Day 235 / 2015 - Cairns to Mareeba

After 8 weeks in Cairns with much reluctance it was time to move on. We have enjoyed our time here and will miss the Spa, Free Bus into town and Pancake Breakfast Thursday. It was starting to get a bit expensive with so much to do in Cairns but there are other things to see further a field so it's time to move on up the hill into the Tablelands, enjoy whats on offer there and hopefully save a bit of money in the process.

Our destination Mareeba is about 60 Km from Cairns and is accessible by driving over the Kuranda range. As we Headed down the Captain Cook highway away from the caravan park Cairns gave us a fitting send off by starting to rain again I guess it was crying about us leaving. The rain had started that morning but luckly we packed up the day before and only slowed down hooking up.

With the first rain for a few weeks the road was a little slippery so we took it pretty easy. Starting up the Kuranda pass we knew what we were in for as we had gone through here a few times before but this was the first time in the rain. Taking the first hairpin bend at the bottom the back of the patrol decided it wanted to be first to go around and started to slide out. Fortunately it quickly corrected itself and fell back in line.

We weren't really sure what happened we didn't believe we were going fast doing only about 40 km/Hr. We  surmised the van was trying to drag the backend out as we rounded the corner but after some discussion at a later happy hour we worked out oil gets dropped on the road by the trucks going up and down the hill. When it rains all the oil gets washed to the bottom of the pass. I was in third gear and since Diesel's have a lot of low end tourque the rear wheels started to spin breaking loose from the road. Subconsiously I must have taken my foot off the accelerator and traction was regained needless to say it was a bit frightning for an ono second. The rest of the run up the hill was pretty slow in second gear occasionally pulling off to let the big stream of cars behind us go.

Reaching the top we came across a car who had lost traction but wern't so lucky to regain it again and slipped off the road into the bank. Emergency services were already there with a HUGE line of traffic banked up the going down lane. Just as we passed it looked as though the police were once again going to close off the road. Kuranda pass is a well known accident hotspot in either dry or wet weather mainly from drivers going to fast. You regularly hear of the pass being closed off for many hours both ways.

Just before Mareeba was Ringers Rest which was our campspot for the next 5 days. This is a low cost camp on a farm property. You have a choice of parking in a fenced off area or out in the paddock with the horses. We chose the paddock as there were less vans. There are some water and power sites available near the shed alternatively you were able to fill up your water tanks before going into the paddock. You then keep them topped up by transfering water from the tap to the van in any containers you have.

The cost was $10.00 per night without power and $15.00 per night with power. The camp area has a large central fire where each evening everyone sits giving you the chance to meet new people and listen to their stories of travel around Australia and the world. Dave the owner who would have to be the most bushy bloke you could meet would join in and relate his tales from many a year ago. It was up to you to work out if they were true or not.

The main reason we chose here is we heard if you stay at Ringers Rest you could ring up the balloon flight company, called "Hot Air" after 7pm and if there are any spare spaces you can get a 30 minute flight for a standby rate of $90.00 ea instead of the usual $225.00 ea. I had always wanted to do a balloon flight but up till now the places we had been that offered a flight was expensive for us. I was pretty keen to go but Anne wasn't to sure and felt a bit reserved wanting to see one land before making a decision as we were told they often touchdown in the same paddock we had parked the van in.

After the first happy hour around the fire I called the company at 7pm not expecting anything but they offered "would you like to go tomorrow morning?" "Sure" I said and paid over the phone. After hanging up I though hmmm maybe I should have consulted the boss first. You can imagine the conversation "Darling we are booked on a balloon flight tomorrow"... "What????".

Next morning at 05:15 we waited at the designated meeting place outside the Mareeba Information Centre where a bus would pick us up and take us to the launch site. The bus arrived and the driver checked our name off on his list. He the started talking about us going to get a special treat and this was normally reserved for couples on specially organised flights.. I though he was trying to upsell something and couldn't quite hear what he was saying but when he didn't ask for any money we just went along with it hopefully nodding and smilling at the right times.

Arriving at the launch site is something to see. It is dark then suddenly lit up with the burner flames illuminating the inside of the balloon's and lighting up the surrounding area. These balloons are quite large as high as a mountain with little wicker baskets suspended underneath big enough to hold 24 paying passengers. The bus stopped and the driver called our names for us to get off where he then led us over to a balloon slightly smaller than the others with enough space for 2 passengers and the pilot. Now we understood what the bus driver was talking about we had received a free upgrade.

We were introduced to our Pilot who we shall call Bob because thats his name. Climbing into the basket was done to a procedure where Anne climbed in first then me following when she was safely in. The pilot intoduced himself and then exclaimed you have just completed the most dangerous part of ballooning... climbing in. He then went on to explain the second most dangerous part will be at the end when we climb back out after landing. Well that was reasuring I though climbing out of the basket at 500 feet would be more dangerous but that never came up in the conversation. He also demonstrated the landing position of hanging onto looped ropes and in the event of a emergency landing the basket would convienently tip over allowing us to crawl straight out along the ground.

As we were watching the other Balloons preparing to go there was an almighty roar above our heads as the pilot fired his burners to heat the air in the Balloon. I looked around and couldn't see Anne anymore then pearing down I could see her head slowly rising from the bottom of the basket exclaiming "what the hell was that." We had been advised to wear a hat by a previous passenger especially if you are tall as a fair bit of heat comes from the burner fortunately I didn't have much hair to singe.

Lifting off from the ground is quite gentle you are in the air before you realise it. Drifting slowly above the ground assending towards the clouds you experience hardly any feeling of motion. Our pilot explained the workings of the balloon and how they fly. He said the only real direction they can control is vertical (up and down) where the horizontal direction is controlled by the wind however they can manipulate horizontal movement as wind blows different directions at different altitudes. To travel in a certain direction you just ascend or descend to the level the wind is blowing the way you wish to go. The real trick is to know what level you need to be at to catch the right wind hence you see the balloons around you going up and down like they are on some merry-go-round ride. It was interesting to note the only time you felt the wind blow is when you passed through levels where the wind was flowing in a different direction to which you are travelling.

We drifted over farms and rivers waching the light grow all around as the sun rose above the mountain range to the east. We travelled in a westerly direction which took us almost directly over Ringers Rest where we could see our caravan in amongst all the others. We could also our fellow travellers out looking up and taking photos as we drifted over. Ahead we could see our landing site where all the Balloons signaled it by lining up in front of us. Our trip was coming to an end so quickly and with sadness we touched down next to all the others watching as they were changing over with a fresh lot of tourists. This was when we got our second surprise the pilot told us we were staying on board and get to travel the second half hour wow all this for a standby rate how lucky were we.

After changing the a now empty gas bottle for a full one we took off again crossing over more paddocks and the main highway with a great view of the moutain ranges to the east and to the west. Finally we landed in another paddock full of kangaroos and horses just on the other side of the Kennedy Hwy. Although you didn't have too we were quite happy to give them a hand packing up the Balloon. We watched as they deflated the balloon falling to the ground then us helping to squeeze all the air out rolling it up into a big duffel bag. The actual material weights about 150Kg and took two of them to load it up onto the trailer then load the even heavier basket behind it.

Bidding goodbye and expressing what a great time we had the bus then took us back to our pickup point outside the Information centre in Mareeba. Over the next few mornings we were able to watch the Balloons fly over or land in the paddock near our caravan. You could hear them coming by the whooshing noises of the hot air burners keeping the balloons aloft. We reminisced about the morning flight we experience at the beginning of the week and both agreed it would have to be our highlight experience of this year.

Mareeba is a medium size town in the northern part of the Tablelands and is considered the Gateway town of Cape York. Indeed if your destination is the tip of Cape York then you could easly travel up onto the tablelands via Innisfail and Milla Milla then across the tablelands through Atherton and Mareeba then onto Laura, Weipa and the tip of the cape completely bypassing Cairns. By the way I refer to any town as medium size if they have a MacDonalds and Coles or Woolies.

In Mareeba we visited Coffeeworld which is part of the Coffeeworks company. We payed $14.00 ea as an entry fee then were able to sample as much coffee, Chocolate and Coffee Liqueurs as we could handle. This occured to me a backpackers paradise especially you liked Coffee and Chocolate. Between bouts of tastings there is a Museum dedicated to all things coffee which has the largest collection of coffee pots, perculators, expresso machines, coffee bean roasters, etc...etc... I had ever seen. We didn't realise there were so many and indead how long the human race has been roasting, expressing and perculating coffee for.

The museum displays the history of coffee and how it came about. Available is a self guided tour assisted with a portable information player. You enter in the number shown on the item then a recorded voice gives you a vocal description of that item. There is also a cafe that you can order a meal to dilute all the coffee and chocolate you have consumed. We were surprised how much time we spent at Coffeeworld andwe would suggest you allow about half a day to experience all of it.

The Mareeba Heritage Museum located at the Information Centre is also worth a look. There are many interative displays you can listen to or touch describing the history of the local area including the local indigenious people  as well as mining and tobaco industries which are no longer done in the Tablelands.