Wednesday 5th August 2015

We woke up in the rain forest looking out through our high level windows. A couple in a Trayon camper on a BT50 like ours slipped out of the rain forest where they had stayed and moved on.

The day was again blue skies and our first stop was Milla Milla. Very poor phone reception in lots of places - then off to Malanda where we stopped for morning tea.

Mal drove slowly through the tablelands where Mal's geographic heart still lingers.

We found the local dump point in Atherton, which was not easy. We considered staying at the memorial Park because we had not been able to get in touch with either of Sue's cousins at that stage. The Memorial Park was stacked cheek to jowl with caravans full of aging gypsies - Mal pyked and we headed North - then we got a call from Jeff Bucknell - so we threw a "screaming Ueeee" and drove back to visit Jeff who had got our message.

We met one of Jeff's friends, had a great BBQ on his back deck and spent a pleasant evening catching up with Jeff and Jeff Betts via phone as well. Then off to bed as the wind gusts gradually built up.

Thursday 6th August 2015

The wind had blown a gale all night, Mal wanted to put the lid down but Captain Sue held on in the gale, strapped to the mast with her south wester soaked in the imaginary rain from Mal's mind, she steered through the night while the gallant sea men leapt overboard preferring a quick briny grave rather than the torture of the hurricane.

Needless to say it was a windy night.

We just caught Jeff before he bolted out the door - he is a busy man. Moving from Cousin Rob's place over to his new house below Bones Knob.

Now there is a story there that the locals drove a group of local aborigines up the k*** and off the cliff to get rid of them like some sort of feral animals - the stories that gradually seep out are enough to bear a person's heart, if they have one.

We drove off towards Rob's farm passing a gigantic berry farm that is being set up just outside Atherton. It is huge, just enormous.

We did not see Sue's cousin Rob but Mal got to pick out a box of books from his garage sale.

We then poked up to Yungaburra, went to the tourist info centre, had a coffee at the Whistle Stop Café before doing a walk around town.

We stopped in and bought some mandarins from an old Italian lady and then walked around Lake Eacham - what a fantastic walk - we stopped beneath a huge fig tree with branches that drooped down till they almost touched the water before soaring up to create a canopy of fresh green leaves. Every branch was decorated with trailing vines and stag horns and such.

We drove over to Malanda via a lot of back roads visiting locations where Mal had spent time when he was a younger man.

We bought Pizza in Yungaburra and had a quiet meal at home with Jeff before we called it a day and settled down in Vicki for the night.