Welcome to Cindy and David's 2013 Adventures
Note 09 - Mareeba
Our time ended on the east coast and it was off over the mountain range to Mareeba, the door to the outback! (Left is the strange furniture on the café on our farewell visit to a local Cairns beach!) On our way we called in at the Kuranda Butterfly House and had a guided tour of the breeding section. A true delight and not to be missed.
Never having actually stayed at Mareeba before we followed advice from our friends in Cairns and headed for the rodeo grounds and lo and behold there were all these grey hairs lined up and settled in for the duration. So we joined them.
Never having actually stayed at Mareeba before we followed advice from our friends in Cairns and headed for the rodeo grounds and lo and behold there were all these grey hairs lined up and settled in for the duration. So we joined them.
Mareeba camping at the Rodeo ground
Had a lovely week there eventually joining up with new friends Ross and Sandra Dowdell for drinks each evening to discuss our days and the state of the world etc.
Highlights include a hot air balloon arriving unannounced early one morning charging overhead just missing the caravans and landing behind the vans just missing a fence! Caught it on video (whilst in my pj's!) Then there was The Great Wheelbarrow Race!
Highlights include a hot air balloon arriving unannounced early one morning charging overhead just missing the caravans and landing behind the vans just missing a fence! Caught it on video (whilst in my pj's!) Then there was The Great Wheelbarrow Race!
Mareeba Wetlands
Feeding the rock Wallabies at Granite Gorge, near Mareeba
Sandy and Ross (not forgetting their "child")
Kate's turn to push while dad looks on from support vehicle.
Friends from Atherton, the Donovans, had a very important entry to the race, father John and daughter Kate, alternating the run which is a 3 day event from Mareeba to Chillogoe (about 140 kms overall). Above are Kate's feet after the first day. They did finish the race and did well and we believe are recovering reasonably well
John's turn
Participants in the race are Single, Duo or teams of 10 and is organised very well with the slowest teams heading off first and the fastest last.
There is a 10 minute gap between each start time so that there is enough space between wheelbarrows for the normal traffic to move past the runners and their support vehicles.
We watched some of the teams run. John and Kate (a duo) ran for about 500 meters before change-over, whereas the teams of 10 run only 50 meters at a time, but sprinted.
There is a 10 minute gap between each start time so that there is enough space between wheelbarrows for the normal traffic to move past the runners and their support vehicles.
We watched some of the teams run. John and Kate (a duo) ran for about 500 meters before change-over, whereas the teams of 10 run only 50 meters at a time, but sprinted.
Kate at the end of stage 1 in Dimbulah on the massage table!
Quote from their eMail after the race
"We came 3rd in the Duo’s, well behind the first two but we made it…….the 66 kms after Friday was extremely tough, we don’t know how we made it….!!!!
Running into Chillagoe on Sunday was just an emotional relief.
Physically we’re both pretty good, a couple of sore points but emotionally & mentally completely spent, I think that will take a while yet.
The results and times are up, I’ll put the link below.
We did 4 + hrs on Friday of running, 8 hrs on Saturday and 4 + hrs tot running on Sunday……very hard.
"We came 3rd in the Duo’s, well behind the first two but we made it…….the 66 kms after Friday was extremely tough, we don’t know how we made it….!!!!
Running into Chillagoe on Sunday was just an emotional relief.
Physically we’re both pretty good, a couple of sore points but emotionally & mentally completely spent, I think that will take a while yet.
The results and times are up, I’ll put the link below.
We did 4 + hrs on Friday of running, 8 hrs on Saturday and 4 + hrs tot running on Sunday……very hard.
Very Definitely, our Heroes, Well done John and Kate
The wheelbarrow theme relates to the Palmer River gold rush in 1873, where prospectors took their possessions in wheelbarrows from Mareeba to Chillagoe and onwards. This monument is in Mareeba at the beginning of the so called "Wheelbarrow Way"
The street parade through Mareeba of all the participants, some in their running uniforms, some just having fun before getting down to the serious stuff. One of the best parades we have ever witnessed. Much trouble had been taken over the whole event with everyone so friendly and full of fun.