Our first stay in June turned out to be quite cold and rainy, every day the clouds would climb up from the sea and turn into drizzle at Tinaroo. We'd get up early to walk the dogs Gus a Kelpie Healer cross and Eric the Beagle, they would be rearing to go and as the mornings were clear and still it was wonderful. Usually the walks were towards Tinaroo Dam, where there is some fantastic walk paths and tracks. An additional swim in the dam was so looked forward to. The afternoon walks (if it wasn't raining to hard) was usually around the neighbourhood, checking out the homes and farmland.
The house was perched on a hill with views west towards a long line of hills in the distance. The gardens were large and pretty, no fences, however the owners had electrical wiring to keep the dogs in, who new exactly how far they could go before they got a zap. The dogs were big and bouncy and a lot of fun. Elmo liked them immediately, but they ignored him most of the time. They new he was old and tended to be gentle around him, which was lovely.
We settled in quickly to the routine, and spent most of the time with the dogs due to the weather, we didn't get the motor bike out much at all, and the bicycles were not used at all.
One clear day we left late morning to ride the motorbike down the Kuranda Range Road to Cairns, had lunch and then came back up the Gillies before the clouds came in. It was a spectacular ride. We also got in a trip to the Nerada Tea Plantation for morning tea, and saw the Tree Kangaroos with a baby near the cafe.
They were magnificent.
