While the car was being services Marty and I took another cruise this time to discover more of the spectacular underwater gardens of the outer Reefs of the coral reef system for more snorkelling, the morning session was on Michaelmas Cay (the middle reef) and then after lunch the boat took us out to Hasting Reef (the outer reef) for the afternoon. What we saw was very different to our previous snorkelling expedition at Great Keppel. We were about 50 kms off shore and the fish species and the reef very diverse. We saw small harmless sharks, giant clams and steep drops on the edge of the reef. All in all a great day.
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| Marty with a pineapple sea cucumber |
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| A giant clam |
We left Cairns and headed for the Atherton Tablelands staying at Lake Tinaroo, only a short drive from Cairns up the Kennedy Highway. After setting up camp we set out to sample some of the tastes of the Tropics in the afternoon with visits to the Golden Drop Mango Winery and Mt Uncle Distillery to sample some of the local fruit wines, liqueurs and spirits, some of which were so good that we had to take some away with us. The sparkling mango wine would come in handy as by this time we had decided that we were not that far from Townsville and we would be able to attend Marty's nephew's wedding. We also got some very tasty coffee and mulberry liqueurs that go down very well in the cooler evenings. We also found double bananas for 80c each, which is a real bargain because, to our surprise, bananas are no cheaper here than at home despite most of them being grown here.
On the Saturday we headed out to the township of Atherton, to look at the Crystal Caves a fanciful creation, with a private mineralogical collection of over 600 specimens, including the world's largest amethyst geode, the Empress of Uruguay, this is 3.5 meters tall with 100% natural amethyst crystals inside.
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| Empress of Uruguay |
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| Ammonite Fossils |
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| Thats me sitting on a large bit of Rose Quarts Rose Quartz has been known as THE stone that is inseparably associated with love, romance and passion. Rose Quartz is be- lieved by many to have powerful magical properties that open the heart for love, giving softness to the most hardened of hearts. |
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| Maroccan Fossil |
At lunch time we headed for Mareeba, where 70% of Australia's coffee is grown. We visited Coffee World and got to tastes 21 coffees, 4 teas, 3 liqueurs and 12 chocolates. I only liked the chocolates. Marty tasted all the coffees, as if he isn't already hypo enough. Coffee World also had an antiquities museum of coffee and tea memorabilia which included a good history of the introduction of coffee into western society.
Other things we saw in this area was the Rocky Creek war memorial park, the site of a 3,000 bed hospital complex at between 1943 and 1945 where over 60,000 patients were treated in the hospital. The patients were brought to the hospital from all theatres of war in the south west Pacific.
Sunday we took a long drive out along the Wheelbarrow Way to Chillagoe a small outback town west of Atherton Tablelands to see the impressive rugged limestone bluff containing over 560 known caves which were originally an ancient coral reef. We took a guided tour of the Royal Arch cave and visited the balancing rock before we drove around the town to see the ore smelter ruins and look at some of the marble souvenirs.
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| Balancing Rock |
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| Royal Arch Cave, can you see the side profile of Queen Victoria? |
We also visited the Historic Village at Herberton, just south of Atherton. The village contains over 25 buildings in their original form. There is a old businesses and civic buildings such as a school, blacksmith, banks, and a grocer each with utensils and tools from the 19th century. The weather wasn't great but it wa still an enjoyable visit.
After lunch we travelled on pass Ravenshoe the highest town in Queensland then onto Innot Hot Springs for a couple of restful days at the natural thermal springs that reputedly having healing powers for weary bodies like ours. We stayed at the Leisure & Health Park that has 6 public pools all with varying degrees of water temperature. 44 -24 degree water bubbles out of Nettle Creek so you can dig your own hole in the river sands of the creek bed and relax if you don't want to stay in the park.
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| Swimmers enjoying a pool of hot water in Nettle Creek |
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| Innot Hot Springs Nettle Creek Qld |
Then on to Townsville for the wedding.
