Tablelands - Mt Baldy walks

While we have been at Atherton I've been able to walk most mornings -instead of walking along beaches  & bush tracks I've been able to tackle some hills. We are within walking distance to Mt Baldy and the Herberton Range State Forrest which offers plenty of walks and even Mountain Bike Trails for those keen to venture on 2 wheels.

Most mornings I have either walked along the flat or walked to the peak of Mt Baldy or another hill close by named  "The Widow Maker", usually a return walk of just over an hour, this is dependent on my recovery time after reaching the peak!

View over Lake Tinaroo from "The widow maker" with Atherton in the foreground

First time to the top of "The Widow Maker" buggered to say the least, and the sun couldn't even peak through the clouds.

These are the tracks; B=Mt Baldy D=Widow Maker 

You know it's steep when the path has non-slip grip and rope handrails, near the top of Mt Baldy.

At the top of Mt Baldy, while I was recovering a couple of army guys ran past!!! 

View from Mt Baldy to The Widow Maker peak.

Another misty morning in the clouds

Tablelands - Mareeba Coffee World, Kuranda & Mossman

While we have been house sitting at Atherton we have visited various local markets and some tourist spots of interest.

Coffee Works @ Mareeba was always going to be on the 'to visit list' to buy some strong coffee.  Decided to pay the entrance fee and was surprised at the number of flavours of coffee, tea, chocolate and liqueur for sampling.
From the tastings we ventured into the museum which holds the largest collection of coffee artifacts in the world. Absolutely amazed at the collection of coffee & tea making artifacts and also the age and condition of some of the old peculators, tea pots, commercial coffee machines etc.  What was really enjoyable was the set up where you pick up an audio handset and key the number of the exhibited item which then relates the history of the item on display.  Its a great way to wander around the museum and dialing up the items you are interested instead of having lots of reading material to wade through. We would never have gone out of our way to visit a Coffee Museum however after walking through this one we were totally blown away at the collection and would recommend a visit to everyone.

We finished up buying a supply of  PNG Dark coffee -  nice and strong!

Notice board with photos of the various exhibits

Hels getting ready to make a cappuccino! 

We  took a trip to the Kuranda markets - these are a popular tourist destination which we have visited several time before, so it was a walk through the streets and down to the Railway Station before finding a suitable lunch spot.  The market is very popular with people travelling on the train from Cairns as a stop off before returning back down from the range either by train or cable car.

Kuranda Railway Station

Further north from Cairns along the coast to Port Douglas is Mossman Gorge - this is another very popular tourist destination with nice walks through the gorge area.  It has certainly changed since we visited in 1988 and now caters for tourist with a bus which transports you from the information centre to the gorge.  They have developed the walks with access platforms made from recycled material and opened it up to cater for the large number or tourist who visit each year.