We had read about the caves in the area, so we were looking forward to once again embarking on a subterranean adventure, as we hadn't done any caving since we were in Belize in February. Other attractions at Chillagoe include an observatory which you can visit at night for spectacular views of the night skies, an old smelter which operated in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the beautiful scenery in this transition area from coastal rain forest to barren outback.
Our drive took us up the winding road to Kuranda and westward across the table lands. We initially drove through some beautiful rolling countryside passing farms with rows and rows of mango trees, but we were soon into more barren countryside where small trees, scrub bushes and red soil became more the norm. The road to Chillagoe is paved most of the way, but the last 30 kms is a combination of paved and gravel sections. Why they haven't paved the whole road I don't know, but it consists of a few kilometres of gravel followed by a few of pavement, alternating all the way to Chillagoe. When we first hit the gravel, the road was so uneven and the surface covered in deep washboard ripples, that I thought the van would be shaken to pieces. The first gravel stretch was 3 kms and after 2 kms driving at about 10-15 kph, we almost turned back. But we persevered and made it to the first stretch of paved road and then found that subsequent gravel sections weren't quite as bad, though out progress was certainly slow. When we finally arrived in Chillagoe, we were amazed to see a sign for the next town, Normanton, some 560 kms westward along a completely “unsealed” road. There are no fuel stations between Chillagoe and Normanton so our van couldn't have made the journey anyway, as we can only do about 500 kms on a tank. But I couldn't fathom anyone enduring the constant pounding and endless dust of such a road, but I guess it's relatively heavily used...meaning 10 or 12 vehicles a day, admittedly most of them being very sturdy 4 wheel drive overland vehicles. We've learned that many Aussies seem to take a kind of perverse pride in driving long distances over unpaved outback roads. Maybe it's like a Canadian's ability to drive through snow, ice and 30 below temperatures without a second thought, which would no doubt appall the average Aussie!
When we arrived in the early afternoon, we pulled up to the local tourist office and checked out cave tours and accommodations. There was a tour of one of the larger caves, the Royal Arch Cave, at 3:00 so we signed up for that and then went to check out a place to stay. There were a couple of rudimentary camp grounds, a so-called “eco lodge” and a motel in the town, so we started with the eco lodge where the observatory was also located. A short drive took us to a ramshackle-looking development on the edge of town that had a small bit of land dedicated to a rough campground and some tiny rooms which were supposedly the eco lodge. Not exactly what one would imagine from the name! We decided to try elsewhere but did enquire about the observatory. We had been told at the tourist office that the night sky viewing was a bit of a hit and miss affair depending on the mood of the owner. It turned out that he was away in Cairns and wouldn't be back till later, so the fellow we spoke with was doubtful he'd be opening the observatory that evening. So we struck that of our list of things to do, and continued on to look for a place to stay. We ended up renting a large motel-type room with cooking facilities at the town's other campsite which meant we wouldn't have to put up the tent. It was then off to our cave tour.
We drove the couple of kilometres to the cave and were met by a friendly park ranger/guide who provided us each with a battery-powered lamp and lead us to the cave entrance. It turned out we were the only two on the afternoon tour, so had the guide all to ourselves. The caves at Chillagoe have been formed by water erosion in the limestone formations in the area. Three of the larger caves have been set up for tourist visits, with well marked paths, steps and railings, quite unlike the dangerous, water-filled caves we'd negotiated in Central America a few months previously. We had a leisurely stroll through the caves marvelling at the beautiful formations and large caverns. We spent about an hour in the cool interior, finally emerging in the late afternoon heat.
We then headed off to another of the town's attractions, some interesting rock formations including a large rock seemingly balancing precariously on its narrow end, appropriately called the “Balancing Rock”. We also walked around some of the large protruding rock structures in the area and came across some ancient aboriginal paintings at a small indentation in the base of one of the large limestone outcroppings. The sun was beginning to set as we walked around the area and the soft afternoon light gave a beautiful orange glow to the landscape.
That evening we did our own star gazing, albeit without the aid of a telescope. There were very few lights in the town and the almost total darkness and crystal clear air made for wonderful viewing of the dazzling stars filling the sky from horizon to horizon. We could clearly see the huge swath of the Milky Way stretching across the sky something never visible so clearly in urban areas. We stood for several minutes just gawking at the wonderful display.
The next morning we were up early to join the 9:00 a.m. tour of the Donna Cave. We were joined by several other Aussie tourists and a young aboriginal woman who was our guide for the tour. This cave was even more “easy-going” than the Royal Arch Cave, with concrete pathways and lights that could be turned on to highlight the interesting formations. The cave was named for a formation just inside the entrance which resembled a silhouette of “The Madonna”... thus the short form “Donna”. At one point we came across one of the large-ish spiders which inhabit the caves here and a bat, hanging from the roof of a small cavern just a few feet from out path. I was able to get pictures of both. Our guide told us that the caves are also inhabited by small (4 ft) pythons which apparently are harmless to humans, though we didn't see any of these. The Donna cave was smaller than the Royal Arch with its large grottoes and huge “cathedral” cavern, but the limestone formations were somewhat more interesting and colorful being illuminated by the electric lighting in the cave.
After emerging into the bright sunshine under a cloudless sky, we took a stroll along a path through the nearby savannah keeping a lookout for wildlife. There were plenty of 'roo droppings along the path but no sign of the creatures and we only saw a few birds flitting through the trees.
Next we drove through town to the abandoned smelter which had been the town's main industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Three large smoke stacks still stand among the ruins of buildings that once housed ore crushers and blast furnaces, and rusting hulks of metal machines and pressure vessels are scattered around the area. A giant slag heap which surrounds the site, has been leveled off to provide a track for vehicles to motor around the area. It was easy to imagine the bustle, heat and noise which must have been the hallmarks of this place years ago.
Our last stop before heading back towards Cairns was the local graveyard which was just a patch of ground where the dead have been laid over the years. Nothing is known about many of the people laid to rest here as many of the graves were marked only by a small stone maker with only a number engraved or painted on them. There were also a number of larger headstones, many noting the person's death in some mine or smelter accident. And many of the grave sites were surrounded by small wire fences wherein mementos had been placed such as a pan used for gold panning, or large wrench, or similar articles associated with the life (and perhaps death) of the individual. An interesting place.
We started back along the dusty road eastward toward Cairns, quickly rolling up our windows whenever we spied an oncoming vehicle in an effort to keep out the billowing clouds of red dust. This was pretty much to no avail however, as the next day we had to give the van a complete cleaning inside and out to get rid of the dust which seemed to permeate the whole vehicle.
On our way back we spotted several roadkill kangaroos (a common sight here in Australia) and the scavanger birds feeding on the carcasses. At one point we saw a large eagle sitting in a tree just off the road waiting for us to pass. Also along the way we encountered two or three flocks of black cockatoos in the trees. They are a beautiful bird shaped just like the more common white sulphur-crested cockatoos but completely black except for the underside of their wings which are a bright crimson, making for a spectacular display as they fly.
After an hour or so we stopped for a bite of lunch in a small town called Dimbulah. We pulled up at a picnic table near the town's railway station and noticed a sign for “free coffee” at the station which also housed a small museum. We walked over and met a wizened older lady who was the volunteer attendant, who turned out to have a wealth of interesting information about the area. It seems the only train to come through the town was a tourist train which headed westward on Wednesdays and returned a couple of days later. But the tiny museum had a few interesting samples of the ore mined in the region and several old photos of the area. The woman told us that the area had once been the centre of Australia's tobacco growing industry which had been shut down by the government over the years and the farms converted to a multitude of other crops. We sampled the station's free coffee which was made from local Mareeba coffee grown nearby and served up from a pot of coffee made on modern drip filter coffee maker....a real delight! (We've talked previously about the small but expensive espresso-based coffees which are all you can get here in restaurants and coffee shops, when what we really want is just a large cup of normal coffee). And then, it was on our way again.
So, by late afternoon, we were again descending the winding road down from Kuranda to the coastal plain and back to our apartment. It had been a good two days, though we once again had managed to avoid camping. We've decided that we will try to stay in motels and on-site cabins at campgrounds as much as we can when heading westward in September, as this will be much easier than putting up and taking down the tent every night.
Well, that's it for this entry. Some pictures of our excursion to Chillagoe follow.
The dusty road to Chillagoe....
The next town was 560 kms away over a very rough track....count us out!
Some of the beautiful scenery around the area
The Balancing Rock with Susan providing perspective
Our van on the outskirts of Chillagoe in the late afternoon.
One of the towering rock formations in the area
More scenery
Some of the Aboriginal rock paintings in the area
A panoramic view of the rock formation under which was the Royal Arch Cave
A formation inside the Royal Arch Cave
Inside the Donna Cave
Appropriately named the Shark Tooth formation
A cave bat hanging from the ceiling. He flew away as soon as my flash went off
A cave spider
Sue and a "Curtain formation" in the Donna cave
The Donna cave had many beautiful formations
Outside the Donna cave....back in the morning sunshine
The old smelter
You can see where the giant slag heap has been levelled off for driving around the site
A cave bat hanging from the ceiling. He flew away as soon as my flash went off
A cave spider
Sue and a "Curtain formation" in the Donna cave
The Donna cave had many beautiful formations
Outside the Donna cave....back in the morning sunshine
The old smelter
You can see where the giant slag heap has been levelled off for driving around the site
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