Atherton antics

There’s a lot to see and do on the cool and undulating Atherton Tableland, especially if you’re with people who are in the know.

Atherton Tableland

We were treated like royalty by Carol’s cousin Lorraine Doolan, daughter of the late Peter (Piccolo) Dossetto, and her husband Ron at their Limousin stud farm in Yungaburra.

There we spent three nights after leaving our
van safely parked at Peter and Pam Goldsworthy’s property in Gordonvale.

The Doolan’s farm encompasses part of the upper reaches of the Barron River, an ideal spot for fishing and swimming, as their many grandchildren will attest.

Lunch time at Ravenshoe.

Lorraine and Ron have been at ‘Lorron’ since he retired as a butcher 20 years ago. He attached power and a massive pump for irrigation and they have since enjoyed a healthy and interesting lifestyle breeding cattle.

Very interesting – when you include the arrival of cyclone Larry in 2006, which wiped out a large steel shed, since replaced by a brand new one.

Windy Hill.

Ron and Lorraine took us on tours of the wonderful tableland haunts – the lakes: Tinaroo, Barrine and Eacham, and the massive Curtain Fig Tree, Millaa Millaa Falls, the wind farm at Windy Hill and the 82-metre deep Mt Hypipamee crater lake formed in ancient times by a volcano.

Millaa Millaa falls.

We lunched at Ravenshoe, which has the highest pub in Queensland, and called into other delightful and historic towns including Herberton, Malanda and Millaa Millaa.

A golf lesson

We also played golf with – and were duly thrashed by – Lorraine at the Millaa Millaa golf course, a challenging and well-maintained 9-hole (18 tee points) course that charges guests via an honour box a whopping $10 green fee. I don’t think you’ll find better value anywhere in Australia.

Not content with her golf lesson, Lorraine then humiliated us at Scrabble in the evening while Ron wisely watched the footy. In our defence we’d never used a Scrabble dictionary before.

Set for golf at Millaa Millaa.

Ron has a most interesting family history. His father Mick and grandfather Mick eked out a living as tin miners south west of Cooktown. His mum Gertrude was one of 14 children, nearly all born at home in Maytown on the Palmer River without a doctor in attendance.

Downtown Ravenshoe.

Ron – like Peter Goldsworthy, who by the way is one of 13 children – was raised in a world without electricity, running water or the other conveniences we take for granted.

Heffy Bowman, a friend of Ron’s Dad and a fellow tin miner died about five years ago and was buried in Mareeba. Ron says they had such a good relationship with the local Aborigines that six from the community of Wudjal Wudjal attended the funeral, brought flowers and sang at the graveside. One of them was Ruby Friday.

As a trip was on the cards to Cape Tribulation, only 33 kilometres from Wudjal Wudjal by 4WD, we promised Ron that weather permitting we’d call in and make ourselves known to Ruby.

Tribulation at the Cape

And so after the Tableland trip, Pam and Peter, Carol and I left Cairns in the Pajero, which by now had a new clutch fitted, and headed up to Cape Tribulation where we’d booked a couple of Safari tents.

Daintree River.

On the way to the car ferry over the Daintree River we called in at Port Douglas, now almost unrecognisable with Noosa-like resort development, and Daintree virtually unchanged since our last visit.

Daintree.

The Cape Tribulation region is unique because here tropical rainforest meets beach. We found the drive through canopy forest exhilarating and were really looking forward to some forest walks.

Cape Tribulation.

Alas, it was not to be. It rained for almost the entire two-day visit. We were thankful that at least our Safari tents with back balconies overlooking the forest were comfortable and dry. A group of French high school students in two-man hutchies were not so lucky.

Disconsolate Peter, waiting for the rain to stop.

Anyhow, we spent a lot of our spare time playing euchre, while contemplating the fact that we’d been well and truly euchred by the weather.

It also meant we had to abandon our plans to visit Wudjal Wudjal and Ruby Friday.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

Safari tents at right opposite blue hutchies housing French students.







Departing Cape Tribulation.











Baird bairns

On the way back to Pam and Peter’s place in Gordonvale, we called in at the home of Carol’s cousin Joy and husband Pat Baird in Cairns.

Pat and Joy Baird with children Mary Jane, Leanne (left) and Tony (right), and Mary Jane's partner Vince Ah Chin (centre).

Once again we found ourselves surrounded by kids: in this case Pat and Joy’s grandchildren. It was terrific to catch up with the family. Pat is one of Cairns’ more colourful characters and one of the kindest people you could hope to meet.

Baird grandchildren, back row: Simone Baird (who is a junior golf champion) and Teliah Ah Chin; front row; twins Brendan and Bella Baird, and Tony and Jodi Baird's foster child Daniella.

Afterward we decided to take the van away for a few days to Bramston Beach, a sleepy nook not far from Babinda, and our last sojourn before flying back to Sydney for a week for the birth of our daughter Angela’s second baby.