had three tours and could stroll around the park at our leisure.

The park of 5 hectares beside the Mena Creek Falls, was the vision of Spanish migrant Jose Paronella in the 1930’s. He built a castle, picnic areas, tennis courts, a ballroom, tunnels and bridges - all in an amazing range of tropical plants and trees. He did all this for his wife and they lived in the cottage which houses a museum today. One of Jose’s amazing feats was to build a hydro electric plant - way before electricity came to this area. The plant fell into disrepair but was refurbished in 2009 and today it provides power for the park. 

The park was hit by floods, a fire and several cyclones and the for some years, it was derelict, until the current owners started the long process of stabilising the buildings, making them safe for visitors to enjoy as Jose had intended. The result is we could tour the grounds and learn the history and marvel at his vision and dreams. 

The night tour was fantastic - the waterfalls and castles were lit up by search lights but the coup de gras was the beautiful concert by a stringed trio - with the castle ruins as backdrop it was very emotional and beautiful. 

We completed the evening with a meal at the hotel which was a lovely way to end such a wonderful day. 

Now we are in Townsville - not by choice but because our car a/c decided to not work and believe me, travelling in Queensland without air conditioning is not pleasant!! So the cars have had a good clean, we’re set up in a city park which really isn’t our cup of tea, but hopefully the car will be fixed tomorrow and we’ll head off again. 

So until later, love to you all from the Townsville campers. ❌❌❌❌

Ringers Rest

As we left Chillagoe, luckily Tops noticed their van tyre was flat and sure enough, there was a leak so another tyre was changed - they are getting to be experts at this. Seems somehow Dennis picked up a screw - an easy fix job this time.

                                            

Geologically speaking, Chillagoe is a treasure with the unusual rock formations, limestone caves, numerous mineral deposits plus marble quarries! We did wonder what these quarries with huge blocks sitting there were, and evidently, it’s marble, which is mined when a big order comes in, is then sent to Italy to be polished and sent back here as Italian marble!  I’d love a big block in my garden!

As we turned east, the weather deteriorated and we could see the mountains ahead shrouded in clouds!! Luckliy it’s not cold but the showers keep rolling in! We have also seen many of these wind turbines. 

We are set up this time in a very rustic setting a few kms out of Mareeba. It’s run by this chap who loves to talk and tell tales of his life as a ringer - we are learning to avoid him a little or he keeps talking for ages. There are some friendly cows and calves who come to the fence to eat any food scraps, there’s a big communal fire we can sit around for a yarn and cook our meals and it’s very laid back and relaxed - just our type of camp. 

Next to us last night were a young family with 3 small children, including a 6 month old baby - and today we have another family with a couple of kids - so it’s not only grey nomads on the road. This morning we were awoken by the noise of hot air balloons gliding over us - Mareeba is a great hot air balloon centre. 

                                   
We’ve had a look around Mareeba - they have a great Information Centre which also houses a historical museum of the immediate area. We spent some time looking around there and getting brochures about attractions and different regions on our trek south towards Brisbane. 

Today we did a few jobs in Mareeba - including repairing a tyre, then went out to see Lake Tinnaroo which is now full. It was a spectacular scene to see the water spray! 

We investigated some camping spots we saw when last in the area and then went to Atherton for a late lunch.  This area is so rich agriculturally with bananas, sugar cane, mangoes, paw paws, avocados, peanuts and fodder crops along with beautiful fat cattle. 

                                      
Dennis is on a mission to find a particular item for his collection so he’s off searching  but the chap he’s after is away at the minute. It was however, a productive drive as they drove into the site where the field days are being set up. 

We sort of have a brief itinerary now - we have 2 weeks to get to Brisbane then home about the 21st June. Dennis’s van needs some warranty jobs attended to at Lifestyle and it’s always lovely to catch up with Rob & Prue, Rick and Flo. 

We have yet to sit down with our maps and determine where we’d like to be next but we’re getting pretty good at finding just the right spot for us. It’s time to socialise around the camp fire so I’ll leave off,

Love from us all ❌❌❌❌❌

Chillagoe

We left Ravenshoe in warm sunny conditions - after 4 days of gloomy drizzle it was lovely to see and made packing up a little easier. Our last night there at the free concert was actually really good toe tapping music which even encouraged Dennis to get up and join in. Well done Dennis!! It did however, make us realise that we are part of the older generation!!

                                           
We took a back road to here and really enjoyed being off the bitumen and experiencing these quaint places. The road was pretty good but narrow in places. We even saw horses - not sure if they were wild or not.

Lots of the areas we travelled through were once mining towns but now just a few remnants of those busy days remain. We loved this little place where we had morning tea and how good are these buildings?

Our hearts did drop a little when after morning tea - about 50 kms into our trip, we saw this sign - and thought we’d have to turn back. 

                                           
However, the quick thinking Dennis and Darryl, popped over to ask the local publican about the road and he said we’d be ok - which of course we were! Cobb & Co coaches used to travel in these areas as well - probably very busy servicing the mines. 

Here in Chillagoe, there are the most interesting rock formations everywhere and especially interesting is this balancing rock. We didn’t however, get to explore the numerous caves around here. We will always remember this town as the guinea fowl town as we’ve seen hundreds - they wander all over the place and are very cute. 

                        

This town was once a bustling mining town, mining copper, gold, lead and zinc and we saw the remnants of the smelter - 

The main purpose for coming here was to see the private Ford collection. This chap has been collecting for years and Dennis & Darryl spent a few hours there and loved it! Old Tom was the local BP distributer and carrier and had many tales to tell - but was also very difficult to understand so there was a lot of nodding going on!! 

                                    

This park has suited us - we are parked how we like, can have our wood fire,  the laundry got a good work out and the pool was lovely to cool off in. Dennis is now cutting some wood from the pile near us to fill up our boxes. 

We’ve yet to sit down to decide where we’ll go tomorrow but we are confident we’ll be somewhere pretty good again. We hope this finds everyone well. Till later, love from the travellers. ❌❌❌❌

Atherton Tablelands

This area has such a lot to offer and is very picturesque with rolling hills, farmland, rainforests, streams and waterfalls, quaint towns and many historic sites. It reminds us very much of Gippsland. So despite inclement weather, we’ve made the most of our time and have loved it all. 

Whilst I really enjoyed the cruise out to the sand island at Karumba, I think the sand flies had more fun as I came  out in all these bites and became a bit of a red & itchy mess!!  However, I found a cure - the natural hot springs at Innot! We spent an afternoon there - the water comes out of Nettle Creek at nearly 80 degrees and is piped into these pools in a nice setting. There are several pools of varying temperatures - from very hot to quite cold and you can choose to use them all or wallow in just one. It’s amazing how these hot springs pop up all over the place.

This town of Ravenshoe is Queensland’s highest town at 930 metres and we’ve seen Queensland’s highest pub, road, bakery, bowling green and so on. For a town of 1000 people, it offers nearly everything you want and we’re happy that we decided to use this as a base. This park has been great too and is quirky with train displays and we love the curlews who seem to love to sit on the tracks. And to top it off, we’re being serenaded this afternoon by the local music group in a free concert. 

We spent a day at this historic village in Herberton - it’s a village something like the Pioneer Settlement and is owned now by the ex Levi jeans owner. He’s been able to upgrade and add to what was already there to make this fantastic display of all kinds of memorabilia. The gardens are immaculate and every display clean and well cared for. Dennis was particularly excited by the old tractors and cars. 

I don't know what was my favourite - the old toys, the old carts, the steam operated wood saw, the beautiful house or the primitive farmers cottage to even more primitive miners camp. These sort of places make you realise just how hard it was for the early settlers - be they miners, woodcutters, farmers or merchants. 

We completed our time with a waterfall circuit which was just beautiful. We started at this little town Millaa Millaa and found the best ever place for morning tea at Mungalli Creek. It’s a dairy farm which has diversified into making their own cheeses, yogurts, sauces and even ice cream! The Devonshire tea of scones made freshly with yogurt, served with jam and scalded cream, took us back to the days in Lobethal when we always had scalded cream. We could view the milk vats and yogurt making process whilst we enjoyed our coffee and scones. Then we hit the waterfalls and saw 4 very different falls - all of them beautiful - and really roaring after the rains they’ve had. 

                           

I really think the Millaa Millaa Falls were the most spectacular although each had a special beauty. Bit too cold for us to swim but not these school kids! 
We’ve been noticing these signs indicating a military presence during the war and found out that this area was used to train soldiers for jungle warfare as the climate and vegetation resembled those in New Guinea. At one time there were 100,000 soldiers around here. 

Tomorrow we will leave here and head a little north west to Chillagoe - so hope it’s a bit warmer and drier there. 

So until next time, the Brays and Greenwood’s sign off, hoping this finds everyone well and happy. ❌❌❌❌

Ravenshoe

We left the gulf and detoured a bit to see the Burke & Wills camp 119 - it’s just mind boggling to know they had trekked all this way from Melbourne - and they still had a 2 day hike to reach the gulf - which they never actually did as the mangroves stopped them. 

                                              
Our journey east saw a change in scenery from open Savannah like grassland to gentle hills where we had an overnight stay at this lovely little campsite by an old gold mine. They had a bird viewing platform over the lake with these great binoculars - ones even I could manage. We saw a variety of birds which kept us happy - 

especially a jabiru.

                                                            
We crossed several large rivers and these funny one lane bridges with no guard rails are a little scary - and would be worse if the river was raging! 

                                            
From there, we climbed up a range and the scenery changed again - we are now on the Atherton Tablelands. 

Weve not only left the grasslands behind, but also the warmth and dust,  as here’s its cool and damp!! They’ve had a very wet spell - that cyclone Anne is being blamed. We had to fossick around and find jeans and jumpers this morning which was a shock. 

We’ve settled in this quaint park in Ravenshoe - it’s all run by volunteers and it’s a train museum as well. It’s small, friendly and has everything we need so think we’ll use this as a base to explore the area. 

Dennis has had a few tyre issues so he’s ordered 4 new tyres and hopefully they’ll be in soon from Townsville. Tops, Dennis and I have all visited the hairdressers and are feeling much fresher after 5 weeks of sun, dust, sand, pool and bore water. There’s so much to see in this area and we’re looking forward to the waterfall circuit, Innot hot springs, museums and scenic drives. 

So I’ll leave this off and the next blog will tell of our adventures in this area. We really hope the weather improves a little. Trust everyone is well, till next time,

Love from Marg a& Darryl, Dennis & Tops  ❌❌❌❌