We decide we will head for Pot Douglas and try and swim, snorkel with the Minke Whales , then snorkel the great barrier reef and maybe dive. Then walk around the Daintree tropical rain forrest.
This means a couple of big driving days to get to the Atherton Tablelands and on to Port Douglas .
The first day is 225km to Cumberland Mine and historic site. Yes 225km is a big drive for us towing and stopping for photos all the time.This camp site is beside an old mining chimney and a billabong. Beautiful birds and quite and peaceful, have to use all our on board amenities but nice and relaxing.
Next day drive 200km to Archer Creek rest area with a lunch stop at Inot hot water springs for swim , and we have to pay because we are not staying in the caravan park.
Archer Creek rest area is a nice big rest area with toilets, and of cause the creek.
I went wading to my knees it was cold but Larry got on his bathers and went for a dip.
We awoke to colder weather as we were in the mountain range. We did not have far to go to get to Atherton but we stopped off at Mill stream falls as these falls are the widest waterfalls in Australia.
The next stop is at Ravenshoe as there is a fruit bat hospital close by we wanted to go to. They look after rescued fruit bats and some other bats, and release when they can.
The road is know a very twisting , up & down mountain road but very pretty

We find out the minke whales have not put in a big appearance this season so we stop in Atherton for a few days . Atherton has a Woolworths so we shop and get some food to stock up for meals when we are in the Cape. There is some food but not much and very expensive in the cape, and we will be leaving the caravan behind and will be sleeping in the roof top tent and cooking in open.

Nerada tea.
I have been drinking Nerada white tea for some years now and their plantation is here in the tablelands so we visit and buy lots of white tea. We can get the tea Larry drinks ,most places but not the white tea and it was a little cheaper and no freight costs to Victoria.
On the way we stop to see Malanda falls and the Curtain fig tree. The fig tree has roots That have grown down like a curtain and are some of the longest fig tree roots around. A tree kangaroo had been seen in a tree the day before we got there, we did not see one.,

Yungaburra
We take a day trip to Yungaburra which is only 16km from Atherton . We go to walk along Peterson Creek walking track for the Platypus and the tree kangaroo . We see a couple of Platypus, they are a bit smaller than the ones we see in Lake Benalla, And do not find The Lumholtz Tree Kangaroo even after scanning nearly very tree with the binoculars. Thats two places know, we will keep looking.
Yungaburra is a very liveable place but still not quite right.
Lake Eacham is next for the day, lunch on the banks of cold baked beans and sour dough bread we had bought on our travels, and water as we forgot to bring lunch. This was fine we had oranges with us so all things considered it made a decent lunch.
We walked around the lake taking photos and it took a couple of hours for a 5km walk , so much to see. The lake is used for water sports and swimming is one , but it is in the mountains so the water is very clear but cold. We go back to the Atherton swimming pool to swim. The days temperature is 28c.

We have decided even if no Minke whales we will still go to the Daintree and Port Douglas before we go to Cape york. Now we do not have to hurry quite so much , the only thing is monsoon rains but they are not due until November .

Mareeba
Mareeba is the next stop before Mossman and Port Douglas.
Mareeba is a little bigger than most places we have been to but still not much bigger than Shepparton.This place likes the travellers or grey nomads as it keeps the businesses going, they have a couple of thousand visitors each month for the season . That is April to September before rains come, it is people from south spending winter up here. It is not so busy now people heading home. We are staying at the rodeo grounds. These are privately owned on private land. The council here liked the idea of rodeo grounds and camp grounds bringing more people to spend their money in town. Yes we are staying at rodeo grounds but they have finished their shows for the season.
Th grounds can cater for over 200 caravans and lots of campers.

We walked around Mareeba wet lands and visited Granite Gorge. We did not know that both these are on private land and you have to pay to visit .
The visit to Granite Gorge proved to be good as we were asked if when we return from Cape York we would stay and help out a few days a week for awhile. They have a small caravan park in the bush beside the gorge ,with spring fed swimming holes and lots of Rock wallabies, birds and lizards appear in spring. We will consider this proposal when we return as it would be quite nice and we stay free for a few hours work a couple of days aweek.

I will probably write a gain from Mossman but then we will be out of wi-fi and phone range, of and on, for a few weeks so take care all.
We will be having fun.