Blogs from Mareeba, Queensland, Australia, Oceania

It was only a forty five minute drive to our next booked stay, being the town of Mareeba. Mareeba is located within a large agricultural region, with a wide variety of crops grown including avocados, mangoes, lychees, longans, sugar cane, cashews, macadamias, bananas, pineapples, tea tree oil, coffee, cotton and various vegetables and tropical fruit. A sign entering the town boasts that Mareeba has 300 sunny days per year. Tobacco was once the main grown crop in the area, but is no longer grown within the Mareeba Shire. I did notice the faded Tobacco Co-Op sign on a older building in the main street as I was driving through. After our busy schedule in Atherton, it was good to enjoy the laid back atmosphere of Trinity Plains Caravan Park, located just outside of the town. There ... read more

We had a relaxing morning, with breakfast overlooking the river followed by packing up at a leisurely pace. John took another quick swim in the river, but asked Sonia to come along and spot for crocs. After checking out of our cabin, we decided to hang out for a bit in the beautifully appointed library (and use their WiFi) before hitting the road. The drive to the Jabiru Lodge in the Mareeba reserve was about an hour and a half, starting with a steep winding climb into the mountains. The terrain changed from rainforest to grassland, dotted with thousands of termite mounds, some as large as boulders. Unlike in the rainforest, wallabies and kangaroos are common in the grasslands. At the lodge we checked in and moved into our two eco-tents. The tents were rustic but ... read more

Up at 3.50.......now 14.30.......might have to head down to pool for a snooze, and a swim of course! More than one novel experience this morning.........started this blog on the bus, which was obviously Wifi zone.........and had our first balloon flight. Picked up at 4.20 as promised.....a few other sleepy people on the bus........we made our way up to Mareeba in the Tablelands......got there at 5.40'ish, meeting the bus from Cairns there - 14 of us in total. We were doing the 60 min flight which was in reality 2 30 min flights. Lots of mosquitos around but the bus driver had a spray......had to walk, in the dark, through long wet grass........but it was well worth it in the end! Again the weather was very kind.......warm, even at that time, a bit cloudy......and there was very ... read more

An important part of travel for us is to learn about these outback towns and the struggles these folk have survivied. We found Mareeba no different as their community has struggled against all sorts of struggles, and in this case come up smiling. We have seen some impressive mango orchards (too early for picking yet), great looking cattle, but more importantly, locals who are open to talk about struggles and issues of the past. One such person is Allan at the Visitors Information Centre. Allan took me around the aboriginal section of their museum and he was able to recount much of his families history from white settlement and onward. He talked about his Dad being taken from his mother at age six to try and out breed the aboriginal language and ways. He talks about ... read more

As we left Speewah Campgrounds another young couple were parked just around the corner waiting for our spot so it is clear this neck of the woods is hitting the mark among holiday makers. Rachel needed to work today and we badly needed to get some washing done and power up so we made our way back to Mareeba. After a little search for a spot to stay for the night we came across the Mareeba Rodeo Showgrounds. For only $15 a night there are powered sites, a laundry and hot showers to take advantage of. Our spot was a green grassed area right under the rodeo arena grandstands. Just before dusk we climbed up to the top row of the grandstand and looked out over the town. A nice and quiet finish to a surprisingly ... read more