Not far from Atherton, just off the Gilles Highway (the road between Cairns and Atherton), is the Curtain Fig Tree. This magnificent attraction is really the aerial roots of parasitic fig tree that has strangled and killed its host tree. The curtain of roots falls from a second tree that has fallen onto the upright tree. We walked along the boardwalk through the rainforest to see the tree.
On our way back to Tinaroo we stopped off at Yungaburra on the opposite side of Lake Tinaroo to where we are staying. On the lake is the Afghanistan Avenue of Honour, a commemorative place honouring the soldiers who have died while fighting in Afghanistan. This is a lovely and peaceful place to visit with a plaque for each soldier who died. A nice touch is the plaque for the Explosive Detection Dogs.
On Saturday we spent the day in Kuranda - the Village in the Rainforest - about 40km from Mareeba and at the top of the range overlooking Cairns. This village can be reached by road from Mareeba and Cairns or by gondola from the bottom of the range a few kms from Cairns. The markets here are a colourful attraction. As well as arts and crafts, there's plenty of clothing and souvenirs on sale. There are also some excellent art galleries to while away the hours.
We walked through the Heritage Markets to the Historic Plane Crash. This plane was built by the US Air Force in 1942 and was sold to Australian National Airlines (remember Ansett ANA) and later to Trans Australian Airlines (TAA, now Qantas) before being sold to a film production company. The plane did not actually crash, but was used in a film as a plane crash. It was later brought to Kuranda where it's on display.
Near Kuranda is the Barron Falls. We had a pleasant walk through the rainforest, under the hanging and twisted vines to see the falls. Along the way were interpretive panels with information about the flora and fauna of the rainforest. There were also sculptures of insects like this praying mantis.
Back at Tinaroo we had a drive into the nearby National Park to check out some of the campgrounds and stopped off at the Tinaroo Falls Dam wall.
Our time on the banks of Lake Tinaroo has come to an end and we're back on the road again. We've made our way 250km north-west to Laura, at the end of the sealed road, where we'll spend a few days camped at the Quinkan Aboriginal Community Campground. This weekend is the Laura Festival, with dances, races, campdraft and a rodeo. It's also the starting point for tours to the Quinkan Aboriginal Rock Art Galleries, so watch this space.
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