Atherton Tablelands and beyond - what special places

We stopped at Archer Creek which is 10km before Ravenshoe and went in to that town for supplies, the Tourist Info centre (well worth the visit), repairs (to Jane's finger) and a bit of a sticky beak look-around. 

John wandered into an art gallery whilst Jane was being patched up. The owner is an accomplished artist (Winsome Board) who sadly was closing the gallery that Sunday after 18 years of trading. John was the first person to walk in the door in over a week, which is a sign of how many folks are struggling financially at the moment and are not even window shopping. Win’s paintings are something special and will continue to be available via an on-line store (www.winsart.com) although many we saw in the gallery are not listed on the web site. If only money and wall space at home was unlimited, we would have bought the lot. We found her paintings/prints of Katherine Gorge and Chillagoe Creek particularly special.

After a couple of nights, we packed up and set our sights for one of the campgrounds around Tinaroo Lake. We settled ourselves in at Downfall Creek, with enough people around to make it comfortable and friendly, without being crowded . 

Jane also seemed to attract other friendly neighbours 

We  would have stayed here longer however school holidays were about to start and so we went and hid in one of the “old foggie haven” spots we enjoyed last year called Rocky Creek War Memorial on the road between Atherton and Mareeba. This year was just as good. Our immediate neighbours included, yet again, more Central Coaster’s. The husband (Ray) wanted to bring his entire shed with him, but settled for only all of the contents. I’ve never seen a ute so overloaded, however some running repairs we required on the van were made easy as he had every tool we could possibly want and, in most cases, two of them.

We had a full day with the family of one of our wonderful Brush Rd neighbours, cooking snags, devouring BBQ chicken and running out each time a relative flew over in his "sea plane" with one of the older family kids.

We finally got back "home" to Rocky Creek around 7.30pm, with those around us relieved as they were concerned we must have become lost as by 7.30pm, pretty well everyone at the camp is fed, washed and tucked up in bed! So we now have the reputation as being the "Rocky Creek Rager's.

With the area having had heaps of rain, the waterfalls were all successfully impressing us. Here's just a couple 

We decided to buy a "choofer" (wood fireplace made from a 9kg gas bottle) as our neighbours at Rocky Creek had bought one from a local and it was a beauty. After several days of him not turning up, John went stalking, found where he lived and picked up this beauty (the girl came for free, so all the more of a bargain huh).

So now we can have a Jane-friendly fire …. not a John “white man’s fire” where most of a forest is turned to ash in the one night. Fires are the number one way of getting folks together with a few drinks and tall stories in hand.

A visit to the Mareeba Wetlands was again an enjoyable half day.

and this quirky little discovery on the road in gave us a good giggle (a very patriotic and "cool" termite mound)

We had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of weeks re-exploring the Tablelands including markets, cafes etc before moving on to Chillagoe. 

Chillagoe is now known mainly for the limestone caves and they are pretty good. 

However we also very much wanted to see the old church. Not something we’d ordinarily care for, however Win Board (artist/gallery) told us about how her friend Sylvia fought to get the originally church replaced after it burnt down. She found everything from all over and through dogged determination and by bringing the spirit of the town to the fore, was successful in her quest. From the outside, it’s not very pretty. Go inside, it’s a true credit to all who contributed to it's reincarnation.

 We got the opportunity to meet Sylvia and what a gentle, humble and obviously determined lady she is. If you ever get to Chillagoe, seek her out at the library (only open 2 days pw). She also runs religious instruction and market days which are specifically to raise funds to support underprivileged members of the community and to bring the community together to raise spirits.     

There is also a “Ford museum” run by Tom Prior (must be mid 80’s). Whilst there was dust blowing all over, the cars gleamed and he walked John around all of them, starting many of these wonderful old contraptions including a 1928 A model Ford. All started instantly, are mostly in very good condition and a few are worth a mint. 

The “pride of place” was a totally restored XW GT Falcon which is kept in a pressurised “tent” to ensure it remains immaculate.

This collection was such a surprise. It's "no fuss", not advertised other than word-of-mouth and and the local town map. And yet it is quite a prized collection. Apparently Ford is paying to fly Tom over to the US this year in recognition of his contribution to Ford via his museum.

Back on the road and we decided to make it an easy one. We stopped at Eureka Creek (10km out of Dimbula) with only one other camper, a gentle German bloke who lives in the Blue Mountains when not travelling). Amazing that such a lovely spot was so quiet, with only a few other folks stopping for momentary rest breaks before continuing on their travels for the day. Also great that the local Council provides such areas for campers, if they didn't, we simply wouldn't be travelling. Therefore we re-stock supplies in the townships which helps to keep them open for their community.  

From here, we meandered back through Mareeba and on to the coastal region which will be the focus of our next blog. Hope you are enjoying this, as we're not getting much feedback (thanks to the wonderful few who have let us know they are reading it). 

Cheers,

J&J