Today we had an early morning wake-up call so that we could go pick up a rental car. This car was to take us on an adventurous road trip out to the Outback. When we arrived at Older Cars, the rental car place recommended by our hostel, we discovered that they had failed to leave us a car key in the lock box, or even a rental car for that matter...As it was Sunday, they were closed so Stephen managed to flag down our hostel shuttle on its return trip from the airport and we went back to try to sort things out. The helpful hostel proprietor managed to locate an emergency number for the rental place and sort things out. They didn't leave a car because they didn't have one of the numbers on the credit card recorded accurately. They could have at least called to let us know!!!!
So, we hopped back into the hostel shuttle and headed to Older Cars once again. One of the mechanics had driven over to give us a key and a car. It was a total heap of a car - a really old Hyundai, with the glove box taped shut, speakers disconnected and dings and scratches all over the body...We had rented from this company once before and had a brilliant car complete with functioning air conditioner and radio. This time, we must have been given their oldest model that could still start. Since it was really cheap and we were really anxious to get out to Undara, we decided to take it anyway. Within five minutes the air con stopped working! At least it was a cooler day so we continued on our journey. The speakers were disconnected as well so we could not listen to the radio. Poor Stephen had to endure four hours of my singing. I started out with some contemporary songs he knew, but I gradually transitioned to the scores from 'The Sound of Music' and 'Annie' eventually breaking into children's songs like 'There's a hole in the bucket' and the 'Banana Boat' song as I was running out of songs in my singing repertoire...
The car somehow made it up the steep, curvy ascent into the Atherton Tablelands. I spotted a sign for Devonshire cream teas so we pulled over to find the teahouse. It was situated on the edge of Lake Barrine, an absolutely stunning little lake. We were still in the wet tropics so the clear, blue waters were surrounded by lush, green trees. The teahouse is 80 years old and pretty enough to host wedding receptions. We ate our homemade scones fresh from the oven as we watched two turtles swimming in the shallows. One of the turtles kept following ducks. It was really amusing to watch! Next, we went for a leisurely stroll around the tropical gardens and over to the enormous twin Kauri trees located on the lake circuit path. It was an unplanned stop, but the place was simply idyllic and best of all - the coffee was refillable!
Our next stop on the car journey was Milla Milla Falls, famous for its appearance in the Timotei commercial. Obviously a beautiful woman with long, blond hair would choose to wash her hair with Timotei in a waterfall....
It was misty so we donned our ponchos before walking down to the falls. The falls were very pretty, but it was a bit too cold to go for a swim. At least the falls in the Tablelands do not have crocodiles...
Next, we continued our journey out to Undara stopping at a cozy cafe in the small town of Ravenhoe. The cafe owner was really friendly and warned Stephen about the crazy road trains (big trucks with at least four sections) that we would encounter on the one-lane road on the way to Undara. Stephen managed to avoid them (there were less on the road as it was Sunday) and we arrived just in time for a swim and huge barbecue at the lodge.
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