Rick and Rae's Travels: Thurs, 1st September

We were up early to be at the Auto Electricians at 8am, but of course he's a tradesman so he didn't arrive until 8:15am. It took until 9:30am for him to install a new 12-pin plug for us and put our electric brake wiring back to the way he found it.

We left Ravenshoe and headed north along a very scenic but winding road for about 30kms to a historic little town called Herberton. Herberton's claim to fame is tin mining. We went into the Visitors' Centre where a lovely lady told us a bit about Herberton and tin. We didn't realise just how heavy tin is in its natural form and that it has many uses. It is used to produce tinplate, or steel coated with tin is used for food packaging. Tin and tin alloys are used also for solder, especially in the electronics industry. It is commonly used as an alloy for bearing metal and as an alloy in metallic coatings. Inorganic compounds of tin are used in ceramics and glazes. Organic compounds of tin are used in plastics, wood preservatives, pesticides and in fire retardants.

We picked up a map of the town's main street and as we had been up so early headed for a coffee shop. The one we went to was run by volunteers from an animal rescue organisation. It wasn't the best. Rick ordered a milkshake and was told about ten minutes later that the lady couldn't get the milkshake maker to work, so she would give Rick his drink 'un-shaked' and refund his money. I ordered a devonshire with coffee ... the scones were cold, the cream was fake and the coffee was pretty awful. Half-way through consuming our morning tea, another lady came into the shop. She must have been the 'boss lady'. Next thing she came out to Rick and said she managed to get the milkshake maker going and would Rick like his drink 'shaked'. There wasn't much left so he declined.

We then drove about 1km north of town to the Herberton Historic Village. We were a bit skeptical by this time but paid out $20 per head and went in. It turned out to be one of the best $40 we have ever spent and enjoyed a good 3 hours looking around. There are 50 buildings dating from 1870, which are original and have intact displays, original machinery, vehicles and related items. The original Herberton State School building from 1881 was particularly interesting with its blackboards full of typical examination questions from its time ... Rick and I both failed miserably. Over the years the buildings have been moved to their present positions and restored. Harry Skennar and his wife started the collection and it has continued with present owners Craig and Connie Kimberley. We also enjoyed a lovely lunch in one of the old buildings.

We left Historic Herberton and drove on to yet another nice free camp just north of Atherton called Rocky Creek Memorial Park. Here we ran into Kay and Glen again (from Gilbert River free camp). This ended up being quite a pleasant spot with grass for a change, and we had TV, weak internet and mobile.