Day 46: Big Travel Day (17/07/12)

Today we severally clocked up a large mileage: we drove off towards Karumba and Renske flew off to Perth AND drove down to Albany!

It started at 4:30 a.m. when we had to get up to take Renske to the airport for her 6:00 a.m. flight to Brisbane. Then at 7:30 we had to have the X-Trail at Tyrepower in Cairns for a pair of new Cooper tyres. We packed up after that and drove off up the Kuranda Pass, through Mareeba and Atherton, up to Ravenshoe and a short distance beyond to end up at a free camp at Archer’s Creek.

Starting off in the morning in steamy tropical Cairns, we worked our way up to Atherton’s 800 metres above sea level, and then over the Herberton Ranges to a level of close to 1200 metres, driving through cloud mist, to drop down to 950 metres at Ravenshoe.

At 1100 metres, just under the clouds, this looked like a little slice of Tasmania!

Close to the top we stopped at a windmill farm where the windmills were appearing and disappearing  out of and into the clouds.

Windmills clipping the clouds. A fellow caravanner told me that they were no good: "The chooks are laying eggs with no yolks down at Ravenshoe!" (30 kms further....)

As it was rather chilly there, Joke grabbed her shoes out of the caravan. When she put her foot in one, she thought she felt a sock in it, went to pull it out, and it was a frog! Niddip! It went for a jump round the caravan and Joke jumped out. It was a sad little Cairns frog that we left on that mountain pass.

Oliver, this was the frog in Oma's shoe! Confidently identified as an Ornate Burrowing Frog ornately burrowing its way into Joke's shoe.

The changes in vegetation and temperature were immense during the day. At Archer’s Creek we were in more familiar eucalypt forest country. A day of changes, ay?

The free camp at Archer's Creek

After a hard day's travel, there's nothing like sitting back and doing a Sudoku or two! The shoes next to Joke are now frog-free.