This area is rich farming country. Volcanic action of ages ago has produced perfect soil for coffee, nuts, tropical fruits as well as livestock grazing. Here we go.
We make our first stop before even leaving Mareeba. Saturday is market day and we just have to check it out. There is fruit aplenty, papas (papaya), persimmons, star fruit, and pineapple – more I am sure plus many tropical plants both edible and ornamental. The orchids are beautiful. We leave with pineapple crush and tart lime pound cake. We stroll through a huge range of wonderful crafts and art pieces but we’ve no way to get it home and nowhere to put it when we get there so it makes it a little easier to resist.
Next stop, Coffee Works, a coffee lovers heaven. It is a museum of all things coffee – roasters, grinders, brewing devices, and a fair bit of lore like why some countries serve little expresso cups and others mega mugs. Bet you are dying to know! It really has more to do with what the coffee is replacing. In counties where it replaced wine and hard liquor it was served in little cups. Where it replaced ale, it was served in larger cups. The amount of coffee is reportedly 7gms no matter how big the cup or how much water is used to brew it. What do you know? There was a kind of women’s temperance movement to outlaw coffee houses. Seems the guys were hanging out at the coffee shop ignoring their families. That movement didn’t take. An early Pope was asked to forbid consumption of coffee in its early days; but he tasted it and like it so that never happened. Besides the museum we have lots of tastings. Coffee includes 4 Australian and a dozen imported beans roasted to various finishes. I don’t even get all the way around but focus on the Australian brews. They are all wonderful. We move on to tea and chocolate tasting, again, no disappointments there. No, we are not done yet. I try expresso made with the Australian Black Mountain beans which is so perfect that I have to buy some. To finish off the experience Kent and I both try 5 different liqueurs ranging from a very stout not so sweet version to cappuccino and latte that are more like mocha milkshakes. One of the strong, not so sweet versions came home with me. There’s 500 mls of the 750 I am allowed to bring home! Add a little package of their milk chocolate (it is “free” with the expresso purchase) and we need to get out of here and on to other attractions.
Humpy nuts and produce and we walk away with locally grown and roasted macadamia nuts. They are the best I have ever tasted.
Now we need to work off a few of these calories so we begin the waterfall circuit. It is a loop drive with a number of falls down short trails through lovely forested patches that have been spared the axe mostly because they are too rugged to timber. Many are protected now as part of national or Queensland parks.
There is another odd Australian critter that I hope to see. The platypus. Along Peterson Creek in Yungaburro is a viewing area. We make our way very quietly to the viewing blind and peer through the slots down to slow flowing muddy water. Hm, that’s kinda of yucky. What’s more, no platypus! “I never see them here. Try walking the trak under the bridge. I saw a little one there.”, says a local who is just returning to his car. We are here, lets go for it. We trek under the bridge where it is even more dank and creepy. Still no platypus. We wander along side the muddy creek twisting and turning all the while eying the still surface. Nothing. Just as we get back near the bridge, we spot bubbles on the surface. We watch. More bubbles then nothing. All at once a little head and that weird looking bill pop up. He chews for a few them gracefully dives and disappears from sight. Of course, we have to stay and are thrilled to watch him feeding for 10 minutes or so. Chewing and paddling his little front flippers. Awesome.
Tonight we settle in with a great view of Lake Timaroo and a clear dark sky just filled with beautiful stars.