July 8 - 13 (Day 159 - 164) - Atherton Tablelands - Part 2 (Kairi to Cairns)

Wednesday 8 July - Kairi to Ringers Rest RV Camp (near Mareeba)

It looked to be a beautiful day today so Greg and Matt went for a morning run while the rest of us slowly made our way out of bed. :) The free camp had been a nice quiet spot to stop for the night and the kids enjoyed the playground across the road.

A gorgeous Birdwing Butterfly!

When we were packing up we discovered this beautiful butterfly, which we later discovered was a 'Birdwing Butterfly'. Most butterflies that we have got close to to try and take photos have flown away so we wondered if this one was maybe a bit injured. It looked ok but didn't seem to want to fly. It was fairly windy outside so it may have found it a bit difficult. But we enjoyed it all the same. (We have since found out that it could make you fairly sick if you don't wash your hands after touching it, thankfully we didn't have any adverse reactions).

After packing up we heading into the town of Atherton to send off our stuff at the post office and do all our bits and pieces while in town. We were now at the part of the Tablelands near the coffee plantations, so planned to get to both Coffee Works and Skybury Estate Coffee Plantation.

First up it was getting close to lunch time and we were all getting pretty hungry so onto Coffee works it was. It sounded like it was somewhere that you could see how they harvested and processed the coffee and possibly taste as well. But because of Covid we found all the tasting sides of things weren't happening when we got there. The shop was said to be like a coffee museum, but it turned out to mainly be cute if you like trinkety things but not much proper coffee memorabilia, and they didn't have much to choose from for lunch either. So we headed out to Skybury Estate instead - it was another 20min drive but it was so worth it!

They had plenty to choose from for lunch and also had a room that you could sit and listen to how they harvested and processed their coffee and also papaya that they also grow on their land. Unfortunately we still couldn't tour the farm, but way better than nothing.

We spent some time just relaxing and enjoying the view here before heading off in search for somewhere to camp. As we travelled I checked over the options on Wikicamps and came across a camp ground called Ringers Rest that was only $10 a night for all of us. Perfect! Most places charge for two adults and then an extra charge per child, which works out fairly expensive. But a per-vehicle charge is great when you have more than just a couple.

The park itself is simply a farmer's paddock, and it's surprisingly dry just here, but it's flat and there's plenty of sun to keep the batteries nicely charged.


This is where we will stay for a few days now while we explore Kuranda, about 30km away, which looks to have LOADS of interesting things to do!

Matt enjoying a quick drive around the paddock! :)

There are three horses and a herd of about 30 Brahman cattle in an adjacent field, which the kids loved spending time with throughout the stay!

Not a bad spot for an office hey?

Thursday 9 July - Kuranda Day 1

We woke and found the cows and horses had settled near our camp spot. At various time when we were here we'd come out of the van for a bit and they would trot / plod over (as the case may be) and seemed to enjoy our company. The animals themselves didn't seem to be in great health - there was one cow with a tumour on its face - the kids affectionately called it 'Tumeric'! :D

'Tumeric'!

So today was our first day going into Kuranda. There are lots of touristy things to do here - several paid park with native wildlife, birds, butterflies, traditional Aboriginal practices, as well as a market! We decided to start off visiting 'Rainforestation' which has a nature park, some Aboriginal demonstrations and an 'Army Duck' amphibious vehicle ride.

 

After this there were three Aboriginal exhibitions - the first one was a demonstration of some dances.

Then one of the guys showed us how to play a didgeridoo.

And there was also some spear throwing.

After this we moved onto the nature park part of Rainforestation.

Tassie Devils

Cassowary

Freshwater Croc

Saltwater Croc

Black-headed Python

Green Python

Friday 10 July - Kuranda Day 2

We really enjoyed Rainforestation yesterday, and it covered off some of what some other parks offered. So we decided the only other things we really wanted to do were 1) the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, 2) Bird World and 3) the Kuranda Markets.

As we were waking up we heard some odd intermittent 'swooshing' sounds, which turned out to be the burners from some hot air balloons which were flying nearby! They landed in an adjacent field, although behind some trees, and took off again a short while later.

After seeing this beautiful rainbow we headed back into Kuranda.

The Butterfly Sanctuary was interesting, being able to see so many butterflies, although it perhaps was less interesting than we thought it might have been. It was hard to get good views of the butterflies because they're always moving about, and you're not allowed to touch them as they're too fragile, so you see these pretty things flying around but really have to just watch them and be amazed. After about 45 minutes of this plus the research centre we'd had enough and moved onto the markets.

The entrance to Birdworld was inside the markets so we decided to do this too, and this was way better! Of course birds being bigger than butterflies, and somewhat less 'flighty', meant you could see them a lot better, and some of them also flew to land on you if they saw you with a brown paper bag of bird food! Apart from some scratches and the odd nip, we had a great time here!

Bek with a Macaw

Jude with an Alexandrine Parrot

Indian Ringneck

Bek with an Eclectus Parrot

Dusky Lorikeet

Jude and an Alexandrine

Brown paper bags are bird magnets here!

Mim + Eclectus

King Parrots

After we left Birdworld we explored more of the markets. A stall owner had a python which Jude had a (very) quick hold of before someone else decided the snake wanted to see him! :o

The boys and I then played minigolf while Mim and Bek went to do some shopping in the markets.

Saturday 11 July - Chilling at Ringers Rest

You would remember we only stumbled across Ringers Rest at the last minute, and it had served as a good base for our trips into Kuranda. By default, we expected to move on after we'd finished in  Kuranda, but the question was 'To where should we go?". Our next stop was to be in Cairns to pick up a parcel at the post office, and Bek had an orthodontist's appointment on Wednesday, but we wouldn't make it in time for Saturday, and of course they'd be closed Sunday. Plus, even if we did rush in, in Cairns there were only caravan parks, at around $65+ per night, compared to $10/night here at Ringers Rest, where we'd have to stay until at least Wednesday! Our only concern was running out of water in the van, but the owner told us we could refill from a nearby tap which was great! So with the weekend upon us we decided to stay at Ringers Rest for the next couple of days, especially as the owner also told us there was a river nearby we could swim in! Not bad for $10/night!

So after breakfast and our morning reading we followed the track down to the Barron River. It was nice to have a lazy day after such a busy couple of days before that!

There is a weir in the river which helps to make the water downstream
nicely bubbled and oxygenated, and not stagnant.

The bottom of the river was quite rocky, but in spots it was well and truly deep enough to jump in. You just had to very carefully dip down and check the depth of the riverbed to be sure there were no sharp rocks poking up!

We had a lazy evening back at the van!

Sunday 12 July - Chilling at Ringers Rest

After a morning run and breakfast, we had Sunday School with the kids. We had intended to do our own meeting, but on a whim I checked to see if Brighton's live stream was still going and it turned out it was and the meeting had already started! So we quickly got organised and watched the stream. It was lovely to see the familiar hall, table, some and familiar faces after five months away (wow has it been that long...?).

After this and lunch we headed back down to the river for a couple of hours.

The weather started to turn grey so we scooted back to the van, just in time to avoid a reasonably short, but reasonably heavy, downpour!

Still dry enough to have a cuppa under the awning!

Queensland - sunny one day, soggy the next!

Monday July 13 - Ringers Rest to Cairns

We headed first into Mareeba to empty the porta potti and refill our tummies at the local bakery! Jude and I (Greg) tried mushy peas on our pies, which seems to be a Qld tradition. It was OK, it added a bit of a vegetable-y flavour, but wasn't a strong or overpowering pea note.

We then had to make our way down this rather torturous road from the Atherton Tablelands down onto the coastal plain and into Cairns. It was a pretty slow road, especially as there were some roadworks, but there were some lovely views along the way!

View over the ocean coming down into Smithfield

We finally got to the bottom and into Cairns, where we booked into the Lake Placid Tourist Park. This was about the cheapest of an expensive lot of caravan parks, but it was quite nice, and, critically for the kids, had a pool! The park wasn't too full so most times we had the pool to ourselves. It was nice and deep and cold!

Later in the day the kids folded up their beds to turn them into a quasi-study! They also kept it this way and they had dinner in their new suite, while Mim and I had a romantic private meal at the kitchen table alone! :D

-- Greg