Monday 5th July

Now we know why people said the Atherton Tablelands would remind us of England it's the grey skies, the day long light drizzle and the temp of 18degrees. Last night and this morning we have spent ages in our motel on the internet and telephone trying to sort a visit to the famous Undura Lava Tubes so if you are thinking of visiting them in the future I will share with you our experience. The best advice I can give to save you stress is go on a North Queensland tour which includes the Lava Tubes but if you insist like us on beingindependent travellers be prepared to be confused.Undura is miles from anywhere else that has accommodation so you either book in at the place itself which you need to do well in advance because it has limited what you would call private accommodation like only the 2 of you in the room.There is a caravan park (why did we sell our caravan?) and bunk bed cabins or tents or like us you book in a cabin on a caravan park miles away, get up really early and take butties with you. We still have to pay $45 each for a 2 hour tour. Anyway that's Friday's excursion and I have had my little moan. Today we did the two attractions in Atherton which are The Chrystal Cave and the Chinese Temple.The cave is not really a cave its the cellar of a shop in the main street which doesn't sound promising but is quite good and worth an hour of your time.The Temple is very interesting and has a modern uncluttered museum depicting the Chinese history in the area. We had a ride out to Herberton which was closed apart from a newsagents and a butchers. It has 3 cafes but all closed on Mondays.On the way back to Atherton we tried to find Hannarans hill the local viewpoint but either someone has moved it or it was hidden under the low clouds, maybe tomorrow. The cockatoos are back as I type but we haven't heard the helicopter today.