Day 222 After exploring north of our Rocky Creek campsite the next couple of days we headed south of it. Have not swam in a few days so we were looking for somewhere to scratch that itch. Atherton was only ten minutes from camp and we stopped there first. We walked the downtown like usual and stopped in at the Crystal Caves. Found it a little expensive for what it really was so we just looked at all the shimmering rocks in the gift shop storefront. Getting a tip at the info centre about Lake Eacham, we headed that way. Just before the town of Yungaburra was another massive fig like the Cathedral, but this one was called the Curtain Fig. Back when it was a wee little tree it fell over and got caught on the tree beside it, making a triangle. These figs root from their branches and it looks like long hair hanging straight down. When they reach the ground they root and grow thicker and thicker to form a new trunk and this is how these trees spread. Anyway this curtain fig did just that and eventually smothered the other tree. This taking hundreds of years of course.
We followed the road through the Seven Sisters, (seven big hills left over from volcanic activity) to Yungaburra, another one street town. Lake Eacham was just on the other side. The lake happens to be an old inactive volcano that is now full of water and is a great swimming spot. The water was refreshing in the heat, green but remarkably clear. The council built a nice picnic area with stairs and a pier for easy water access, we are thinking only because the drop is so deep, so sudden. We spent a few hours there swimming, tanning and reading our books.
We also made it to the Rodeo Drive-In for a double feature. They were playing the Amazing Spiderman and Total Recall neither of which turned out to be very special. The drive-in however was fun. It was very small one screen only with what we'd guess maybe a hundred parking spots. It was so old school that they still had the speaker boxes you hang off your car door for the sound, which saved Herc's battery. We didn't have a chance for dinner before we went as we got caught up talking with an English backpacker couple. We stopped and got some dirty bird (KFC) which neither of us had in like half a decade and ate that during the show, with our pre-wrapped forties straight out of the Bottle-O fridge.