We arrived at the Mareeba Rodeo Grounds (Kerribee Campground) just after lunch. We met some people that had camped beside us one night at Charters Towers as we were checking in. Got a spot next to them and proceeded to get setup. We got a really large site with water and power which costs $18/night. There are about a dozen vans here now but can have upwards of 300 vans here during the peak winter months. The people we knew were spending their second winter here. Lovely big area but don't think I would enjoy it so much with 300 vans.
We enjoyed a late lunch and Sandra got caught up with some laundry. Enjoyed an early happy hour with 3 other couples.
Thursday morning we did some grocery shopping before visiting the local Visitor Centre. A very nice Visitor Centre that houses a Heritage Museum. Very well done and only a gold coin donation if you like. Spent a good hour going through the history of Mareeba which includes mining, Tobacco, military, etc. Thursday afternoon we planned out our activities for the next few days.
Friday morning we ventured out to Emerald Falls which is back towards Kuranda. Had about 10 Km of corrugated dirt road to reach the Falls. We completed a short 2 Km return walk up to the Falls. Quite a steep climb with lots of natural stone steps. Glad we completed early in the day as was fairly exposed to the sun. Got a good look at the falls and a view across the valley. On the return trip we lowered the tyre pressure as per my Brother in Law Gary's recommendation. Made for a noticeably smoother trip back to the pavement. Topped up the air pressure again to continue our trip. Will definitely use this technique for future excursions on gravel/corrugation.
Our next stop was Davies Creek National Park. Again we had a bit of gravel road to reach our destination. It wasn't as corrugated as the Emerald Falls road but the final 2 Km from the camping area to the Falls was narrow and winding. We then took a short (850m) walk to a couple of lookouts and along the creek to a swimming/picnic area. Really beautiful views and nice cool clear water to refresh yourself in. Would highly recommend to fellow travelers. Not as well publicized as the Emerald Falls but both of us thought was a superior view and falls. The walk along the creek was wonderful as well.
We returned to our caravan around lunch time for a quick shower and a change of clothing before heading out for lunch. We retraced our steps East of Mareeba to Jacques Coffee Plantation. Had a lovely lunch there on their deck overlooking lovely gardens. Food was very nice with a couple of Gluten Free options and priced reasonably. After lunch we took part in a brief tour of the Plantation. Involved a short film about the family history and the coffee making process. The Jacques family is certainly resilient as they were wiped out twice financially before succeeding on their third try. Well worth a visit for a meal and the tour. Finished off with a coffee/tea and liquor tasting. Returned to the caravan where we enjoyed Happy Hour with our neighbors. Enjoyed a nice Prawn Salad to top off our Good Friday.
Saturday morning we decided to head towards Atherton for some exploration. Our original plan was to attend the Yungaburra Markets and then complete a drive around Lake Tinaroo. When we arrived at Yungaburra we decided to change our plans. Thousands of people (Sandra thinks hundreds but hey I write the Blog) must have had the same idea as we did and being Easter Weekend it was packed. There were cars parked everywhere and traffic was mostly at a halt. Knowing how I am around crowds, Sandra graciously agreed to foregoing the markets. We eventually got our vehicle clear of the traffic and headed East towards Gordonvale. We turned North on the Danbulla Forest Road to travel around Lake Tinaroo. The plan was to explore the many free/low cost campgrounds around the lake for possible destinations on future trips. We first stopped at the Cathedral Fig Tree which we had seen before. Still very impressive although a bit of construction would appear to be in progress.
As we continued from the Fig Tree the road was signed as unsuitable for caravans which was unexpected given what we have read in our Camps book and a couple of caravan magazines. However after several kilometres of winding very narrow, rough road I would certainly agree with the signs. The road was very dense dark rain forest with limited pull off areas. We stopped at Lake Euramoo which was created from twin craters.
When we reached the turnoff for Fongon Bay the road was closed because of bridge construction to complete the loop around the Lake. Very poorly marked and very inconvenient. We took a drive into
We took the Tinaroo Falls Dam Road into Tinaroo from the Atherton side of the Lake. Good road into Tinaroo from there and a lovely Day Use area on the Lake. We enjoyed some sunshine and a nice picnic lunch while watching everyone enjoy water activities. Sandra counted about 17 boats/jet skis in the one bay we were in. Lovely area and a very nice looking Caravan park just across from the beach area.
We then decided to explore around the Lake as far as we could from this side to see if the campgrounds were more accessible. As we proceeded past the Dam site we once again were greeted with a sign saying the road was unsuitable for caravans. The road was paved for a few kilometres before returning to gravel. Very deep corrugations and narrow, winding road for most of the rest. We stopped at a pullout and walked down to a section of the lake that was full of tree stumps from when it was flooded by the dam. Very peaceful and we were joined by a little duck family.
Stopped at Platypus Rock Campground and walked to Platypus Rock?? Not sure why it is called this as just appeared to be a big rock that you could climb to the top. Couldn't see anything from the top as overgrown rain forest in all directions. Campground was again only suitable for tents and campers from our perspective.
From there we continued as far as Kauri Creek campground where the road was again closed. This was a slow trip as got in a line of about 8 very slow moving vehicles. Was some lovely sites near the lake front there but don't know how/why you would take your caravan on the road into it. Retraced our steps slowly back to Tinaroo before heading into Atherton. We grabbed a few things from Woolworths there before heading back towards Mareeba. We stopped at Humpy Nut World at Tolga on the return journey where we got some fresh vegetables and potatoes.
Arrived home late afternoon tired and somewhat disappointed in our days adventures. While Lake Tinaroo is beautiful I would not take our caravan into any of the campgrounds other than the Lake Tinaroo Holiday Park. We topped the day off with a nice baked Chicken dinner with fresh corn on the Cob. Was definitely the highlight of the day!
Sunday morning sees us taking it easy and doing some domestic activity. Sandra has got some laundry on the line and I'm doing some Blog catch up. We see our future travelling partners, the Ransleys have hit the road early this morning. They plan to catch up with us at Mount Surprise by the end of this week. Spent the early afternoon relaxing while catching up with both Mum and Justine on Skype which was nice!
Our caravan neighbours own the same vintage white Jeep Grand Cherokee that has unfortunately been putting ours to shame in the cleanliness department! As such we gave ours a bit of a cleanup with some buckets of water and elbow grease. Once the car was somewhat respectable again, we enjoyed a nice happy hour with our neighbours, Tony and Erica from South Australia. We ended up getting a little bit wet, but then got to enjoy a lovely Double Rainbow that stretched to the ground on both ends. Beautiful!
Monday morning we got an early wake up call as we heard a few vehicles tearing around the field. Turns out they were the ground support teams for some Hot Air Balloons. Got a great show as two of them landed in the caravan park. One flew right over all of the caravans and landed in the back corner, and the second landed right behind where our caravan was located. Apparently this is a fairly regular event during the winter months at the Park. Great to see!
We had breakfast after the Balloon show before heading down the road to the Mareeba Golf Course. Sandra and I enjoyed (?) a round of golf with a golf cart. The course was quite green but a bit disjointed. We had to return to the club house after our first couple of holes to grab a map. It went a bit better with the map! There were lots of kangaroos on the course and they didn't seem very afraid of the golfers. I had an average round while Sandra struggled early but improved significantly towards the end of the round.
We returned to the caravan for a nice cold shower and some lunch. Then off to IGA and Coles for some grocery shopping. Will likely be the last Coles we see for several weeks. Goodbye civilization!
Enjoyed another nice Happy Hour with a our Mareeba friends before saying our goodbyes! We enjoyed Mareeba and would definitely recommend the Rodeo Ground as a place to stay.
On the road again in the morning to Mount Surprise where we will meet up with the Ransleys.
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