Day 26- Lake Tinaroo

Did a big drive around the region today. But first a run in the tinnie to check the crab traps. One baby red-claw and one nice big fella. But not the big catch that the boys were hoping for. Jordy is getting so confident in the boat and loves to haul the pots in himself. We did not take Darcy out in the boat but he was pretty excited about the crabs.

We headed to the Nerada Tea teahouse first up. Learnt all about the history of tea. Then had a chance to sample a couple of brews before enjoying a pot of our chosen tea and some yummy scones, cream, and jam.

Then on to Giallo Cheese and Chocolate factory. There was an observation window overlooking the cheese-making room and a tv showing another area of the factory. And inside the shop you could watch a lady making and decorating chocolates. We sampled about a dozen cheeses that were incredibly good. We bought a vintage, a sort of camembert, and a haloumi style cheese as well as a macadamia cheese. I don’t usually like stuff added into my cheese but this macadamia was amazing; it was almost like eating a white chocolate with macadamias, so we just had to buy some. We also bought a few chocolates but they were REALLY expensive.

We stopped at the Curtain Fig Tree on the way back past. Mum and Dad had been there in 1968! And Dad climbed to the top of the root curtain. This time they were content to walk along the boardwalk with the boys. We ate our sandwiches and threw the crust to the scrub turkeys. Darcy is so funny with them and keeps trying to chase them. And the boys played in the leaves.

We grabbed some milk and bread from Yungaburra (as expensive as we expected!) and then called into Lake Barrine which is a big lake formed in the crater of a volcano. The shop and teahouse at the lake used to be a hospital and convalescent home for soldiers during WWII and my Pop had been there so it was nice for me to learn more about his history and see where he had stayed so long ago. It’s a beautiful area and would have been lovely to swim in if we had packed our swimmers.

Back to camp in time for me to have a quick fish out on the lake. Got a little blowey with some grey clouds hugging the surrounding mountains so I did not stay out long (no bites anyway). Tim and Jordy checked the crab traps again (nothing).

Steak and vegies for dinner- got to love this weber! I fell asleep putting Darcy to bed but the others did not stay up long with the cool wind that was blowing.