Day 29 Sunday 20th July

Cairns to Undara (280km)

A cool but sunny morning greeted us today. The canvas was damp from the dew....so just as well we had packed up a dry awning yesterday afternoon.

We were underway by 8am. We headed south to Gordonvale then east via the Gillies Range Road, which traversed the19km steep, and incredibly winding road over the Gillies Range to the Atherton Tablelands. We stopped briefly in Yungaburra, a little tourist village which allows access to part of Lake Tinaroo. We had a coffee by the lake. It was still quite chilly and we needed our jackets.

Further on we stopped in the Historic Village of Herberton. This tourist attraction showcases how this old mining town might have looked earlier last century, and it was very interesting looking around the old buildings....some were original, some replicas. We spent about 90 minutes here and even had an early lunch consisting of bush stew, damper and Billy tea, all cooked in camp ovens! Masterchef fare, it certainly wasn't, but I did get some useful tips from the 'Bushie cook' on how best to cook damper in the camp oven. Unfortunately we don't have any flour, and by the time I get some, we may have run out of places where we can have an open fire.

On leaving Herberton we travelled on 'Qld's highest road' to Qld's highest town.....Ravenshoe. We have been there once before, but have not approached from the north, as we did today.

We continued our drive and arrived at Undara Volcanic NP soon after 2pm. This park gives access, (on guided tours only), to spectacular Lava Tubes, which were formed when this region was volcanically active. We have stayed here before, about 4 years ago, and participated in all the tours and bush walks. Today's visit was merely a stopover point. They do have a bar and bistro and we decided to utilise that facility this evening. The area of the campground that we were in was not busy, and without the moon, the stars were quite spectacular.