Barcaldine - named the garden city of the west. The name originates from the Oban region in Scotland. Donald Charles Cameron was one of the first settlers in the district and a direct descendent of the Campbell's of Barcaldine Castle. He settled on a parcel of land fronting the Alice River and immediately named it Barcaldine Downs. Barcaldine has had a colourful past which centered around the Great Shearers Strike of 1891 and is the home of the Tree of Knowledge. This historic tree was a Ghost Gum which grew outside the Railway Station for a period of 180 years. Sadly it was poisoned in 2006 by an unknown culprit. During the Shearers Strike meetings were held in the shade of the old gum tree and so it became known as the Tree of knowledge. Salvation Army meetings were also held under this tree and their name for it was "The Alleuia Tree"
We also visited the Australian Workers Heritage Centre which pays tribute to the lives of ordinary workers both past and present who have contributed to the shaping of our nation. Clare is sitting on what is known as "The Seat of Knowledge" - probably a lost cause!

This is the outback - Sandy Creek and not a drop of water in sight. The wet season is from Dec - March and when the rains arrive the whole land transforms into another world. Some areas have flood markers of up to 6 feet. The horizon is so clear and goes on forever as there is no pollution and because there are hardly any streetlights and big buildings the nightsky is magnificant. So many more stars and planets to see. The outback has its own unique beauty everywhere you look.

Next stop is Ifracombe just 27 kms south of Longreach. It is a town whose heart pumps history, putting its soul on display even to the point of being a little absurd - well everyone has a hub cap museum don't they! As you drive into town one of the world's longest museums peels away down the main street. This is the Machinery Mile and Heritage Display where you will be able to trace the history of pastoral and community development from early walking beam drilling rigs to early graders, tractors, pumps and fireploughs- just about every bit of heavy metal needed establish a sheep station, make a town and keep the roads passable. It graphically displays the challanges faced by earlt pioneers. Just down the road is the Qantas Founders Museum. The first airline to fly around the world. When you see some of the really early models you wonder how they got off the ground but when you compare the latest addition to the museum - retired Boeing 747 - and the size of it , you again wonder how it ever got off the ground! Weight on landing at Longreach was 185 tonnes - but it had to be stripped of many internal features to be able to land safely at Longreach on 16th November 2002. Maximum takeoff weight is 377.84 tonnes

Winton - the home of Waltzing Matilda a song penned by Banjo Paterson 110 years ago and embraced by the Australian people as our unofficial national anthem. The museum is the only attraction in the world dedicated to a song! The local paper "The Queenslander" wrote on 6 July 1896 - "Winton can be hot and the Wintonettes grow very thirsty. To provide for contingencies in this direction SIX large hotels have been built, drinks only 6d. There is ONE church and that is in debt. The police records, however, do not show the people to be any more wicked than those in most inland Qld towns". We had a very enjoyable 3 day stay at the Waltzing Matilda Tourist Park where every night we were treated to great entertainment by 2 female Bush Poets who were absolutely halarious. Every night they had different material, jokes n verse. You really know you are in the outback when something breaks down. Our transformer for changing 240v to 12v went kaput. Once gone they have to be replaced and the closest agent for us at Winton was either Mt Isa or Emerald, both over 200kms away. So we are without internal lights and the radio for the rest of the trip. Just as well we have a gas lamp to read by at night. Other travellers have told tales of having to wait up to 4 - 6 days for car parts etc to arrive before they can continue on their trip- we city folk sure do take a lot for granted.

Next stop Hughenden a small town of about 1200 pop. It's claim to fame is part of the Dinosaur Trail, Richmond - Hughenden - Winton. Quaint little town but if you want to see anything you have to travel about 120 kms round trip on your day off! Needless to say we couldn't just sit around and not look so we went out to the Porcupine Gorge which did not disappoint. The rock formation in the second photo is called "The Pyramid" for obvious reasons. The 1st photo is the roads you have to share with the Road Trains and other caravans so most of the time you are half on and half off with the allowed speed limit of 100k's and the only ones doing that are the truckies.

Charters Towers where it is obvious by the elegance & grandeur of the magnificant civic buildings, the historic hotels and quaint cottages that you have arrived in the gold rush era.The Royal Arcade built in 1888 became the Charters Towers Stock Exchange in 1890 and was connected to the world via telegraph with three calls a day, six days a week. You can listen to the "Calling of the Cards", a ghostly reminder of the golden days when just a touch of greed echoed the walls. 80 km east of Charters Towers is a mining town of Ravenswood. You can step back in time and explore unique aspects of the heritage listed gold mining town which in its hayday boasted 48 hotels and shanties to serve & quench the thirst of the miners. Two hotels remain today as examples of the prosperity of the towns wealthy beginnings. A visit to the open cut gold mine lookout to view the pit where giant trucks and machinery still work although the mine will be winding down over the next couple of years. The White Blow was once buried beneath the sea 3 hundred million years ago. Five kms of rock covered this point where silcon-rich solutions at 300-400c rose along fault lines from deeper areas of molton rock accumulated & deposited the mineral quartz. The White Blow is unusual because of its size & shape. Quartz deposits commonly occur as elongated veins reflecting the fault lines in which they formed. It may have been formed at the intersection of 2 large fault lines resulting in its large cyclindrical form.

We have been travelling in the Gulf Savannah Region where the aboriginal people have lived for many thousands of years. Whilst staying at Mt Garnet we drove to the Undara Lava Tubes where there are 160 extinct volcanoes which are reminders of the violent eruptions which once shook the tropical savannah land. The Undara volcano spewed out over 23 cubic km of lava (enough to fill Sydney Harbour four times over) and formed the lava tubes. The first photo shows the group standing at the entrance to one of the tubes (you can click on the photo to enlarge). Our guide took us further into the tube and turned off the torch, it was so dark you could not see your own hand in front of your face. These lava tubes snake 160 km across the landscape. The caves around this area shelter rare cavern dwellers including insectivorous bats, spotted pythons, rock wallabies & owls. The wide open spaces are excellent for bird watching especially flocks of red-tailed black cockatoos and the regal wedge-tailed eagle.

We are now on our return journey so to speak - travelling inland. Having left Cairns we headed out through Atherton and Mareeba and stopped at Ravenshoe Qld's highest town at 920 metres above sea level. Alistair sat with a local while I checked out the visitors centre! The local has been hanging around for a few years waiting for visitors just like us so that he can have his photo taken. We are now on our way to Mt Garnet where we intend to visit the Innot Hot Springs where the water was once bottled and sent to Europe and Undara Lava Tubes.

We have enjoyed a very pleasant week in Cairns and not been able to cover all the things to do - next time. Tomorrow we commence our journey back home having already travelled over 2300 kms. We came up via the coast line and will travel back inland through country towns which will be a very different experience. There are lots of historic towns and museums to see. Many old mining towns and gold fields (sadly all picked out!) The photos will change from the lush green rainforests and waterfalls (Millaa Millaa Falls opposite) to the dusty red soils of the outback. Watch this space!

Paronella Park - The story of a spanish dream built on 130 acres at Mena Creek Falls by Jose Paronella. Jose arrived in nearby Innisfail in 1913 having sailed from Catalonia in northern Spain to plan a splendid life for himself & fiancee Matilda. He worked hard for 11 years creating his wealth by buying, improving and selling cane farms. He returned to Spain only to discover that Matilda had married another! Determined to sail back to Australia with a bride Jose proposed to Margarita, Matilda's younger sister. One year later the couple were shipbound for Australia & in 1929 Jose had purchased the land of his dreams and commenced building a castle for his bride inspired by his childhood memories of the Catalonian castles. The first picture is the original residence all built by hand which is the entrance to the castle. A Movie theatre which transformed on weekends into a hugh ballroom with live bands who entained the locals while a massive ball of mirrors spun from the ceiling to reflect a dazzle of pink & blue lights (a disco ball!)
The 2nd picture is of the 47 step staircase built to shift building materials between the upper & lower levels. All the concrete was made on site and construction was done by Jose and a few locals. On Saturday nights the Paronella family invited everyone to the movies. 3rd picture shows the tennis courts they built from crushed termite mounds, a pavilion with turret-topped balconies where the jazz band played on Sundays, refreshment rooms & changing cubicles for swimmers. More than 7000 trees were planted & in 1933 Nth Queenslands first hydro-electric plant was built to power the 5 ha (13 acre) park and the castle grownds were ready to welcome the public in 1935, six years after Jose purchased the land. In 1946 a mass of logs from a clearing upstream swept away a railway bridge and descended on the park destroying the refreshment rooms. Undaunted the family repaired what they could, replanted the gardens and re-opened for business 6 months later. Sadly Jose passed away in 1948 leaving Margarita & his two children to continue his dream in the park. In 1967 Margarita also passed away. The park was sold by the children in 1977 and in 1979 a fire swept throught the castle leaving only the walls and the turret as a reminder of what had been. In 1986 Cyclone Winifred tested the Park's endurance once again. In 1993 the Park's current owners rediscovered the almost lost and overgrown park and are rebuilding & focusing on maintaining the property staying true to its hisotric and eco values. Jose's dream lives on.

Next stop was the Yungaburra region. Up until the late 1800's this town was primarily an overnight stop for travellers heading west to the mines. Once the railway line was constructed the towns long-term survival was assured. The town is a magnificant showpiece of Federation architecture especially the Yungabura Pub which is still in is original condition inside & out. The high profile landmark is this amazing Fig Tree Curtain. It was originally one host tree with 2 smaller trees growing beside it. Eventually the rainforest vines take over searching for the light & strangle the host trees leaving this curtain of vines hanging from the dead trunk. It is thought to be 600 years old & over 100 ft tall.

Many of the early settlers were promised parcels of land to farm of up to 400 to 1000 acres on coming to Australia - image their surprise when they encountered all this rainforest that had to be cleared before they could begin planting or grazing their cattle. For some it would have been years before they saw the fruits of their labour.

Millaa Millaa Falls aboriginal word meaning 'many waters' is nestled in the emerald hills surrounded by dairy farms with a circuit of waterfalls (16 in all). Surrounded by misty mountains you are gauranteed to see water falling all year round - a popular swimming hole. Millaa Millaa is the gateway to the wilderness walking trails in high altitude rainforest. Over 130 km's of tracks have been constructed - the town is 873 mtrs (2,900 ft) above sea level so it is refreshingly cool and green all year round.

We decided to let someone else do the driving for the day and took a guided trip through the Cairns Tropical Highlands. Our first stop was Lake Barrine one of 2 volcanic crater lakes of tranqil pools of crystal clear rainwater fringed by the rainforest in the very heart of the World Heritage Wet Tropics.
We took a 45 minute cruise on the lake to spot the wildlife which included eels, turtles, python snakes, cormets and beautiful orchids growing wild in the rainforest. The lakes are about 65 metres deep and thought to be about 40,000 years old. (Australia & Africa have the oldest rainforests in the world).


We also had a short break at the quaint 80 year old tea house which has been maintained by the Currie family and passed down through the generations. They still live in a cottage beside the tea house and serve excellent Devonshire teas. In the gardens are twin Kuri Pines which are amongst Australia's largest trees - these 1000 year old giants give you a glimpse of what the first forests on earth were like. (sorry no picture available!)

The only way to reach Cape Tribulation ,
Single road in and out which is about a 76 Kls round trip and the Ferry handles about twelve cars per 15min
Cape Triblation is rather remote. however it offers stunning views and was well worth the Time

Mossman Gorge,
Boulders hundred of years old, in the middle of the rain forest. simply dwarfs Clare
Whilst during our walk we encountered a "Fork" in the road Decisions !! Decisions !!

We have had a busy week end exploring .

Sunday saw us visiting Port Douglas before heading to Mossman Gorge.
Cape Tribulation Via the ferry over the Daintree River. In all we covered approximately 300 Kls of beautiful beaches, stunning rain forests and National Parks. Not to mention the many species of wildlife.

This is a sample of the beach at Port Douglas were there was a local Sunday market. offering lots of local handy crafts and interesting locals ...

Train whistle blowing - driver at the helm! Yes we are up in Cairns going to some of the tourist destinations. We travelled to Kuranda Village on the historic Scenic Railway which meaners past Stoney Creek Falls and through the Barron Gorge National Park re-living the history of the handbuilt line - over 15 tunnels dug through mostlty stone with pick & shovels. This area dates back to 1800s.
The journey takes 90 mins and is a very steep climb up a very narrow track. We did not get a window seat so Alistair got to meet the the lucky ones who did by climbing over them every time their was a good photo opportunity! Some times he even remembered to take the lens off the camera (this gave us a much better shot!!) A pleasant walk through the village which is very well set up for the tourist with the creditcard - lots of opals, indigenous art, masks from Venice and would you believe golliwogs. We returned to our digs via the Skyrail Rainforest cableway a 45 min ride through and on top of the rainforest - a very enjoyable day and a brilliant clear sky for the views.