Blogs from Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 4

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 ... read more

DAY 342 5.00am this morning I was wake, rolling around the bed trying not to disturb Caroline, I was awake before the light and as soon as the day came up the birds “kicked off” in the tree just over from our trailer, I wondered if they were each speaking to the specific members of their bird family or other members of the bird world some where else in the same tree, or where they just making a noise, or had they something important to say, it is fascinating listening to them I was so glad to wake up at Fong-on Bay at Lake Tineroo, as it’s the place where we went to sleep last night strangely enough, it is a most beautiful place and we love it, its our 3rd time here in a ... read more

DAY 291 We woke up this morning to a beautiful day at Fong - on bay, Lake Tineroo, although the sun was starting to climb it had not appeared over the top of the mountain, it was a very damp morning, Caroline tells me she looked out in the night and it was very very foggy outside. The pigeons were tap dancing on the roof of the tent, they seem to pick on one particular tent or caravan and congregate, do lots of running around to make sure the occupant is now well and truly awake. Caroline was out of bed first, she got straight out of bed, grabbed her camera and wandered off in her Pyjamas to get some photo’s of the lake and mountains covered in low cloud. When she got back she put ... read more

DAY 288 It was a colder night but we woke up to a beautiful morning, I emerged from the trailer and put the kettle on, the morning was just beginning its new day. Caroline was already out of the Wendy house on wheels and we sat in the sun enjoying our cup of tea. We see one of the kids in the landcruiser get out of his tiny tent, so we asked him if he and his chums wanted us to put the kettle on for them as we know what its like when you are just gagging for a cup of morning tea, and you have to mess about building the fire to boil the Billy, as they seemed not to have any cooking gear with them. This guy was truly grateful, he explained that ... read more

DAY 276 We wake up again this morning in this beautiful environment, it is 7.00 Andy has already jumped out of bed and tells me that the lake is beautiful. Half asleep I jump out of bed put my fleece on (still wearing my pyjamas) grabbed my camera, really pleased that I have my lens back, wandered down to the side of the lake to take some photos. Don’t get me wrong here, despite being tired I did open my eyes and look at the lake and not just take the picture, it was spectacular, the sky was blue, a few clouds dispersed, the colour of the trees reflected beautifully in the pristine smooth lake, broken only by the occasional bird dropping in for fish. Photos done, I grabbed my cup of tea and went back ... read more