The Outback

We have just arrived back at our hotel from another dinner out in Cairns.  The day was full-on with a tour covering almost 500 km around northeastern Australia around the tablelands.

The morning started at 6:45 when we went down to breakfast – a simple continental, but it took care of us for the time being.  At around 7:00 we went out front of the hotel to wait to be picked up for the Billy Tea Tour.  At about 7:15 a 4WD pulled up, and the five people inside clambered out.  There were hasty introductions (a young German couple, a middle aged woman from the Sunshine Coast, an Englishwoman in her late 70s or early 80s, and a driver for Billy Tea) and small talk while we waited for the main bus that would take us on the day’s excursion.

The six-wheeled, rugged bus/truck rolled up and we climbed aboard (joining 7 people) to begin our journey.  On the way out of town we stopped to pick up another couple to fill up the 13-passenger bus.  From the edge of town we ascended through the Daintree rainforest on winding mountain roads for twenty minutes or so, afforded great views along the way.  At the top of the mountains which isolate Cairns at the coast, the rainforest quickly gives way to scrubland which becomes more sparse as the trip into the country continues.  As we drove the lush greens gave way to yellows and browns punctuated by the greens of gum trees and low shrubs.  On the drive we encountered wallabies, a kookaburra, and hundreds upon hundreds of large termite mounds towering at least a meter in the air and sometimes as large across. Our journey into the bush had begun.

Our first stop of the morning was Mareeba Lagoon – part of a series of man-made lagoons in a protected sanctuary, constructed a half century ago to encourage repopulation of native wildlife in the region which had been a large cattle station.  We were treated to tea and biscuits before boarding a small boat for a half hour trip around the lagoon.  The water was filled with hundreds of lily pads and we got to even see a few flowers (the season was ending) along with other plants and birds.  The guide was very informative and we had a great time learning about the region.

The next stop was Chillagoe, what is left of an old mining town.  It was a special day to be making the drive between Cairns and Chillagoe, as it coincided with the annual wheelbarrow race.  The race, covering the distance from Mareeba to Chillagoe seeks to commemorate the trip made my foreign emigrants drawn to the region by the mining boom in the 1800s.  They would arrive in Cairns, purchase all of the necessities in Mareeba, and then walk with all of their belongings in a wheelbarrow to the mines at Chillagoe.  The race, for charity, welcomes all from those who are serious about the run (in it to win it) and those who complete it in large relay groups which follow the runners in buses (fueled by booze).  We passed a couple of the intense runners on the drive, and drove through Dimbulah, the first stop-over on the three day race.

Once in Chillagoe, a shadow of its former glory, we got out and explored the visitors centre (/library/bank/post office) and the souvenir shop (/laundromat) which had a lot of marble novelties (now that mining for tin is no longer a lucrative venture, the quarrying of marble is what sustains the town).  Around 12:15 we all sauntered over to the pub for lunch.  The group had a nice time eating (fish and chips or a burger – I went with the former) and getting to know each other a bit before heading back to the bus.

Fish and chips in Chillagoe.

From lunch, we headed ten minutes out of town to the site of the smelters used in the heyday of the town.  Closed since the late 1940s, there is not much left of the buildings, save for three decrepit chimneys rising above the landscape.  A few weeks back the government (who now has the site as a national park) determined that there was probably asbestos and other toxins where the buildings used to stand, so instead of wandering the site we looked out over the landscape from a bluff.

After we had our fill of contaminated ex-industrial sites, we piled back on the bus for a long trip to the Royal Arch Cave.  When we arrived at the car park of the national park, we met up with about a dozen other tourists and a national park guide for the journey into the cave.  We received our torches (flashlights) and a brief history / geology lesson on the cave before getting a 45 minute guided tour.  It was cool (quite literally) in the cave – a nice respite from the heat of the day – and the tour was really great.  The inside of the cave was spectacular, and we got to see many rock formations, towering caverns, bats, huntsman spiders, and various other cave-y things.

From Royal Arch we began our trip back to Cairns.  Our trip took us back down many of the same roads and through Petford which becomes overrun with grazing cows in the afternoon.  They stand in the dirt roads, munch on people’s front lawns, and leave their marks just about everywhere in the town.  About an hour and a half in to the trip we had a stop at Mt. Uncle Distillery for a bit.  One of hundreds of farms producing tropical fruits (mangoes, bananas, coffee, etc.), they have set themselves apart by creating liqueurs from their produce (as well as shipping produces such as avocados) across Australia.  We had a bit of a wander around the farm (though bananas are strictly regulated, cannot be imported, and are located within quarantine zones - so no walking there) and then had a tasting of their products.  I tried their vodka (made using honey? It was very smooth, but nothing special), Jason the banana liqueur, and Rebecca the Mulberry.  The trip back to Cairns, across the mountains, brought us back into the rain.  

The entire day took us along narrow roads which cut through the bush.  There were occasional twists and turns, large sections (probably 65% of the roads outside of Cairns) that were completely unpaved, many areas that were only one lane wide, and countless fords of  small creeks and streams (plus an occasional one lane bridge without sides).  It was most definitely a journey you would not make without the advantage of four-wheel drive and a lot of experience.

We got back to town at around 6:15, and after a brief stop at our hotel made a walk down the Esplanade to the Shangri-La at the marina.  We had a bit of a walk around and decided on Ciao Bella, an Italian restaurant overlooking the water.  Dinner was good, and the walk back to the hotel brought us down a few new streets.

Tomorrow is not quite as early of a morning.  We look forward to another jam-packed day in Cairns.