We left the park at Yungaburra a tad after 8am under sunny skies with a rather fresh breeze. The wind continued until we left the tablelands. First and only stop was at Dimbulah for van-made mornos and a short wander.
Not far from Dimbulah we encountered a short stretch of one lane highway and we thought this would be our lot all the way to Chillagoe. That lasted for about 5km, and the road was one of the best we've had this trip. Closer to Chillagoe there were stretches of road that had not been sealed (reasons unknown) and were being done up. We didn't have to wait very long at any of the traffic lights, and even made one just as it turned orange.
We arrived at Chillagoe about 11:30am and went to the Chillagoe Hub (aka: tourist information centre) to pay for our pre-booked tickets to do the guided tour of the Royal Arch Cave. It was then onto the Chillagoe Observatory and Eco Lodge (and van park) for our two night stay here. We were booked in and on our allotted site (#12) just after midday.
After a quick lunch we drove (Greg rode) out to the Cave tour start site. What an awesome Cave! We hope the photos paint a good picture of what we saw today. The caves in this area are limestone caves and have some really amazing features. We opted for the Royal Arch Cave as it is the longest tour. There are three other self-guided caves we might do tomorrow. The guide did an amazing job of giving us a mountain of info, none of which is remembered, however, if you are really interested, we're sure Mr Google will give you all the info you want/need.
Back to the vans for a cuppa. The boys then went for a walk up to the nearby lookout whilst the girls did some domestic and home keeping chores. The boys returned in time for pre-dinner drinks and dinner was had at home instead of out at the pub. We all had delicious, home cooked meals under the stars, and later turned out all the lights and saw five satellites and three 'shooting stars', all confirmed.
A really fantastic day out and about in Queensland.
A green tunnel
Roadworks
Wind turbines and scenery
More drive scenery
And the moon
Dimbulah
Mural on the toilet walls at Dimbulah
Dimbulah train station
Drive scenery and more roadworks
Chillagoe
Our cave guide, Bob was excellent
Heading down into the Cave entrance
Cave entrance; the gate is locked behind us to stop others getting in (they get lost without a guide, or they vandalise the caves; yes there are still people who like to do this!)
'Leaning Tower of Pizza'
The elephant
The Billy Goat
A real live spider
A stalactite in the making
Patterns
One of the altars in Cathedral Cave
A person riding a horse
Cave coral
Fig tree root deep inside the cave
Columns - when a stalactite meets a stalagmite
The Arch Cave
Greg exiting the shoot; you had to scoot along on your tummy, then at the last minute contort yourself to come out legs first, or you would land on your head
We found Scomo exiting the shoot (aka Bob)
The wicked witch
Our camp site (#12) at Chillagoe Observatory and Eco Lodge
They even have an outdoor movie screen
Communal gathering space
Airstrip/field behind the camp
Scenery on the boys walk
The camp from above
The camp from the other side
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