We picked up Ms. O, from her hotel near the Esplanade in Cairns. Pat was Brody and Darby's grade 1 teacher in Carstairs and Hailey's P.E. teacher. She has been living and touring around Australia for the last year. Scott was away on a shut down at Groote Eylandt, so the 5 of us headed up to the Tablelands for the day.
Our first stop was Tichem Creek Coffee Farm. We looked around at the coffee beans growing on the trees and then after the kids had chocolate covered coffee beans, we were all BUZZED to go! Our next stop was Crystal Caves in Atherton. This is a gem shop with a fantastic display below the store. You had to put on your hard hat with lights and go into the cave to see all the gems and minerals. It was a self guided tour with a manual to match the number beside the gem to the explanations. There was so much to see, especially the large amethyst! When we finally came out of the cave we did some shopping right there. The girls each got a geode that they got to crack open. Then the lady explained what was in each of their geode. They had chalcedony or trancas, quartz crystals and druzy quartz in their geodes. Very neat experience knowing they were 44 million years old!
Once we left we found a park to have a picnic lunch around 1:30pm. We continued on our way stopping at the Gallo Dairyland, a Cheese and Chocolate factory. After a few samples we saw how they made the cheese. On our way out enjoying our purchases we walked through the small barn of livestock. They had calves, chickens, sheep, pigs and cows, nothing too different from home.
Our next stop was to show Pat the curtain fig tree. Then we made our way to Malanda Falls. We had never been before so we were excited about swimming up to the falls. The currents in front pushed us away, while on the side of the falls it pulled us in.
We finally made it to our final destination, Lake Eacham. We swam in the crater lake for awhile enjoying the sunny day!
We made our way back down the Gillies Hwy to Cairns and went out for supper at 7:30 pm at Outback Jacks. The Esplanade area was really lively on Saturday night!
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| coffee beans growing at Tichum Creek Coffee Farm |
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| Ready to enter Crystal Caves with Ms. O |
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| Hailey in the purple room |
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| World's Largest Amethyst |
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| Darby cracking her own GEODE! |
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| Thought we were back in Calgary! |
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| Making cheese at Gallo Dairyland |
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| Curtain Fig Tree |
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| Malanda Falls |
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| Playing in the falls |
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| Beside Malanda Falls |
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| Swimming with Ms. O in Lake Eacham |
That looks like a FUN day too!!! Oh man, all these things to do when we get there!!! We might never sleep!!!! LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic day...it was sooo awesome spending the day with all of you! You missed a good one Scott!
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