Last few days of Barrys' visit

 09/01/2012
  So now we are in charge, Phil and Julie got away at about 10am. 3 hours later we had a text to say they had survived their first blow out, their van shredded a tyre! That was after Glyn had jump started their truck before they left, not a good start to their tour!
 We went up to Palm Cove and gained our first loyalty card , 10% off everything at Coffee Haven, we are nearly locals. Once again we have moved home, we are now next door in the Dunns unit, and here we stay until they return in 4 months time. Barry has his own unit for a few days as we have only 1 guest right now, the rest of the units are empty. We have some guests arriving at the weekend but generally it’s quiet for the next month or so. All in all, things are going swimmingly!

  10/01/2012
  More sight seeing as we took Barry once again up the range  and onto the tablelands to look at the historic village of Herberton, once a gold and tin mining town. It’s an authentic replica of how a mining town used to be with some of the building having been moved intact from different locations to make  Herberton Historic Village. It has quite a good web site. We have been there before and in the short time since we last visited we can see more improvement. It seems to be an ongoing project and is growing all the time. Barry enjoyed it but struggled a little in the heat and with his dodgy legs.
 We had lunch at a beauty spot called the Crater, a huge sink hole that disappears 100m into the mountain Hypipamee, a very impressive sight, then we moved onto see the Millaa Millaa Falls. A spectacular waterfall, but being school holidays the lake beneath was full of schoolies. We made our way back to Clifton via Gordonvale stopping for a quick beer at the Pyramid View Pub  before arriving home for a cool off in the pool. Dinner later round the B B Q with a few coldies.  A long day.

 11/01/2012
  Our last full day with Barry and a memorable one it has been. One of the tourist attractions of Cairns is the scenic railway over the range to Kuranda, a rail journey of nearly 2 hours. It was built by men using picks and shovels to serve the mining community on the tablelands and rises 1 metre every 50m, quite steep in parts.  In some ways it was a little disappointing, the track winds around the range as it rises but there is hardly any opportunity to take photos. It is a slow train but there are few gaps in the rainforest looking out towards Cairns.
 Lunch at O’Reilleys  Irish Pub ( the steak and Guinness pie had been recommended to Barry by our butcher and it didn’t disappoint)
 A walk around Kuranda, well more of a shuffle really, Barrys bad knees (do bad knees run in families?)then we caught the Skyrail back down the range.  The Skyrail is a cable car with six seater pods though only us three in ours and is  suspended from a wire, not for those who don’t like heights, you are certainly up a depth!.
 Back down the range, we just had time for a quick dip in the pool, a shower, pack the  eski with beer then walked to Allen and Lorraines for dinner. We had a super meal with them with lots to eat and drink, before retiring hurt back to the buildings for a nightcap, yet another bottle of heavy aussie shiraz. Another long day.



 11/01/2012
 Our last full day with Barry and a memorable one it has been. One of the tourist attractions of Cairns is the scenic railway over the range to Kuranda, a rail journey of nearly 2 hours. It was built by men using picks and shovels to serve the mining community on the tablelands and rises 1 metre every 50m, quite steep in parts.  In some ways it was a little disappointing, the track winds around the range as it rises but there is hardly any opportunity to take photos. It is a slow train but there are few gaps in the rainforest looking out towards Cairns.
 Lunch at O’Reilleys  Irish Pub ( the steak and Guinness pie had been recommended to Barry by our butcher and it didn’t disappoint)
 A walk around Kuranda, well more of a shuffle really, Barrys bad knees (do bad knees run in families?)then we caught the Skyrail back down the range.  The Skyrail is a cable car with six seater pods though only us three in ours and is  suspended from a wire, not for those who don’t like heights, you are certainly up a depth!.
 Back down the range, we just had time for a quick dip in the pool, a shower, pack the  eski with beer then walked to Allen and Lorraines for dinner. We had a super meal with them with lots to eat and drink, before retiring hurt back to the buildings for a nightcap, yet another bottle of heavy aussie shiraz. Another long day.

  12/01/2012
  We are bereft. Guy came and went, Phil and Julie gone on their travels and now we have seen Barry safely away home. Nobody here but us folks. We are sure Barry will take home some happy memories of far Northern Queensland tho we reckon he would never have got used to the heat, the room aircon has had a bit of a bashing these last 3 weeks.
 We saw Barry through the departure lounge then headed up to Palm Cove for lunch where we are on first name terms with the staff at Coffee Haven. Don’t even have to show our loyalty card now.
 With the comings and goings of the last few days, and all the sightseeing, we have neglected our jobs here at the units. We now have to buckle down and get things smartened up, we have guests arriving over the weekend, our first test.