Day 241 / 2015 - Mareeba to Walkamin

We left Ringers Rest and headed towards our next destination Walkamin only 15 Km up the road (honestly these long drives are getting to me). Walkamin will be our next base for 6 weeks while we explore more of the Tablelands and a loop through the Daintree, Cape Tribulation, Bloomfield Track and Cooktown.

Heading south from Mareeba along the Kennedy Hwy in the direction towards Atherton is the small town of Walkamin. It is 15 km South of Mareeba and 19 km North of Atherton and is reported to have the best climate in Australia. Greg and Margaret old friends of Anne from her Pemberton days live there and have very kindly allowed us to park in their backyard for the duration of our time here. This is great for us as it allows us some savings in accomodation expenses freeing up money for other activities as well as a central location to explore what the Tablelands has to offer. They will be away for most of our time here so we feel we are helping out by keeping an eye on the place, watering the lawn...etc...etc but I think we got the better end of the deal.

The Cairns Festival started the same weekend we arrived in Walkamin so the next day we head down to Cairns and booked into a hotel on the Esplanade for a night. The deal was quite cheap only costing us $139.00 for the night. We were lucky enough to get a room up on the tenth floor overlooking the waterfront directly in front of where the fireworks would be let off. Frank and Alice had aready booked in being the ones who told us about and recommended this hotel. Local knowledge is just the best when travelling.

The Cairns festival is held once a year and is a celebration aimed more at the locals but tourist are more than welcomed. On Saturday afternoon there was a parade of floats along the esplanade which we could view from our balcony. There is entertainment up and down the busy esplanade with various types of acts including acrobats and musicians. The esplanade is also lined with buskers along the walking paths where you can stroll along in the evening light to the melodic strains of different genre's of music. During the evening we dined at Dundees resturaunt on the waterfront which had a great view of the harbour back dropped with the coastal mountain range. Unfortunatly we felt the food and service wasn't quite up to the level of what was charged. We did let them know where they appologised and reducing the bill a little. The evening finished with us standing on the balcony glass of red in hand watching the fireworks explode over the foreshore.

During the week we travelled back to Jaques Coffee Farm which is about 8 km East of Mareeba along the Hwy to Cairns for lunch to celebrate my Birthday. The food is quite nice and the coffee certainly has a zing about it making for a great buzz.

The following Weekend we were in Atherton sharing an evening meal with Frank and Alice at the Barron Valley hotel. The food was great and about what you would expect for the price. We have found a high level of customer service up here. All the people who have served us throughout the Tablelands so far have been exceptional. Following dinner we went to what we could best describe as someones workshop where a local band was playing. The lead singer was a friend of Frank and Alice's and had previously been in their band. I could best describe them as loud which is how the music is supposed to be played not quite my cuppa tea though.