Friday 5th September we arrive in Malanda our first Tablelands town, and it is Mal's Birthday on the 7th so I am keen to find a nice restuarant and somewhere nice for us to have an overnight stay and I find a nice place in Yungaburra a short distance away and very central to the whole tablelands area.

Malanda is a lovely little town and very RV friendly. the caravan park is huge and sits right on the Malanda Falls, which are not high at all.

We take a day trip to Herberton which has an amazing historical town reconstruction of the days of past and takes you back in time to where life was a lot simpler and everyone was shorter, it was a fun day.

We also check out Lake Tinaroo and head to Gallo, cheese and chocolate factory - we buy some yummy cheese and chocolates and Mal gets a freebie from the lady because it will be his birthday tomorrow.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND FATHERS DAY MALCIE" Sunday 7th we head for Yungaburra and on the way stop at the amazing Curtain Fig Tree - quite a marvel of beauty and intrigue well worth the stop for a look.

We arrive in Yungaburra and will have one night at the Birds n Bloom cottages which are owned by Nick and Gina and of course they own Nick's Restuarant where we are going for dinner, they have been lovely and have allowed us to park the van and car on their property under the shady trees and it is just a short distance to the van and walking distance to the restuarant and town. We have a lovely day enjoying our cheese, chocs and champers before heading off to a lovely dinner.

The next day after a lazy morning and pack up we head to the Lakeside Caravan Park in town ( about 10mins away) the park is on the bottom corner of Lake Tinaroo and a beautiful location, it is also the location of the "Avenue of Honour" a tribute to the Australian Soldiers (Human and Canine) who were killed in Afghanistan it is truely an emotional experience in this peaceful resting place.

Other attractions in town is the Platypus view platform of which we are fortunate enough to see several of them being very playful, Woodworks and local crafts. It is also a good time get the car serviced ( a bit overdue) but she has been handling beautifully and well deserved of a check up. All ticks YAH!

We visit Atherton mainly for supplies and to collect my computer that is having wireless internet issues - bloody computers.

Next destination will be Mareeba or Kuranda yet to be decided both very close to our next major stop in Cairns to catch up with friends and attend their daughters wedding.

from the great outdoors

Alid and Mal