Our next spot was Mareeba - it was pretty difficult to get a site that allowed dogs (Lorraine and Bill were travelling with theirs), but I finally managed to get one just outside Mareeba at the Granite Gorge Nature Park, a lovely spot with lots of animals, bare faced wallabies, peacocks and chickens. We arrived and checked in with a very harrassed lady (lots of visitors arrived at the same time, and she was a little bit disorganised), who gave us a couple of sites right in the middle of other campers, kids, dogs and a multitude of chickens, peacocks and birds. Well, Lorraine's dogs went berserk, barking at everything that moved or breathed, and we realised we had a problem. We decided to move on to another park, got our money back, and set off for Mareeba.
We found a small park near the information centre and booked in for the night. Bill and Lorraine booked in for 4 nights, as they planned to take the dogs to a doggy resort near Cairns for the duration of our Cape York trip. We booked in just for one night then moved down to Tinaroo Lake in the Atherton Tablelands for the remaining 3 nights.
There are many beautiful camping spots around Tinaroo Lake, and we chose Downfall Creek. It cost us only $19.05 for 3 nights (don't quite know how QLD National Parks came up with that amount, but, hey, we were happy with it!)
We set up camp with a minimal view of the vast lake (all the best ones were already taken), but shortly after we completed this, the people in front of us in a prime spot started packing up. It was the last week of the school holidays, and there was lots of movement going on, so we thought: 'Hmm, shall we wait till these people have gone and move our already-set-up caravan?' Yes, we decided. Perfect spot with great views of the lake and plenty of shade.
There was lots of birdlife, and lots of activity on the water. I don't know if you've ever seen or heard Stone Curlews, but they are the strangest birds. They have very long legs, long skinny necks and big eyes. If you approach them they pretend they are not there and stand like a statue. Their call is one of the eeriest birdcalls I've ever heard - it's somewhere between a baby crying and a scalded cat! And they call out all night.... I did get some good photos of them.
We did a 5km rainforest walk from our camp through to Kauri Camp. It was beautiful - lots of old, old forest, a small waterfall, the bark on the trees was amazing, and of course I found some unusual fungi. The walk should have taken about an hour, but I was a bit busy taking photos, so it did extend just a little. It was sooo pretty.
We met up with our neighbours, Annette and Michael, and spent some time with them in front of their campfire. They are just starting a 12-18 month lap of Australia and will be heading up to Cape York shortly after us with their daughter. Lovely people, and Annette is a very keen photographer - she gave me a few tips and showed me some of her work. We exchanged details and we are now Facebook friends, so I hope we can catch up with them again somewhere in our travels.
On our second day at Tinaroo we did a drive around the area, saw the Curtain Fig Tree, Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine (and tried to stay ahead of the tour groups). It really is a beautiful, rich, green area with many waterfalls and plenty to see and do. We also visited the Gallo Dairy and Chocolate Factory - oh dear, we did spend a bit of money here - the cheeses were so yummy, and we bought individual chocolates at around $1 per chocolate, but they are being doled out sparingly!
We are still having problems with our fridge/battery system, so we decided to bite the bullet and buy another battery (this one sits in the car) to try and rectify the issue before we head up to the tip. Back into Mareeba, where we managed to get a battery installed (they did the work) for $320 plus cables and other bits and pieces, bringing it up to around $400. Money, money money.... hopefully this will sort everything out.
We met up with Bill, Lorraine, Margaret and Danny after the installation, so now we are finally on the road to Cooktown and heading up to Cape York.
We found a small park near the information centre and booked in for the night. Bill and Lorraine booked in for 4 nights, as they planned to take the dogs to a doggy resort near Cairns for the duration of our Cape York trip. We booked in just for one night then moved down to Tinaroo Lake in the Atherton Tablelands for the remaining 3 nights.
There are many beautiful camping spots around Tinaroo Lake, and we chose Downfall Creek. It cost us only $19.05 for 3 nights (don't quite know how QLD National Parks came up with that amount, but, hey, we were happy with it!)We set up camp with a minimal view of the vast lake (all the best ones were already taken), but shortly after we completed this, the people in front of us in a prime spot started packing up. It was the last week of the school holidays, and there was lots of movement going on, so we thought: 'Hmm, shall we wait till these people have gone and move our already-set-up caravan?' Yes, we decided. Perfect spot with great views of the lake and plenty of shade.
We did a 5km rainforest walk from our camp through to Kauri Camp. It was beautiful - lots of old, old forest, a small waterfall, the bark on the trees was amazing, and of course I found some unusual fungi. The walk should have taken about an hour, but I was a bit busy taking photos, so it did extend just a little. It was sooo pretty.
We met up with our neighbours, Annette and Michael, and spent some time with them in front of their campfire. They are just starting a 12-18 month lap of Australia and will be heading up to Cape York shortly after us with their daughter. Lovely people, and Annette is a very keen photographer - she gave me a few tips and showed me some of her work. We exchanged details and we are now Facebook friends, so I hope we can catch up with them again somewhere in our travels.
On our second day at Tinaroo we did a drive around the area, saw the Curtain Fig Tree, Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine (and tried to stay ahead of the tour groups). It really is a beautiful, rich, green area with many waterfalls and plenty to see and do. We also visited the Gallo Dairy and Chocolate Factory - oh dear, we did spend a bit of money here - the cheeses were so yummy, and we bought individual chocolates at around $1 per chocolate, but they are being doled out sparingly!We are still having problems with our fridge/battery system, so we decided to bite the bullet and buy another battery (this one sits in the car) to try and rectify the issue before we head up to the tip. Back into Mareeba, where we managed to get a battery installed (they did the work) for $320 plus cables and other bits and pieces, bringing it up to around $400. Money, money money.... hopefully this will sort everything out.
We met up with Bill, Lorraine, Margaret and Danny after the installation, so now we are finally on the road to Cooktown and heading up to Cape York.
1 comment:
The rodeo ground at Mareeba is a great spot to stay - for future reference.
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