Day Eleven: Yungaburra to Chillagoe.
We woke to a dim old morning with a slight drizzle aiming for a set off time of 9am. We overachieved by a few minutes hitting the road in time to have a loo dump run completed and the cars pointed west toward Atherton on schedule.
We scooted past the platypus viewing area again, however thought better of dropping in to stare at still water for a second time. Atherton came and went without drama, as did the outskirts of Mareeba, save a fly-by past the Lotus Glen prison farm.
Before long we found ourselves pushing along the Wheelbarrow Way towards Dimbulah. Surrounded by thousands of acres of mango trees, we were impressed at the magnitude of the agricultural undertakings and the effect the in-flower trees were having on G’s asthma.
Rolling into Dimbulah we were greeted by a lovely little town. The Crew 64 Café was a cracker. Brimming with old and whacky memorabilia it served up a pretty good coffee and an equally good cake of sorts. The chemist was in for a chat, but not so much the supermarket lady. Still it’s a definite on the list of top 2000 towns to re-visit someday.
From Dimbulah we wheeled our way through Petford rail siding to Almaden for a look to our left and not much else, before hitting some of the best dirt road we could wish for. It was fast rolling and as smooth as could be. Bitumen took over again as we headed into Chillagoe noticing lots of old marble mining sites littered with huge blocks of reject marble formed in circles to stop cattle getting stuck in boggy dams and sitting it out for a long slow death.
Chillagoe is a unique place. It bats far above its average for points of interest given its size, and is outrightly friendly. First stop was the information hub where a lovely lady told us all we needed to know and took our money for cave tours tomorrow. She drew important things on a map at such a speed none of us had any idea where to go but figured in a City this size we may be able to find our destinations unassisted.
Into the overnight stay at the Eco Lodge we ventured. At first it appeared to be a near barren expanse of not much at all. As time wore on however it became a downright decent place to spend an afternoon caressed by gentle breezes that left us refreshed and not frozen for the first time on the trip.
At three o’clock we set off on a short walk to visit the Tom Prior Ford Museum just down the road. This place is a real find. It is owned and run by old Tom who has forgotten more about Fords then Henry himself. For the princely sum of $5 each we were treated to a collection of very original and fully running Fords from the ages. Tom started a 1942 Blitz body truck for us. It sprang into life instantly then settled down into the most beautiful V8 idle. It was simply music to the ears of anyone interested in vehicles. He chose not to start his 672 horsepower GT Falcon as it was sitting in its own enviro bubble.
A bit later on Peter headed up the walking track to the top of a nearby hillish type mountain that turned out to be steep and rocky before revealing a spectacular view or the northern ranges. This excursion was followed up with a trip to the smelter ruins with Denise and Julie for a sunset experience that did not disappoint.
As the sun disappeared we prepared dinner then sat down to de-brief the day and tell a few travel stories. Ron revealed whilst battling the Llewellyn Currents of Western Australia when swimming with Whale Sharks, he was called upon to use all of his skill and cunning from younger days as a competitive swimmer. His race strategy of making sure he was no more than two laps behind the winner at the last turn whilst still coming second, served him well preventing his almost certain demise in the Indian Ocean. We were in disbelief that he had not stood tall on an Olympic podium at some time in his past.
As usual most subjects of conversation copped a short sharp hiding where learnings were many and challenge on truths few. Equally the conversation finally ran out of puff and our group headed off to bed with the promise of a full day tomorrow, beginning with a hilltop trail walk early in the morning.
