After church, we headed south out of Cairns for Atherton and the Tablelands. The drive was beautiful and dizzying. The road between Cairns and Atherton skirted the outside of a mountain and was probably the most curvy road I have ever driven. I remarked to Mary that it was almost like playing a driving game. Lots of fun for me, but eventually it started to make the others sick.
At last we reached Atherton, had lunch at McDonalds, and then proceeded to our ultimate destination - the Crystal Caves. Although somewhat toursity, it was a lot of fun. The Crystal Caves are home to a collection of rocks and crystals from around the world, put on display in a fun environment for kids. Here is a picture of Drew and Anna with the world's biggest amethyst geode:
After the tour, Anna and Drew were able to pick out their own unopened amethyst geode and crack it open. These geodes are more than 40 million years old and look like a big egg. After opened, however, they reveal a beatiful cluster of purple crystals.
Here Anna and Drew pull down on the cracking mechanism while Mary holds the geode in position:
After cracking it open, Anna and Drew each took half of the newly cracked geode:
Very neat for them to be the first to see inside of this 40 million year old rock! And now they will always be able to look at their half and remember the experience, and know that the other is with their sibling wherever they are in the world. The experience was definitely worth while.
