Day 269 / 2015 - Yungaburra, Granite Gorge and Herberton

Yungaburra is a small historic village located on the shores of Lake Tinaroo near the town of Atherton. It has a selection of Cafes, Resturaunts and Accomodation.

Frank and Alice were promoting their books at the Annual Yungaburra book fair. They are both acomplished Authors and have a series of novels internationally published. We called in to have a look and a chat to see how they were going. Across the road the Yungaburra Markets were in full swing with some 120 stalls to look at. The markets are held on the 4th Saturday of every month. As with all markets there were lots of cottage industry items for sale. The lake is approx 2 km from the centre of town. The lake is used for recreational activities and on weekends and holiday periods you can see many water craft of different shapes and types zooming around.

We took another trip back to Kuranda to visit some of the spots we hadn't seen the first time we were there. After doing a quick look around some of the markets again we then made our way to Baron Falls. There is a boardwalk which zig zags its way from the carpark to where the Kuranda Train pulls in. After doing the walk there and back stopping at the top lookout we watched the train pulled in with many passengers getting out to view the falls. From the falls we then made our way to Wrights Lookout which looks down through the Baron Gorge onto the coastal plain where Cairns is situated you can see quite clearly through to the sea.

Granite Gorge is located about 10 Km from Mareeba and is accessable by a sealed road except for the last 1km where the road turns to gravel. From the surface it is similar to Karijini in that you only see the gorge once you are on top of it. The gorge isn't very deep but does have a river which flows through it all year round. The entry fee is $10.00 per head for a day pass there is also a camping area with full facilities located in the same area addtional fees apply. The are about 3 walking trails you can do 2 of them are reasonably with the third one moderately difficuilt. You are supplied with a map which colour codes the trails. As you walk through are loads of rock wallabies which are very friendly and will take food directly from your hand they don't seem to be to shy around people. The trail which follows the river was quite a challenge having us scrambling of large bolders but it was worth the look.

Herberton is approx 18 Km west of Atherton. Herberton is where the largest deposit of pure tin was discovered and resulted in approx 30 years of mining. As with all mining towns of that era it was a prosperous place during its time. By 1910 the mining started to decline and now Herberton relies on agriculture and tourism. The Herberton Heritage Village is where the history of the area is preserved including buildings and way of life. There is an onsite printer as well as a blackmith who relate stories from a bygone era. A lot of the shops and homes are setup and looks as though the owner will be back any minute. The problem we are finding now when we visit Heritage centres is that we remember using or our parents using many of the items on display are we getting old?

We also visited the Herberton Spy Camera Museum which is run by what we would call an an eccentric fellow. He related stories of how miniture cameras were concealed and used by many spys of both sides before the digital technology age. Most of these spy cameras which were built in the fifties and sixties were still in working order. There is a large display of cameras and photographic equipment of all types.