The Sun shall be blotted from the sky!

[Griff]

What a fantastic area!

[glatt]

You've got me itching for a road trip.

[BigV]

Camping with two tents is not too intense for car camping.

[ZenGum]

So, after a few days in the bush, I visited the town of Atherton. Partly, I needed to do some shopping, but I also wanted to visit a museum called the Crystal Caves.

The shopping had one amusing moment. Atherton is no hippy village, but a farming town with tourism supplements. I dressed accordingly, to not freak out the normals: thoroughly washed, shirt and shorts, shoes with socks, even! When I went inside the shopping centre I even took off my hat and sunnies, to complete the Polite Young Man disguise. Yet, I still seemed to be getting disapproving looks from the little old ladies of the Country Women's Association. Sod 'em. I did my shopping, and as I was going through the cold-goods aisle in the supermarket, felt that it was bit chilly. Then I realised I had the top FIVE buttons of my shirt undone, down to below my navel.

Then to the Crystal Caves, which is in fact a shop in town.
The museum section is done out cave-style, with foam walls and stalagmites and stuff. You get a helmet with a light, partly as a gimmick, but also because you'll bang your head. You are encouraged not just to photograph, but in most cases, to TOUCH the displays.

Some fancy quartz crystals (no touching these)



Fossils, including trilobites, and the cave decor:



A darkened room, with a ceiling of thinly sliced back-lit agates.
There was another dark room with black lights to make minerals fluoresce (not shown).



This artificial fountain, using four tons of rose quartz.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Backlit trilobites?

[ZenGum]

The star attraction, the Empress of Uruguay.
This is an amethyst geode. At 3.4 metres long and 2.5 tons, it's the largest known one in the world.



This weird geode has quartz stalagmites rather than regular crystals.



Display cabinet:



More display cabinet.



More at http://www.crystalcaves.com.au/ especially better pics of the empress.

[xoxoxoBruce]

How big is the geode with quartz stalagmites?

[ZenGum]

Sorry if this is getting repetitive, but then I went camping again.

There was a flat open campground, formerly a special camping area where various Aboriginal tribes would gather to settle disputes - usually by a fight - and then make up and hang out for a few weeks afterwards.



The swimming hole was this river that had a clean gravel/pebble bottom and perfect visibility. Which was good, because there are freshwater stonefish (venomous) in it. The area also had swarms of march flies (horseflies, to some of you), stinging trees, and a lone dingo that wandered through the campground at night. The rangers (who were local Aboriginals) told me with the stinging trees, an untreated sting will cause severe pain on contact with water for up to three months; but "treated" stings only hurt for about a week, and "treatment" is to piss on it. I wonder if that's just a prank they play on tourists?

While I was here I had a few spare hours, so I got the tool kit and had a look at the funny brake-light/indicator thing. I did plenty of probing and jiggling and such, even threatened it with duct tape and WD40, but without success. Meh.

Nearby was a mountain I wanted to climb:



It is called Walsh's Pyramid (duh, it's a cone) or Banda Djurraga Murgu, Hill of the Scrub-fowl Nest-mound.

It was hot, and I wanted to see the sun rise from the summit, but didn't want to tackle an unknown trail in the dark, so I packed a bit of gear and started the hike at 4.30pm, although the temperature was still about 30. I was soon sweat-soaked, and the sun set when I was about half-way up. I did the third quarter by twilight, the final quarter by moonlight with a bit of torch use.

I made the summit without trouble. There was a strong southerly blowing, and it was moist and cool. I ate, and started to rug up. Two jumpers, extra socks, and a beanie, but I was still cool, and it was only early. I put on my full goretex rainsuit, but was still a bit cool. I got into my survival bag, a large orange plastic bag. This gave me enough shelter from the wind, but being non-breathable plastic, mean all my sweat etc stayed inside it.

Of course, the only real worry was thunderstorms. There had been a few in previous days, and this summit was NOT a good place to be. Granite and lightning play well together. It was a good thing I was too uncomfortable to sleep properly, because every 20 minutes or so I would do a scan of the weather. I've had thunderstorms approach me while camping before; you get plenty of warning with the light flashes in the sky and then the noise. Any warning sign like that and I was OUT OF THERE, dark or no dark.

Well, the night passed uneventfully, and dawn broke. Alas, it was a little cloudy, the views were rather fogged out! Just below the summit I took this shot, showing the shadow of the mountain with it's cloud hat.



As I descended, I met about a dozen other hikers in small groups coming up. I went south and found a roadhouse for more bacon and eggs.

Meanwhile, George TheCow was off at the beach. It is scenic, but no good for swimming, due to sharks, salt-water crocodiles, and two types of venomous jellyfish.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Just below the summit I took this shot, showing the shadow of the mountain with it's cloud hat.

Awesome! Love that picture.

[BigV]

that shop rocks!

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Backlit trilobites?

Backlit agates, blacklit flourides, spotlit trilobites.

This is going to be in the test.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

How big is the geode with quartz stalagmites?

Umm, about 60 cm across, I think.

Originally Posted by BigV

that shop rocks!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Freshwater stonefish (venomous), stinging trees, sharks, salt-water crocodiles, and two types of venomous jellyfish.

But of course.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But of course.

These jellyfish: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...13/3653150.htm

Australian box jellyfish can cause deadly cardiac arrest within minutes by punching holes in red blood cells and causing potassium to leak out of them, Hawaiian researchers have found.

But, say the researchers, writing today in the journal PLoS ONE, a zinc-based compound could one day be used as a treatment.

"The box jellyfish is the most venomous animal in the world," says lead author, Dr Angel Yanagihara, of the University of Hawaii's Department of Tropical Medicine.

The Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) inhabits coastal waters from Australia to Vietnam.

The creature is the size of a basketball and has 60 two-metre long tentacles covered in stinging cells. Apart from causing unsuspecting swimmers excrutiatingly pain and other symptoms, being stung also occasionally leads to rapid death from cardiac arrest.

"The fastest deaths have been within 2 to 5 minutes," says Yanagihara.

[ZenGum]

Did I mention the lasers?

[xoxoxoBruce]

I assumed in this day and age, what with Australia being a most modern first world county, they all have lasers.