Lake Tinaroo (Danbulla National Park)

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August 8th 2012

It was a cool day with some light drizzle. We visited the Cathedral Fig Tree and the Curtain Fig Tree, both very impressive specimens. The Curtain Fig Tree is about 500 years old and once grew along a tree that fell on an angle, hence the angled root system. We drove through Yungaburra, a gorgeous historic town, and stopped at the creek where there is a walk and platypus viewing hide. We were very lucky to see a platypus feeding, swimming to the surface and then diving again. We had lunch at Lake Barrine, and then went into Atherton to do some shopping. We played Scrabble after dinner. Our camper batteries are a bit low as we need some sun to charge them up.



August 9th 2012

We drove south to see the lovely tall Millaa Millaa falls, and visit the Millaa Millaa town. We also went to the Ellinjaa Falls, where we saw a turtle basking on a rock, and had lunch. We drove through the lush dairy country to the Millaa Millaa lookout, then went on to the Crater lake and Dinner Falls. Near the amenities block at Crater Lake we saw a wild cassowary and two half grown chicks, which was certainly a highlight. We backed away from them slowly and snapped a couple of photos.

There was sun today and the batteries are faring better.



August 10th 2012

We packed up our Lake Tinaroo camp and got on the road at about 9am. We stopped in Mareeba to use an internet cafe and library for some personal business (and got some ex-library books for the boys), then continued to Karumba. Karumba is a pretty forest town, and we had a great lunch at Sweet Leaf, a vegetarian cafe in the market area. We then wove our way down from the tablelands, along the zig-zag roads. Arriving in Cairns, we took the scenic route to the caravan park as I had entered the coordinates slighly wrongly into the GPS, whereas Mum and Dad went straight there. We are at Cool Waters caravan park, and our site backs onto a creek. We suggested the boys take a look at the creek when we arrived, and we looked down to see Alex on the bank, reading. He'll be finished the five new books tonight or at latest tomorrow.

Cairns marks the end of our travels on the Savannah Way, which is the way between Broome and Cairns.

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Photos

Lake TInaroo
Near campsite