Final Day at Cooktown then off to Atherton 23rd September

We have another lovely walk planned, starting with the Botanical Gardens. The two old people with their hiking sticks always draw a few stares from the locals but at least we are out there walking. On the way we passed what must be the saddest little Circus we have ever seen. The dusty dirty "Big Top" was not much bigger than our tent ( slight exaggeration there but it was tiny ). The trucks were battered and dented, the spruiking car with the loud speaker on top had just about every panel of a different colours, where they had be replaced by wreckers parts at some stage, and the sad collection of animals, mainly goats, one lama and a little monkey.

The Botanical Gardens on the other hand were beautiful and the Interpretive Centre had a great collection of snakes and reptiles of the area along with some excellent botanical paintings of the local plants. The woman who did them was inspired to do her own paintings by the work of Joseph Banks and others on the Endeavour all those years before.

I have been trying to track down a bird that we hear making a loud ringing sound throughout the rain forest. It is so easy to hear but so hard to see high in the trees. Finally at the Botanical Gardens I managed to get a glimpse and a photo. A hint from a woman at the gardens put me on the track to identification. Then with the aid of good old Google I identified the bird and call as the Yellow Oriole. Another mystery solved.

Black rocks, Bush fires, Crusty Old Bikers and Coffee 24th September

On the way to Atherton we stopped to take a closer look at the Black Mountains. The unusual massive piles of jumbled black rocks stand out from all the surrounding hills. What appear to be black rocks are actually pink granite but covered with a layer of black lichens and other growth. The strange part is the complete lack of soil on these huge mountains of rocks. As we continued we came back across the bushfire that was burning when we headed up to Cooktown several days before, apparently it had been burning unchecked for two weeks after a car on the side of the road was torched. This time a small section was burning right up to the road but the wind direction was blowing away from the road so quite safe.

We went through to Mt Carbine, some 196km from Cooktown, for our first break and here we had a great chat with a couple of crusty old bikers. They had ridden down from Cooktown for a ride and a coffee. With only one road out of town where else would you go? Next stop was Mareeba and the Coffee Works that everyone has been telling us about, "You must stop for a coffee at Mareeba" They have the best coffee at Mareeba" . . . . . . What we found was a big building in an industrial estate in a rather dry looking town, then you have to wind your way through a labyrinth of girlie bling to get to the coffee shop. We got lost twice and needed directions to get through the bling maze. Yes the coffee was good but the commercialism of it all even got to "Gift Shop, Sarong Hunting Bensley". I headed out to wait for her outside and she twice got kicked out of the kitchen as she continually got lost trying to get out and finally we were reunited as Trish was virtually escorted out through the "bling labyrinth". And so it was on to Atherton where Trish had been through on her motorbike in 2004 but with the torrential rain at the time she saw nothing at all.

Our dislike of the blocks of individual ensuite toilet/showers that are becoming the latest thing in caravan parks, led us to book at a caravan park that would not have them. On arrival it looked dry and dismal with very few patrons at all. Closer examination of the camping site we could have and the camp kitchen sent us packing. We hate with a passion parks that want you to put money in to run the B-BQs, caravans can have ovens, cooktops, dishwashers, washing machines, showers, air conditioners and pay the same price but if we want to cook you have to spend several dollars on the stupid B-B-Q ? ? ? The woman at the office still couldn't understand that logic when we said we were going elsewhere. There I feel better now - spleen vented. Instead we ended up at a green, shady, cool, well maintained caravan park with a great camp kitchen. Happy now, in fact very happy as our beautiful site on a raised platform had all day shade, great views, picnic table and seats, close to camp kitchen. Two happy campers! We even bumped into a lovely couple that we made friends with back in Brisbane.

Contented Dave