Day 086, Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Yungaburra to Herberton

Distance travelled – 37.6 km
Avg speed – 15.1 kph
Max speed – 46.7 kph

Today was planned as a reasonably short day as we had a couple of things we wanted to look at in Herberton.

After a brief conversation with Charles and Nanette and then another couple we came across riding bikes, we finally left Yungaburra at 10.30, arriving in Atherton just under an hour later.

We headed to Woolies to restock the larder as we had let it run down not wanting to haul unnecessary weight up the Gillies Range. Whilst Denise was in the supermarket I settled myself down outside to mind the bikes. Two of the local Ambo’s came over for a chat and we got discussing amongst other things our route over the next few days. They had recently ‘done a job’ along a dirt road which followed an abandoned railway between Herberton and Ravenshoe. As this was a flatter road than the climb over the range on the main road they recommended we consider using it. We had been considering this route ourselves so it was good to get some recent intelligence on the road conditions.  They pointed out that before we got to Herberton though, we would have to climb a reasonably steep range just outside Atherton.

As it turned out this ‘range’ between Atherton and Herberton was the steepest section of road we have climbed on this trip and it seemed to take us forever to get to the top. The granny gear was engaged for much of the climb and there were a couple of points where we had stopped for a rest and could not get going again. This either required a short push to a more level spot or a point where we could roll from one side of the road to the other to get enough momentum to engage the pedals again. There were only ‘pull over’ lanes to stop in and on one occasion we stopped and set up our stools just before the next curve disappeared up another steep pinch. We topped the range at 1002m.

One of our reasons for visiting Herberton was to go to the Camera and Photography Museum. It is meant to have one of the best collections of cameras in the world. It was originally set up by an ex ASIO agent so it includes a number of spy cameras which gives it an unusual perspective. We had our photo taken at the studio's wishing chair.

Zoom into the map and use the 'Satellite' layer to see our new location.

Yungaburra CBD

Rest stop near the top of "the range" between Atherton and Herberton

Camera and Photography Museum, Herberton

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