We did another farm stay just 7kms out of Atherton at Bonadio RV and Nature park. A working maize farm, they cleared a large area beside the river to set up their park and built some nice facilities. There are walking tracks through the bush down to the river where you can see platypus, wallabies, possums, pademelons and curlews. The parking area is grassed and tree lined and although there can be up to 60 vans, tents etc, does not feel crowded. It is nice to support these local farmers who now probably make as much from their park as they do from cropping.

Around Atherton are the lovely small towns of Yungaburra, Malanda, Tolga and Herberton. Yungaburra’s streets were hung with baskets of brightly coloured inpatients of all colours and the place was humming all weekend. Being just a day trip from Cairns the weekends are very busy and we couldn’t even get a booking for dinner!

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Just out of town is Tinaroo Lake, 8,600 acres which was formed by the damming of the Barron River in 1958. Primarily used for irrigation its also used for water sports and has some great barramundi fishing. We took several hours to drive around the whole lake and stopped to see some magnificent curtain fig trees.

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Another day was spent at Herberton. Set on 16 acres, the Historic Village Herberton is a tin mining town with shops, pub, bank, chemist, grocer, printer and garage. There are more than 50 restored period buildings and while we were there the blacksmith had fired up the forge and was demonstrating the almost lost art of forging steel into useful tools. The woodworking shed was also in operation turning beautiful bowls from maple – some with such fine sides they were almost translucent.

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This was to be the closest to the East Coast we will be for quite a while as we head back westwards. Next stop Jardine Station stay.