Misty Mountains: Rain & Mud

 
Friday 18:  We hung at in Atherton for a few hours - checking out the op shops and exploring the back streets...



3pm and it was time to meet up with Gil, the owner of our house sitting property at Millaa Millaa.
Fantastic views through the mist and lots of animals to take care of:  3 dogs, 3 cats, 13 chickens and 5 ducks.

 May 19 - 27:  Due to the bad weather, we spent most of the week indoors: watching dvd's, playing a bit of music and watching the critters play in the mud.  We did a couple of day trips to Millaa Millaa which has a good little museum and Malanda which is only 20mins down the road.

We met an old mechanic, Vince Seres who showed us round his shed.
We also popped into Millaa Millaa Falls which is only 5mins from where we are staying.
Wednesday one of the b/w chickens went missing after Indigo mauled it and Friday when we got back from a trip, the other b/w chicken was laying plucked and nearly dead.  Danny had to put it out of it's misery.  We were angry and shocked - we didn't think Indigo would do that.

On Saturday, my sister Lissie and her husband Buzzy came up from Cairns for a 21st.  They made us feel a lot better about the whole chicken episode, she's a dog after all. (and the first missing chicken actually came back!)
So that night, we all went off to Butcher's Creek Hall and had a few for the young friend of my nephew.

Sunday, we said goodbye to my family and went off through the mist to Ravenshoe, the highest town in Qld!  The markets were on and the train was at the station.

 May 28 - June 1:   The sun came out on Monday, but that was it for most of the week.  Danny and I explored the rainforest at the bottom of next door's paddock and the old cattle yard at the bottom of the road. 

Thursday, Keith went to Atherton to get a much needed wheel alighnment.
The weather was still not great on Friday, so we just went to the Library at Millaa - very friendly staff and made me a cup of coffee while I did my internet stuff.
It had been an interesting and a bit depressing couple of weeks with the mist and rain keeping us mostly indoors. 

The locals say that Millaa Millaa has it's own weather...so were we going to see some sunshine in the next two weeks? 

Living in the Rainforest at Home Rule pt 1

May 8: Black Moutain is made up of a big pile of black rocks which came from...?  Well, there are many theories, so you can look it up and decide for yourself.  It is indeed a strange spectacle, which amused Indigo Velvet greatly.

So after I conceded that I was wrong, we went back to the same turn off and headed along the dirt road past the Lion's Den Hotel.   Driving through the rainforest was amazing - dark and mysterious with rocky creek crossings and single lane bridges. 
Home Rule is a 105acre property consisting of camping grounds and huts, run on Hydro Electricity.  It is also home to the Wallaby Creek Folk Festival in September and Bush Week in July (pic of DJ booth palm frond face, still standing from 2010). It backs onto a pristine creek and is run by Hal, a fit and interesting 82yr old  from Rhodesia. 

After some deliberation, we parked Keith on the upper camping area.  Then Hal showed us around,   including a dwelling consisting of 2 donga's that make up his sleeping quarters  (and his family when they visit).  That night, Helen who lives in one of the huts, cooked us the first of many great meals, which we ate in a communal kitchen/dining building. We had an interesting chat with 2 botanist guys from Cairns - one a  bonsai collector, studying and documenting the local bush tucker.

 

 May 9:  We got an early start.  Hal, Danny, Indigo and me all headed up the 2.5km track to the waterfall.  The boys carried a piece of sheet metal with a length of wood bolted to it.  It was a steep climb to to the top, with remnants of the old hydro pipe clamps and machinery.  Hal and Danny placed the metal sheet in the rock pool, to divert more water towards the pipes that carry it hundreds of meters to the creek.  We also gathered pieces of wood to send up to Hal via rope to protect the pipeline from falling rocks.
The walk was very difficult in parts, but enjoyable to get over the fear of rock climbing.   Indigo even found it difficult to navigate the rocks and fallen trees.

 

That arvo, I cleaned the 'Ablutions' block and Danny & Hal got up on the roof of the dongas to remove vines from a large fallen tree which just missed his bedroom.  The only way up was via a steep ladder (Danny is not too keen on heights) and coming down involved holding tightly onto a rope and trusting your feet to find the ladder rungs.   Danny also went for a photographic expedition on his push bike around the property and up the road to Rossville.