Karumba to Cairns

A = Karumba, B = Mt Surprise, a bit further east from Croydon, but not on a google map, 

C= Atherton, D= Lake Tinaroo, E= Cairns.

One last beer for the travellers , we head to the local tavern overlooking the Gulf.

The driver in deep thought. 

What time do we leave in the morning? and Where can I get that neck hair trimmed?

Our last sunset over the ocean.

We packed up early and headed for Normanton to resupply, the van and car are travelling well. 

We have covered 27,000 kilometres without a problem.

Then it all comes at once.........

This episode ended up quite comical.

The car come to a stop in front of the Normanton Purple Pub. Something just didn't feel right. 

The logical thing to do, get out and check it out.

Luckily , the Lloyds on tour checked the tyres and the cables for the van brakes.

For the inside of tyre 1 had shredded from the rim and had a large tear in it, the brake cables had pulled apart and needed rejoining.

Setting the scene: 9.45 am in front of the purple pub with an ever increasing swarm of locals , thirsting for an early morning four XXXX gathering and staring. 

The pub was due to open at 10.00am and they were gagging for there first beer. 

The restless beer chuggers could only sit and stare at the "white fella" trying to get his van back in order. After the pub opened, this changing of the tyre gathered an audience. They purchased their beers and watched the fun and games.

The road, which the van was parked on,  was on quite a slope and the timber I had to help prop up the jack , just didn't cut the mustard.

Into the pub I trotted, to borrow some timber. After scouting around the back yard of the pub for 20 minutes I came up with the goods, a disused bench top. The van was lifted and the tyre came off, much to the relief of the beer swilling locals. A collective cheer went round for this feat.

Now to get the spare off, Simple job hey. Not on our van. I had bolted on a second gas bottle and the only way to get the spare out was to remove the gas bottle and the inconvenient bracket.

20 minutes of fussing and a little bit of cursing, the job was done. By this stage the temperature had hit the 28 degree mark and it was 10.40 ish. The " wheel watchers " had upped the ante and started to drink the good stuff. A bit of jack Daniels from the can. 

The chuckles became louder and temperature  kept rising. Could I handle the pressure?????

"We should be right now" I said to the family.......... I had left the car hooked up to the van, to save unhooking on the main street. The spare went on without a hitch. Once firmly on and the jack put away, we noticed that it needed some air, "No worries,we have a compressor." I chuckled , feeling like Captain Camper. Remember I said we had the car still hooked up. You guessed it , we had to unhook the car to get the compressor out.......... eventually we got on our way. The locals were very appreciative of the mornings entertainment and asked me to come back tomorrow with another show, for some more laughs.

Off we went , in search of Mount Surprise.

 400 + kilometres away.

Notice how skinny the roads are!

 We arrived at mount Surprise and headed to the Bedrock Caravan Park, 

this park is set up with a Flinstones theme.

After finding our site and taking a deep breath I thought we better check the van out.

After travelling those kilometres we found that the other tyre was in the same state as the first.

Luckily the park owners , were able to organise  the local bus service to pick up 

and drop off some new tyres from the town 222 kilometres up the road.

After our adventurous and testing day we decided to check out the Undarra Lava tubes, 

the world's longest lava tubes ( 161 kilometres in length)

Travelling with new found friends Bruce ( the farma) and his lovely wife Carol.
What a small world. Bruce's good mate is Paul Madsen,
Paul is a high school mate who I haven't seen since school.

Molten rock from the last volcano.

This area of Queensland is home to a provence of 64 volcanoes.

And home of the long larva tubes.

The cool , calm ambience of the tubes provides a peaceful resting place for many  older animals.

 The ceiling of the tubes has a unique rock pattern.

....and some neat looking patches of colour.

The boys from Bedrock playa few tunes around the ol' campfire.

The Farma ( aka Bruce) from Werombi has a go as well.

The country boys enjoy the campfire songs.

Just when we thought things were back on track , we had a flat battery. Considering we had the car serviced 2 weeks ago in Mt Isa , the flat battery was a pain. Luckily we had some good friends in Carol and Bruce, who helped with the jumper leads. They also followed us to Atherton to make sure we didn't break down. This was the first time Bruce has ever been caught behind a caravan, he was itching to overtake.

 The scenery changes through the Atherton Tablelands.

Rainforest and fertile farm land is found.

We decide to camp at Lake Tineroo.
Unfortunately we encounter our first rainfall in 4 months and the cool
weather makes the lake stay a little shorter than planned.

 This little guy loved hanging around the campfire.

Jules takes a well earned rest. She has clicked up a few k's in the last week.

The strawberries are massive from this farm.

The chocolate cow was a tasty treat.

The rich soil stands out in all the paddocks around the tablelands.

Sugar cane country as well.

Cairns - the ultimate Caravan Park.

Harry and his cousin Will have fun in the waterpark.

Lucy and Will.

Jackson joins in the fun with his cousins.

Kununda Skyrail  and train trip to the Rainforest Markets.

Lucy, Paul, Will and Alison wait for their bus to the skyrail.

Ian checks out the train service.

Check out those gaps Will?

Great views on the skyrail.

Barron Falls , halfway to the markets.

Harry liked this Art Gallery.

Lucy checks out the Butterfly Sanctuary.

The crew returns home on the train.

This bridge is quite unique as it takes the train on a tight turn ( a small diameter)
 in front of a lovely waterfall

Martine, Sandy, Penny and Lisa sent Karen a hamper and flowers for her 40th Birthday.
A great surprise, Thanks for the awesome effort girls.

Karen , also sends a big thankyou to Michelle Refalo for the birthday gift.