Yungaburra & Lake Tinaroo

Day 12 - Lake Tinaroo - 01.09.2018

Hello dear friends of the Australian tree kangaroos,

Day 12 had begun and Janina & I set off after a hearty breakfast and a very nice farewell from our hosts Lynette and Michael towards Yungaburra; a small town in the middle of the Atherton Tablelands with only 931 inhabitants. Our goal was a campsite right at the southern tip of Lake Tinaroo.

After about an hour's drive and a short stop for shopping, we arrived at a relatively large, beautifully located park. Many campers of different sizes and facilities were staying here. Some for a day, others for the whole year. We decided on an 'unpowered' camping site (without power connection), as our camper has a battery that keeps the refrigerator & freezer running even without electricity. Our site was only 10 meters away from the beautiful lake. Boats, jet skis, and canoes passed by constantly. As always, we unpacked our camping chairs and table and decided to explore the small town first. The travel time was only 5 minutes. Arriving there, we encountered a small, somewhat stuck-in-time town with charming cafes and boutiques. We strolled through the town and read in the travel guide about a path along a small river where platypuses were said to live. Since Janina & I are really into the native animals in Australia, we walked away from the 'downtown' and headed to the river/creek. It didn't take us 5 minutes and we already saw the first 40-50 cm small egg-laying mammal swimming in the water. The river had murky water, so it was impossible to follow it while swimming. Some nice people came towards us. We exchanged a few words with most of them. In Australia, most people are really open-minded, friendly, and helpful! After seeing some turtles and platypuses and getting hungry, we went back to the camp. There, we enjoyed the evening and spontaneously decided to stay another night.

Day 13 - Lake Tinaroo - 02.09.2018

Another day awaited us at Lake Tinaroo. The weather was as gorgeous as always. 28°C and pure sunshine! Unfortunately, it cools down a lot at night. Janina and I regularly freeze despite blankets and warm clothes in the camper. It's still winter here ;)

Today we also wanted to go on the water! Janina, who is usually well informed and takes care of our tour planning, had found a beautiful & clear, small lake called 'Lake Eacham'. We drove half an hour to get there and parked right by the lake. A children's birthday party was in full swing, and other tourists were looking at the lake or swimming in it. BBQ areas can be found very frequently in Australia, where people sit together and prepare their food on gas grills.

A 3 km circular trail around the lake was signposted. Since we both felt like going on a little exploration tour, we started walking. The trail was rated easy to moderate in terms of difficulty. We immediately got that rainforest feeling from three days ago. People kept coming towards us. A family "warned" us about a recently sighted harmless green tree snake that was supposed to be sitting near a small bridge. A few minutes later, we arrived at the bridge and slowed down. A quick rustling revealed the small snake, which had chosen a rare sunny spot in the forest. It posed for our cameras and everyone let it be afterward :)

We arrived back at our starting point. The water was so clear that we could see the fish swimming at the bottom. Signs warned of a freshwater crocodile living in the lake. However, none of the visitors swimming there seemed to be deterred from jumping into the warm water by these warnings. Maybe also because an incident with humans is very unlikely. We actually wanted to go swimming too. But the clock already showed 2:00 PM and we had to start making our way back. After all, we wanted to drive to Lake Tinaroo in the north to rent a 2-person canoe for an hour. Arriving there, we rented one for $10 and made our way to the lake. It was fantastic! We paddled away and let ourselves drift. The sun was shining with immense heat on our floating canoe. But with sunscreen, hats, and water, it was bearable. During the tour, we wondered when we would see our first kangaroos in Australia. And suddenly, 4-5 kangaroos about hip-height appeared on the other shore. Their fur was reddish. Only their bellies faded in color a bit. To capture this moment, we wanted to get as close as possible to the marsupials. Although I was able to take some photos, the animals were very shy and quickly hopped back into the adjacent bush. The booked hour was almost over, so we paddled back to the shore through the small waves of other boats. We then returned to our camping spot with the camper - this time 'powered' with electricity!

We cooked a hearty meal in the camper and looked forward to a relaxing evening...