Mareeba Coffee

SUNDAY, 14 AUGUST 2016

Coffee bushes - mature and regenerating

Boring moving?

Coffee time

Water feature

Painting the kitchen at the museum

Afternoon tea with Mr & Mrs Jamieson

A small section of the museum

The water is back!

Must have accessory

Fashions on the Field

Pre-dinner drinks

The mounting yard

And they are racing!

The weather continues to be very warm (well, hot actually, on some days), although we did have a couple of rainy days this week but not enough to be too much of a nuisance.  We had a good evening at bowls on Tuesday, with both of us winning all our games, however only Les brought home the money this week.  Wednesday was a fairly quiet day – a good time to visit the young ladies with the magic fingers!

Thursday: James and Maureen joined us for an outing to Mareeba and a coffee crawl.  Our first stop after climbing the Kuranda Range was at the Termite shop for the requested supply of chilli chutney, then it was on to Jacques Coffee Farm.  We have never been here before and were very pleasantly surprised at the professionalism of the farm and staff.  We participated in the tour of the farm after viewing a video detailing the history of the Jacques family in Mareeba and their battles to establish a coffee plantation.  Following the tour, it was lunch and coffee on the deck before continuing via the alternative route to Mareeba.  We hadn’t travelled very far before the bitumen disappeared and a large water crossing appeared (probably why the road was only recommended for 4 wheel drive vehicles).  James refused to walk the crossing first (something to do with crocodiles and mud!) but the Pajero handed it without any problems.  Our next stop was at NQ Gold Coffee for our regular purchase from Maria, only to be told that this would probably be the last of her coffee as they would be closing within three months.  Following this, we thoroughly enjoyed a stop at the Mareeba Information Centre and Historical Museum – this museum always seems to have a new exhibit added and we always seem to learn something new about the region.

On Friday morning, we had our longest walk yet – last for a few days, unfortunately, owing to a large blister!  Saturday was very hot once again, and we decided to join the thousands of others in the centre of Cairns looking for a parking spot (Cairns seems to be much busier this year).  It took us nearly half an hour, but which time our waffle and ice cream was very welcome.  A slow walk/hobble helped burn off a few calories before returning to the caravan to prepare for the evening’s entertainment.  As the Cairns’ Cup is being run this weekend, a Crystal Cascades’ Cup and dinner was organised for Saturday evening, with people bringing food to share and then taking part in the number of races leading up to the running of the Cup.  A great night with lots of good food and lots of laughter.  I managed two second places in the heats, however, Himself was rather disappointed with his steeds.