Chillagoe Cave & Outback Day Tour

Billy Tea picked me up at 7.15am in Smithfield and was greeted by two guides, Andrew and Mark. After climbing the Kuranda range the 4WD vehicle cut through the hinterland of Jaques coffee plantation through to the Mareeba Wetlands at the Jabiru Lodge, where morning tea and coffee including biscuits were already prepared. Ranger ‘Chook’ was waiting for us, pointed out a freshwater crocodile which we could observe through the binoculars and after about 15mins of admiring the peaceful environment conducted a cruise on the lagoon and explained bird and plant life to us.

Then we headed towards Dimbulah, all on 4WD tracks, bypassing Mareeba and ended on the Dimbulah-Chillagoe road. The 2 guides were a wealth of knowledge, tirelessly explaining different crops, the irrigation system, and wildlife until we stopped for a toilet break in Dimbulah.

Then we continued towards Chillagoe, stopped on the way at Lappa Junction for a look into the ‘museum’ – an old pub with a collection of items from gone by days. By now we were looking forward to lunch at the Post Office Hotel in Chillagoe which was only 20 mins away. Before that, we went to the ‘Smelters’, now an open air museum. We had a choice of fish/chips and salad or a burger. Everything tasted very good and was well presented.

After a stop at a souvenir marble store, Mark drove us outside of Chillagoe to the ‘Royal Arch Cave’ where a ranger awaited us for a tour through the cave. The ranger explained the different formations of stalactites and stalagmites and the cool cave was a welcome change of climate to the heat outside.

We then headed back towards the tablelands and stopped at Skybury Coffee Plantation for afternoon tea. The guests were shown a short movie about coffee growing in this area.
By about 5.30 pm we were driving down the Kuranda range, getting ready to get dropped off at our pick up points.

Mark and Andrew were very enthusiastic guides, you could ask them any question they knew and answer for it and on the way back they also told us stories they had read or heard of the history of the surrounding area.