Chillagoe Caves

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Hello, today I got out of Cairns for a day trip to Chillagoe. I picked this because the itinerary was a little bit different from the reef or rainforest included in most trips around here- which I'll be doing anyway.

Chillagoe is about 200km away from Cairns on the other side of the Great Dividing Range. This is a mountain range running along much of the East coast, separating the seaside from the outback. We crossed over the rainforest covered mountains onto the Atherton Tablelands on the other side- a pretty agricultural area with lots of fruit orchards everywhere.

Here we stopped at a place called Mareeba for a twenty minute cruise on a billabong called Clancy Lake. This was much like the one I did at Kakadu, although lacking in crocodiles. It was nice enough though.

From there we continued westwards and inland, the scenery gradually becoming more arid, with the fruit trees giving way to eucalyptus bushland. Along the way we stopped at a tiny little settlement, Lappa, where we had a quick glance around a former pub, now an eclectic if somewhat run-down museum of outbacker 'stuff', and passed through Almaden (or 'Cow Town').

Once we reached Chillagoe, a former mining town which used to have a population of about 10,000, and now has about 200 inhabitants, we had a look at the old smelter and learned a bit about the working conditions there up- to around the '30's- it must have been awful working in that heat next to a blast furnace. And no H&S regulating exposure to lead fumes and asbestos!

After lunch it was on to, for me at least, the main point of the trip- Chillagoe Caves. I've always liked caves and it's been years since I went into one. It was a shorter trip than I would have liked but I got to see some of the interesting rock formations I like so much, such as stalactites (cling tight to the ceiling) and stalagmites (might eventually reach the ceiling) , and some very interesting sections on the wall that looked just like fossilised coral. There was also a bit where the roof had collapsed, so the walls had turned green from algal growth. Apparently this was where the workers at the smelter used to hang out for beer and picnics, since it was about the coolest place for miles around (possibly hundreds of miles).

So we were then off on the return leg. We stopped along the way for some juicy lychees, and a slightly more substantial stop at Skybury Coffee Plantation (check the coffee labels in Sainsburys) which had a big display of different types of coffee beans, and of course the chance to try out a variety of coffees. This was not so great for a committed coffee-hater like myself of course! I appreciated the fantastic view across the Atherton Tablelands more, to be honest.

Well that was the final part. Sorry- this has been a bit rushed and a bit of a 'we did this, it was good, then we did this', but it was a long day and it's already well past beer O'clock.

G'day

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Photos

Inside Chillagoe Caves
See the column where a stalactite and stalagmite have joined?

'Coral'
In fact nothing to do with coral at all, but it sure looks similar

The view from Skybury
Part of the Atherton Tablelands

Comments

[Bungy]

Coffee and Lychees!
Well, never knew they grew coffee or lychees in 'Stralia - sounds like a great place away from the coastline, full of what seem exotic plants like eucalyptus. Wriying going well -three blogs since Darwin!