On the road again !!

We have left Atherton and now travelling again, going bush!!!  Points of interest in this blog are the camp spots for those heading past the area, Ravenshoe to Hughenden, Qld.

We traveled from Artherton through Ravenshoe then decided to stay 16km south of Ravenshoe over night at the Archer Creek Rest Area.  This was ok for 1 night with running water behind the camp, some had even set up to catch up on washing because the water was clean and running.

Archer Creek Rest Area

Rather than take the shorter road to Hughenden we decided to travel to Charters Towers and top up on shopping.  We had heard about Fletcher Creek camp spot as a favorable camping spot.  Sure was as there are 3 separate areas and would have had more than 50 vans in total.  Still with plenty of room we stayed for 2 nights.  The days were becoming warmer and we enjoyed the sun. Only one morning had a heavy fog until around 9 o'clock.

Early morning at Fletcher Creek camp.

Later in the day when the sun was out, creek is to the right.

Picturesque along the Fletcher Creek near camp

From Fletcher Creek camp traveled into Charters Towers and with a quick shop was on our way to Hughenden.

Main street of Hughenden, there are some shops, but had to get another windmill photo!!

We arrived in Hughenden late afternoon and decided to stay the night recharge the 240v stuff and head towards Winton early next day.  Well after fueling up in the afternoon I noticed a warning light on the Tojo saying there was a malfunction and take me to a Toyota service center. When back at camp this had gone so all was good for an early start the next morning.

We set off towards Winton, about 10km down the road the light was back on with a noticeable lack of power.  So back to Hughenden to find a Toyota mechanic.  The nearest was back in Charters Towers so we limped back the 245km slowing down to 50 kph for some hills and getting up to 80 kph for the down hill sections.  When the warning light went off we had full power and was able to get going again but that only lasted about 70km.

Now we are waiting for a "black box" to come up from Brisbane before we get going again!!

Tablelands - Mareeba Historical Museum

We have passed through Mareeba several times on our way to various points of interest and on each occasion there was always a large number of vehicles parked around the Information and Heritage Museum.

Decided to have a day visit - it's a worthwhile visit with a collection of memorabilia from the area and only a gold coin donation.  The Historical Society also hosts a gold panning competition which just happened to coincide with the Saturday market.

The contestants would get 6 pieces of gold (size of a pin head) put into their pan and basically covered with a shovel of dirt and gravel.  The first contestant to retrieve the pieces of gold in the quickest time was the winner.

Panning for gold demonstration

Each time the demonstration found 3 small pieces of gold which he would put back into the pan for the next demonstration.

Telephone exchange at the Heritage Museum

The old Mareeba rail ambulance

Not sure what to say about this character

I had a chat to a couple of old timers while waiting to use the dunny, they sat and listened to me for ages!!

Butcher was too busy to serve Helen, so she had to walk away. Oh well salad for dinner tonight.