11 July 2011 - Atherton Tablelands QLD, Australia



Platypus at Yungaburra




Curtain Fig Tree



Off to another destination, travelling from Georgetown on a sealed road with many surprises.  Sometimes single lane, sometimes two lanes, mostly in poor condition & badly patched which reminds me of our roads around home.  We have left the flat lands & into hills with large sandstone escarpments & views of the Newcastle Ranges, through the tiny, neat  little village of Mt Surprise.  Shortly after we turn onto the Kennedy Highway (?) - at one stage a beautiful black & white horse slows the traffic ahead as it hovers near the road.  May have been a wild one as there didn't appear to be any houses in the area.  The laugh of the day was a roadside sign at one stage depicting a great big bull pushing a car over, presumably  meant to be a warning of cattle on the side of the road.  Unfortunately couldn't get a photo.  We wanted a short day after our busy one yesterday, so found an excellent freebie stopover again which was great till it turned to 2deg  overnight.  We were saved by some vanners next to us who had a lovely fire in a brazier going at breakfast time, so there was quite a little group huddled around including me for a while.  Thankfully it was a nice sunny morning, so we didn't take long to thaw out.  We have seen some amazing old characters along the way, like a very elderly old gent in a very small tent in that cold, cold night air.  Also another gentleman on his own, also not so young, who had a tiny trailer which had been built into his sleeping accommodation.  They were both very respectable & obviously enjoying their later years.  Another surprise that morning was when we saw  one of those great big 'bendy' buses parked among us selling all manner of goods including books.  Again it was a man on his own, though he did have a sign on the back 'woman wanted'  Apparently he goes to all the big mining camps selling stuff.  He is not the first we have seen with the same advertisement for a woman - the last one had a woman with him so we're not sure if he was greedy or wanted a change!!!

After leaving the camp we called into Millstream Falls a km or two along the road.  It is the widest waterfall in Australia but is not very high at all.  Still, we like to visit ALL the waterfalls.

Next stop is Ravenhoe, the highest town in QLD & part of the Atherton Tablelands inland from Cairns.  It is surrounded by rather misty mountains.  Because of its height it is the ideal spot for wind turbines, & the day being rather windy, we found it rather eerie standing right beneath them.  We also discover at the Info centre that there are 12 species of possum within a 10km radius of the town.  Some of them are most unusual & cute but nevertheless they can keep them here.  Stu finds an old steam train to photograph, much more his thing than mine.  After Ravenshoe the drive is through tropical forest which form large shady tunnels of trees over the road, & rolling hills of good farming land, much like NZ.  We soon reach Atherton which is quite a large town & is a large horticultural area, growing crops such as peanuts, coffee, mango, bananas, & vegetables & has wonderful red soil like Pukekohe.  Speaking of bananas, they do not import bananas into Australia, & because of the floods & a shortage of Australian ones, the price is $12.98 per kilo, sometimes even up to $14.98.  I am amazed that they sell any at all!  We stop to stock up the larder again before heading to another recommended 'freebie' which is HUGE!  It is a memorial park owned by the local council & can contain about 100 caravans if everyone parks sensibly.  There is a small toilet block & water which is not drinkable so only useful for showers etc.  Parking time is for 72 hours only to try & stop people staying permanently or long term.  Because there are so many vans there, it is quite safe to unhook the caravan & take off for the day to explore.  There are always some vanners who stay around all day, but most people put a very secure lock on the tow balls of the caravans so that they can't be towed away. We make the most of it by visiting Lake Tinaroo, a large man-made dam not far out of Atherton, which has an amazing canal system  irrigating the surrounding agricultural area.  We also visited some wetlands at Hastie Swamp which had 1000's of ducks of many varieties.  I'm sure there are other birds at other times but not at present unfortunately.    Stu wanted to visit the old heritage mining town of Herberton, which proved to be very interesting & well done.  We learned that it was because of the miners vote that Australia became the Commonwealth of Australia & not separate countries like Europe.  That was completely new to me. Many of the buildings in this village have been transported there from other places as well, to make quite an authentic mix of buildings from those times.  My favourite was the old school, not because of the building, but the lessons on the blackboards.  They had maths problems there that I still couldn't answer, & even the english grammer had me thinking hard.  In fact I realised one grammatical error I make quite often & I thought I was quite good at english.  Never too late to learn!  Also at Herberton is a Spy Camera Museum - I kid you not.  We didn't indulge in that one.
Itinerary next day was to visit the small town of Yungaburra & its attractions.  Firstly a large Strangler Fig Tree known as 'The Curtain Fig'.  Strangler Fig's start as a small seed in the fork of a tree & like a rata vine gradually send down their roots to the ground & gradually strange the host tree until it dies.  This one must be extremely old as it really is like a curtain of roots.  Had a short stop at Lake Eacham which proved to be rather boring, but the highlight of the day was to see if we could find some platypus at Petersons Creek in the centre of Yungaburra.   There is viewing platform right alongside the main road, but we were not aware of that, so took a walk along a small track by the creek itself.  To be honest I wasn't hopeful, but I was like a big kid, full of excitement when we actually spotted one.  They are the cutest little mammals & we soon learned how to spot them by the bubbles in the water now & again.  The creek is a bit murky (like Paparoa Creek), so apart from that & the way they hide under the banks, its not easy to find them.  After watching the first one for some time & managing a few shots, we continued on & saw a total of 5.  Finally arriving at the viewing platform we couldn't see any, so felt extremely proud of ourselves & directed some other couples to 'our' spots for which they were extremely grateful.  A great day completed.



Sunset at Walkamin

 Our 72hr stop completed, we moved onto a caravan park towards Mareeba.  It is only $22 per night, is the friendliest camp we have been in & spotlessly clean.  Even the grounds are immaculate with little gardens & nice flowering trees.  In the centre of the camp is a large outdoor kitchen, community area with comfortable lounge chairs, a very large fireplace, a 'freebie' table to put anything you no longer need (was even a cask of fruit wine there).  Also a jigsaw table with large easel board, books, videos, games etc.  They even had one of those great Ezy Cook ovens for anyone to use, & electric frypans etc.  Each evening the group of 'over winterers' get together for happy hour which we never attended only being here for two nights.

Our next  attraction to visit was  Granite Gorge which to be honest, we didn't know much about.  On arrival after quite a long drive out, we discovered that we had to pay  in order to do the walks through the gorge & Stu's first reaction was 'No'.  However, from the information site we could see lots of tiny rock wallabies being fed by people & I just had to do it too.  So armed with the appropriate feed supplied, down we went.  They are the most adorable little creatures who will come & eat from your hands with their little front paws holding on .  Naturally they all flock towards the person with the food & sometimes there is a bit of 'argy bargy' between them if one is a bit greedy.  There is always a little shy one who misses out so I tried to concentrate on those.  The most gorgeous of all was the little mother with her adorable little joey in her pouch who kept poking his head out to try & eat too.  Mother obviously didn't think that a good idea so kept stuffing it back in but we managed to get several photos.  When you stop feeding them they stand up on their little back legs & gaze up at you with their pleading little eyes.  They must have very full tummies by the end of the day, but the owner informed me that the food is good for them because they don't get enough carbohydrates???  Personally I am not usually a fan for feeding wild animals  but couldn't help myself on this occasion.  Stu reckoned they looked like big rats but they were amazingly cute.  Anyway, the feeding frenzy over, we set out to walk the gorge armed with map.  The rocks are huge granite boulders & I could imagine them polished into a kitchen bench or nice coffee table.  Actually although it was only a couple of kms, the 'walk' turned out to be a rockhopping operation, but lots of fun.  By the time we were finished we were quite hot & sweaty & glad to be heading back.   Called into Mareeba wetlands further on hoping to see Jancana & Jabiru.  Again we discovered it was a paying proposition, even to walk around the lagoons though they did have little boat cruises too.  However it was all too late in the day - 4pm, & they closed at 4.30pm.  Did see one little Jacana tripping around on the water lily leaves so that was a bonus.  Revisited the next day, paid to do the walks ($10 each) & again saw nothing, in fact there were only a couple of egrets on the main lagoon & swans, egrets, shags on the other, so a big dissapointment.  Photographed a few bush birds, yet to identify from our bird book.  Visited 'Coffee Works' thinking we would learn a lot about coffee, but it is mainly a cafe, gift shop etc, most items from overseas.  If you want to taste all the different coffees & chocolates it costs $19 per person!!!  Needless to say we didn't bother.  We did however treat ourselves to a coffee & cake (Stu's idea not mine),  & Stu chose chocolate cheesecake (very rich), which he regretted for the rest of the day, while I opted for Pumpkin & Ginger Cake (light & delicious).  & had no problem at all.  All in all it was a bit of a 'fizzer', but on the way back to camp decided it was time to do some painting at last, (much persuasion from me), so bought a canvas each & intend to go back to the last large freebie site just a few kms down the road & just paint for a day or two & plan our next move.  Are now at the stage where we are not sure where to go or what to see as we head down towards the Sunshine Coast on our last lap.  The weather is not so nice at present, overcast in the mornings, & windy, improving a bit through the day.  Luckily  at the wetlands yesterday it was lovely & actually quite hot but it is much more sheltered than where we are situated.    Mareeba boasts of having 300 sunny days per year so is a popular winter escape for the 'seniors'.  Incidentally, seniors do get a discounts at a lot more places here than at home & as they very rarely ask for cards, we have managed to get the advantage of that too although I'm sure it doesn't apply to 'foreigners'.



Rock wallaby with Joey