Atherton & Beyond

Nan & pop headed off early for brekky & coffee with Rees. We knew we wouldn't make it in time (we take a little longer to get up & moving)

If there was a beach here, I could find my new home. Oh, and that cyclone season is a turn off too (lol).

I can see why so many crops thrive here. The soil is an amazing rich reddish brown. It's a bit chilly today. 26degreed when you've been used to 35 plus. The wind is quite cool which is what makes a difference too.

Fresh picked strawberries for morning tea. They don't sell them like this in the supermarkets. Super sweet & the reddest of red. 

That kept them quite for 10 minutes.

Next stop on our farm fresh tour was Coffee World. We have bought so many average coffees I will be disappointed if it's ordinary. It cost us $65 to enter Coffee World where there was unlimited coffee, chocolates & liquers to taste. The kids even got a milkshake & an activity sheet. There was also a collection of coffee making heirlooms to check out. 

We drove through some beautiful old towns, such as Herberton & Yungaburra. 

Final stop on our tour today was the Curtin Fig Tree. Truly amazing. They have built a boardwalk around the tree & you know how much I love a great Boardwalk. On the way home we stopped & bought some local peanuts & a giant watermelon. 

Damper cooked on an open fire...what an end to the day :-)

Ravenshoe

Lookout at Undara for sunrise....

Never get tired of a sunrise & this Savannah Country knows how to put on a show!

Millstream Falls is the widest single drop waterfall in Australia. I do believe that it may not have been at its best flow today.

Keira found it very relaxing. 

Milaa Milaa falls. It was freezing but they had a quick dip. I was happy to be photographer. 

Pedestrian crossing....tropical dairy style!

The path to Zillie Falls. Check this tree. I was looking for a python amongst those trees.

The view from our campsite tonight at Ravenshoe Railway van park. $10 per site & it goes towards raising funds to maintain the old steam train & station.

Undara Lava Tubes

This is definately a destination for this part of the world. Michael & I headed out for an early morning shuffle. 

What's the best way to start a big day...bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans & poached eggs (which I'm getting better at). 

We have a 10.30 tour of the Lava Tubes. You cannot explore alone but only as part of a group. 

We chose the Archway Explorer because it has purpose built walkways. This makes it easy underfoot forcthevkids, although there are still quite a few stairs.

Ok, so basically these cavernous areas were caused by molten lava from the Undara volcano nearby. Once they started flowing they found a water table, followed it, cooled around the river & caused tunnels or tubes. They have discovered 69 tubes in the area. Not many are open for tours because of their difficult access.

The colours of the rocks (or lava) were awesome.

Home for lunch & then a drive out to Kalkani volcanic crater. The view from the top was pretty spectacular.

Driving home these guys were not real keen to move off the road. Mum made a noise & they ran toward her...typical kids.

Icecream treats for being amazing kids on this mornings tour. A LOT of information was delivered & the kids were great!

How Australian. 

Paronella Park

It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes. The dry land became lush & green.

Sugar cane plantations as far as the eye can see. I can't imagine how many snakes & toads are amongst this cane. 

The first gumboot at Tully. I saw a sign for a cyclone shelter. Although it's so beautiful, that sign is a little disconcerting. That & the credible warning signs make it a great place to visit, but not live.

A sugar cane train. We did get a few spots of rain from those clouds. We haven't seen that in a long while & the car & caravan could do with a wash.

Banana plantations. That lot could keep us busy for a few days :-)

Paronella park is the place we'd come to see. It sat, overgrown & deserted for 13 years but slowly the new owners are trying to breathe new life into this grand property. It was built, by hand, by a Spanish man named class Jose Paronella. He was certainly ahead of his time. It's now used for weddings & tourist groups.

This was used as a tea room & dining area. He even built changing booths at the base for the swimmers that visited his giant pool.

This was, until a few years ago, still used as a swimming area for the public. The wet season can now bring salt water crocs with it & that is not a good additive to a swimming hole.

Mena Creek Falls was the reason that Jose bought the property. He later created a hydro water scheme that powered the property.

This is Kaurie Lane. These trees are 87 years old & grew from seeds the size of a grain of rice.

We returned for the night tour & it was even more beautiful. We even saw fire flies. Poppy looks like a ghost. I think our torch was misguided.

Truly magical! Watching the castle light up with music playing in the background. Seriously, consider this place as an outing next holiday. Great value too, with a nights camping included in the entry fee. 

Townsville

The day we've been waiting for has arrived! Daddy is coming home. Apparently the North Queensland Cowboys are headed out of town. There were jerseys & balloons & cheers from the crowd. I, unfortunately, didn't recognise any of them. The kids were jumping up & down with excitement when they saw that daddy's flight had landed. A lady next to us said "if you were they're parents, you'd be thrilled. It's just so exciting". I said, "they're waiting for daddy". I think she was crushed.

Straight to the ocean for us.

The beach & mangoes with daddy. Charley is in heaven.

We found the best gelato shop in Townsville...Gelatissimo...unfortunately for us, they do the worst coffee.

The kids were impressed!

An afternoon back at camp. The kids got a ride around the property.

And tried their hand at netting fish.

Look who we found! Mr Jack Brown. Just for the record, I'm drinking mineral water :-)

Townsville

We can't help it! Back to the ocean to tackle the "no daddy Blues" :-(

I packed a picnic lunch so we could make a day of it. First stop was the FREE waterpark on the beachfront. They call the waterfront "The Strand" and it goes for kilometres. It makes the entrance look very sad & dated. 

This is school holidays & we could still spread out. There are about 3-4 dry play areas as well dotted along the esplanade.  Their are also kiosks dotted along that sell coffee & snacks. The grass is soooo green. We haven't seen that in a while. When my parking was up we moved back to the lifeguard beach. 

Tenae & I were feeling energetic so we walked up to the Kissing Point Lookout. It is a comemorative area that tells about Townsville's  part in the war. It is very well done. We have to travel back through Townsville. I think we'll stay closer in town because there's a fabulous boardwalk that I'd love to run.

This is a giant Rockpool that is fed from the ocean. Unfortunately it was being cleaned today & was empty. This is the view from the lookout.

My beautiful girl, I mean young lady!

Shenanigans at our campsite. We are about 20kms out of town. This spot is a work in progress but the people are lovely. It's like staying with friends. If they get a good wet season, they'll get grass growing & I think it will be lovely. The owners dogs have adopted the kids.

Townsville

What a pretty city...

It's such a well looked after city.

It's so clean & tidy & green.

A swimming pool on the waterfront. It's like the entrance baths but no swim lanes.  There are so many play areas & water areas dotted along the waterfront.

We even found mermaid.

It looks stormy & then it disappears & the blue sky is back. 

The ocean was so salty & warm. Oh how we've missed the ocean. That is, ocean you can swim in! We just need daddy home & all will be great.