Lake Tinnaroo

Dear Family and Friends

A little bit of local history. Atherton was explored by J.V.Mulligan in 1875 but it was John Atherton who who settled near the town which now bears his name. Originally a pioneering pastoralist, John Atherton was the first to find tin deposits in Northern Queensland. Local legend has it that Tinnaroo creek received its name from Atherton who shouted "Tin, Hurroo" when he first made his discovery.

Our stay at Lake Tinnaroo was pleasant but not long enough. We only had one full day to explore the local area. Sadly the weather wasn't hot enough to enjoy the delights of the pool or the lake.

On the Tuesday morning (Melbourne Cup Day) we enjoyed a morning tea of pikelets with jam and cream put on by the staff at the caravan park. We then set off to see the lake. We followed a sign posted tourist drive thinking it would bring us back to the van park in plenty of time to see the Melbourne Cup which started at 2 pm here rather than 3 pm in Melbourne due to daylight saving time difference. As it turns out the drive took us right around the back of the lake, and it is a huge lake and supplies the entire area with its water supply. A large part of the road turned out to be dirt and not recommended for caravans. We had just a few spots of rain along the way but it was only enough to make the car dirty. We also found a couple of lovely green grassed camping areas. Ken stopped to chat to one chap and he said to come during the week as on weekends there are heaps of people that come out just for the weekend.

Just a couple of klms down the road we were back onto tarred road which eventually brought us to a town called Yungaburra where we stopped to watch the horse race at a local pub and we just made it by about four minutes to spare. From Yungaburra we then travelled through Atherton, back to Tolga where we turned to go to Kairi and then back to the lake. Another night in the park and then it was time to pack up and come home.

Ken is flying back to Melbourne as he wants to get the cruiser registered in Victoria. It is much cheaper there than it is QLD so he's got a super cheap flight with Tiger from Cairns to Melbourne leaving Wed night and coming back on Sat night. So here's hoping there are no hiccups with the travel plans. All up it is cheaper to do the rego this way than it is to put 12 months on it up here.

Ken's going to take the laptop with him so as a result I won't blog again till he returns home.

So love to one and all

Ken and Lyn.