Day 99 – 22/8/2019 on a Midlife Adventure.

Following some advice that I managed to damage the Lower Control Arm bushes which by some miracle or just the fact that over the last two years I have replaced on the car.

  • 4x Brake Discs & pads
  • 4x Tyres
  • Front Left/Right Bottom Control arm
  • Battery
  • Alternator
  • Turbo
  • Waterpump and probably other things I can’t remember paying for.

So anyway it was good news but after driving into Cairns, Qld I discovered he couldn’t do it till mid September. Anyway it was a waste of a visit but I did get to drive over the Gilles Highway through the hills which is a very windy drive. (Possibly not the best thing to do with my car as it is).

On the way back I went via Kuranda, Qld where I stopped in at Emerald Creek Ice Creamery for some morning tea of Icecream.

Then into Mareeba, Qld where apparently they have 300 sunny days a year. I’m not sure if today was counted as one of them as it was quite cloudy.

Whilst not stopping in town I headed out to the Golden Drop Winery.

They make their wine exclusively from Mango’s something quite unusual but it just tastes like normal wine and the mango taste is barely there.

From there it was off to Jaques Coffee Plantation to learn about coffee being grown in Australia and after watching the video they run learning of the hardships they have gone through to establish themselves including having the crop wiped out with insecticide by the government.

Coffee Harvester

I also got to see some coffee tree’s that had already been harvested.

Coffee Tree

After all this learning I got to taste the final product.

Australian Coffee

Having moved down the road to Malanda, Qld I got a chance to look around the Malanda Falls Caravan Park, where they have a small collection of animals.

Next to the park are some waterfalls which the park has direct access to

The swimming pool looks like it would be a refreshing dip, although I gave it a miss this time.

The park has a mural on the bathroom that is really well done.

It was nice to spend some time investigating the region even with the trip in and out of Cairns. However that is another day on a Midlife Adventure.