The Afghanistan Avenue of Honour at Lake Tinaroo is a living memorial dedicated to the memory of all who served in the fight against terror in Afghanistan and to those brave and selfless Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom and liberty.

The Avenue symbolises the final journey home of the fallen, and preserves forever the gratitude and respect the nation bestows on all those to whom we owe a debt… that can never be repaid.

The Avenue follows the path of fallen Commando Ben Chuck’s Gun Carriage, July 1st 2010, and symbolises the ‘final journey home’ of the Fallen.

A plaque representing each fallen soldier is placed on an ‘Honour Board’ in close proximity to the Memorial. The landscape surrounds give visitors the opportunity to pause and reflect and a place to pay their respects. The emphasis of the Avenue is directed to the living, natural, free, open aspects of the trees, stunning location, pristine water views and the enhancement of the existing picturesque environment.

With a few days break until the next golf in Millaa Millaa Yungaburra is a picturesque village on the banks of Lake Tinaroo and provides a scenic spot to camp.

Mareeba Golf Club is a lovely country golf course. There is a variety of wildlife on the course. Siobhan came third in the competition and Bob didn’t.

Mareeba is the first of our long series of golf tournaments as we head (slowly) back down south and towards home. We find a fantastic camping spot about 5 Kms north of the town on a farming property called ‘Birds on Barron’. We camp here for 8 days. We are visited daily by a friendly emu, three dogs, two horses and a miscellany of native bird life.

WE HAVE OUR OWN NATIONAL PARK !! Davies Creek is a National Park just north of Mareeba with an impressive waterfall and a scenic walk along the creek.

Cairns is just a day trip away – we have been there quite a few times before but it is still worth a trip.

Mossman is the main town in the Daintree area. We use it as a base to visit Port Douglas. We grab a game of golf at the Mossman Golf Club – take a look at the two photos of Bob at the Mossman Golf Club – taken 5 years apart.

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The Daintree rain forest is a national park in far north Queensland. It was founded in 1981 and it became a World Heritage Site in 1988. The park consists of two sections, with a settled agricultural area between them which includes the towns of Mossman and Daintree Village.

One entrance to Daintree National Park is located south of the Daintree River at Mossman Gorge where a visitor centre has been built from where tourists take a shuttle bus to the gorge, where they can take a walk or a refreshing swim.

The most spectacular and oldest part of the Daintree rain forest is north of the Daintree River. There is a range of boardwalks and untouched beaches to explore, and the endangered cassowary can be encountered anywhere.

Endeavour Falls is a waterfall on the Endeavour River just 30 Kms out of Cooktown. We take advantage of a camp site right on the falls. We are the only people there for 2 days. No power, no phones, no internet … perfect.

Cape Tribulation is 110 Kms north of Cairns and is within the Daintree National Park.

The Cape was named by Captain James Cook on June 10th 1770 after his ship scraped a reef north east of the Cape. Cook steered away from the coast into deeper water but at 10:30 pm the ship ran aground on what is now named Endeavour Reef. The ship stuck fast and was badly damaged, desperate measures being needed to prevent it foundering until it was re-floated the next day. Cook recorded “… the north point was named Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles”.

The Bloomfield Track was completed in 1984 connecting Cooktown to Cape Tribulation. It is 30 Kms long and is impassable without a good four wheel drive vehicle. The road is only partially sealed and may be impassable after bad weather.

Part way down the track we stop at the Bloomfield Falls – quite impressive.

248 years to the day when Captain James Cook and his crew beached the Endeavour starting their 48 day adventure in Cooktown. Amongst others these were some of the significant historical moments :

• First meaningful contact between the British explorers and the natural inhabitants of this land
• Six recorded meetings between the two cultures
• 150 words of the local Guugu Yimithir language recorded
• First sighting and sketch of the gangurru (forever afterwards known as the kangaroo)
• First recorded act of reconciliation in Australian history
• Discovery of many new plant and animal species never before recorded

This re-enactment was a very moving experience for us.

This is one of the major parts of the Anniversary weekend and it was great fun as can be seen from the photos.