During our time at
Paronella Park there were only a few times we got our work roster to
find that we had 2 consecutive days off together. One such time was
at the end of June, so in Trooprock Aussie style we set off
adventuring! As we enjoyed the Atherton Tablelands area so much last
time when we visited 2 years back, we decided to visit the area
again. Herberton is the oldest town in the Atherton Tablelands and
there are a few things to keep you occupied during the day including
a mining museum, a 'spy museum' and a mock historical village. We
visited all of these but spent most of the day exploring 'Historic
Village Herberton'.
We arrived at Historic
Village Herberton at morning tea time and off we went to the cafe on
the premises. On display were many yummy-looking home made treats.
The most unusual thing caught my eye. A caramel tart with some sort
of marshmallow fudge on top so we ordered one to share and a coffee
each to wash it down. It was as good as it looked.
At the village there
are over 50 exhibits and restored buildings to look at. After morning
tea we went across the suspension bridge to the other side of Wild
River. We quickly got the impression that the person who owns the
village is a big collector and that it is his or her love project.
Later we found out that Historic Village Herberton is one of the best
known living museums in Australia and the passion here is evident.
On this side of the river to look at were some old steam engines,
Fords, Chevies and a collection of John Deer tractors and mowers.
For the children there is a playground to play at. There is also a
little pioneer kitchen, where on certain days of the week an outback
lunch is cooked over the fire. This lunch includes damper, stew and
billy tea. You can't get more Aussie than this! If you are a visitor
to Australia and have never eaten camp fire food, this is a good way
to experience it. Damper is a bread cooked on the coals of the fire.
A big loaf can be made by wrapping foil around the dough or putting
it in a camp oven. Small portions can be wrapped around a stick and
slow cooked then pulled off and usually filled with honey, golden
syrup, or maple syrup. I have also heard the smaller portions of
damper be referred to as dough boys or twisties in other parts of
Australia.
Back on the initial
side of the river we started to explore the rest of the mock village.
Here we found everything one would need. The butcher, the baker, the
candlestick maker. There was a bar, school, bank, toyshop, smithies,
a printing shed for newspapers, a radio store, a sewing machine
store, and the newest exhibit was the coach house which had many
styles of horse and carts or modes of early transport including the
'dunny cart' and a penny farthing the original bicycle . The
information in the old chemist was hilarious. An example is “Doctor
Williams' Pink Pills for pale people” and “Bathoids” which you
supposedly add to a bath and you lose 1-2lbs of fat every bath you
take... Hmm... This reminded me of the episode of Doctor Who with the
Adipose where the 'fat just walks away'.
After the village we
went to the information centre in town. This is also a mining museum.
Here you learn where certain mining ores were discovered in Australia
and how mining contributed to further exploration of our large
continent along with visual comparisons of what certain metals are
worth, and the different techniques and equipment for different
mining ores. We then finished off the day by going to the 'Spy Camera
Museum'. The variety of cameras here is very interesting. Items that
you would expect to see in a 'Get Smart' episode or James Bond movie
actually have existed in the last hundred years such as the button
hole camera! It was a lovely day out exploring, and getting away from
the rain for a bit of time!
The Li'l Aussie Monsters character that most relates to this post is Tinkerin' Franko Fruitbat.
- Jeni
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