Travelled through Atherton, Mareeba, Mt Molloy,
Rifle Creek, to Mt Carbine
Camped overnight
Fridayat
Mt Carbine
THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT WHILE THE PICTURES LOAD
Day 24
Friday
2nd September 2005
Click on the pictures for larger versions
KAIRI
The Lions Park in
Kairi
Looking South West back
towards Atherton
Looking South
8.24am
8.33am
8.33am
We awoke to a
bright morning with windblown clouds and still cool.
Because we arrived late the previous day, I didn't have time to look
around our campsite. Being such a crisp morning I decided to walk the
dogs and have a look around.
Dogs being dogs, they sniffed long the fence line of adjacent
properties. One particular property with the house and sheds situated on
around 5 acres apparently had an owner who didn't like tourists.
As we walked along the footpath past his land I heard a torrent of
abusive language. I wondered who it was being directed at. As I looked
up I saw it was directed at me. He was standing around 150 metres away
screaming abuse at me.
I took his "advice" and moved on with the dogs. Very "friendly" locals I
thought.
When I arrived back in Kingaroy and found the Lions Park
was no longer available for overnight stays, I put 2 and 2 together and
figured he was probably a local Lions Club Member and was using
his "friendly advice" to get me to move away.
Looking South East
The Kairi Hotel across the street from the Kairi Lions Park
8.38am
8.44am
Our next overnight stop was to be at a caravan park in Mt Carbine
recommended by a friend who was about 2 weeks ahead of us, on their
trip. We could have taken a more direct route but I wanted to go through
Atherton as it was a very familiar name from my schooldays when
we learnt about the Atherton Tableland.
ATHERTON
10.32am
10.33am
We passed through Atherton and refuelled at a service station on the
northern side.
11.49am
The next stop was to be Mareeba.
Marc, Judy's son had sent 2 new memory cards for our cameras to the
Mareeba Post Office. As he had sent them when we were in
Normanton, I was keeping my fingers crossed they'd be there.
We passed various tourist attractions on our way to Mareeba but
as each would mean outlaying dollars in one way or another, we passed.
I noticed the Post Office as we drove through the town. The fun then was
finding somewhere to park the van and caravan. I found a spot under a
tree within a few hundred metres of it and walked back. Mum and Judy
stayed to keep an eye on the dogs as it was a fairly hot day.
A gruff attendant told me nothing had arrived for me. I told him when it
had been sent and asked how much longer it should take to arrive.
Luckily another member of the staff overheard our conversation and
reminded him of a parcel somewhere out the back. He ambled off and after
a few minutes appeared with it. No apology, just a gruff "here it is!"
That plus the heat was enough for me to not bother looking around
Mareeba.
RIFLE CREEK
1.18pm
1.19pm
1.20pm
We passed through Mt Molloy and pulled into a cool, shady rest
area at Rifle Creek.
Rifle Creek is just before the turn to the coast which we would
take a few days later.
Driving on we noticed what looked like a tower
or lighthouse on top of a mountain to the left. I've found since that
mountain is called Lighthouse Mountain.
Not long after, we arrived at the Mt Carbine Caravan Park.
Robert Waterhouse, who runs the park with his wife
Jennifer, welcomed us at the office. They seemed very friendly and Robert
put us in a high spot which was close to the amenities and where we were
in mobile phone range.
He told us about a walk he did most afternoons that we might enjoy and
left us to enjoy our night.