Our Travels

On our way to our next camping spot, Dunk Island View Caravan Park in Mission Beach, we travelled through the Wooroonooran National Park and came upon the Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway. Feeling the need to stretch our legs, we paid up and went in for a 2 km walk. they have about 500m of elevated walkway though the rainforest canopy plus a  platform that stretches about 40m out over the gorge and a tower that is level with the top of the canopy.

It was pretty spectacular considering much of this part of the forest was decimated by Cyclone Yasi in 2011

Red Banded Jezebel

In the carpark there was a bottlebrush which was covered in small red, white, yellow and black butterflies which Terry later found out were Red Banded Jezebels. We also saw a couple of large, brilliant blue Ulysses butterflies and some honeyeaters on the same bottlebrush. The walk had some amazing views over the South Johnstone River and the surrounding mountains.

Jacky climbing the tower at Rainforest Canopy Walk, she was not happy

We even climbed the tower at the end of the walk which made you feel like you were at the top of the mountains. From there we continued on to South Mission Beach and our caravan park.

Whilst Yungaburra was our destination for today we made a few stops along the way. Lake Euramoo was our first stop and it is a kidney shaped crater lake. Next was the Chimneys, two large chimneys that are all that remains of an old homestead. Mabo creek crater was next although there is some dispute over whether this is actually a crater. We did the circuit walk around Mabo crater and our final stop before we hit the highway was at the Cathedral Fig Tree. It is extremely tall with a very broad base. Whilst we were there the walkways around the tree were being decorated for a wedding to take place later in the day.

Cathedral Fig Tree, Yungaburra

As we drove down the highway towards Yungaburra we saw a turnoff to Lake Barrine, another crater lake, so we drove on down. Lake Barrine boasts two heritage listed Kauri trees (of which there are not too many left unless they are in inaccessible places) and a tearoom overlooking the lake and dating back to the 1920’s.

Lake Barrine Tearooms

Lunch here seemed like a good idea so we continued on to Yungaburra after lunch.

Just outside of town is the famous Curtain Fig Tree and this was our next stop.

Curtain Fig Tree, Yungaburra

The Historic walk around town was our next activity. We parked at a spot called the Allumbah Pocket from where we did the old town loop taking in many original buildings dating back to the early 1900’s. On arriving back at the car we crossed Petersons Creek by suspension bridge and tried unsuccessfully to spot a platypus (they are supposed to be visible in this creek). We even went down to the platypus viewing platform but still had no luck. On the way back to camp we made a brief stop at Lake Eacham – sister crater lake to Lake Barrine and one where people swim). Passing by the Cathedral Fig Tree walk we saw signs that the wedding was in progress.

Our campsite on the lake was very picturesque but we had a nocturnal visitor after we were in bed that took a liking to what we had dropped on our groundsheet and ate a hole right through it.
We headed out of camp and back towards Atherton. On the way we stopped at the bottom of the Dam wall where a huge pipe was letting water out of the dam into the river.
We arrived in Atherton around lunchtime and we needed to get fuel and do some shopping, which we did before finding a spot near the old train station to have a picnic lunch. One of the big attractions in Atherton is the Crystal Caves located in the main street. This was our next stop. At street level it is a fairly large jewellery store where they also have crystal geodes for sale. The caves are man-made and are under the store. In the caves there are lots of displays and to enter them you are given a miners hat complete with light to enable you to explore them. It was quite expensive so Terry gave me a choice – do the caves or buy some really nice amethyst earrings and a matching necklace. The jewellery won out.

Halloran’s Hill Lookout

On the way back to camp we took in Halloran’s Hill Lookout in Atherton. It gives a terrific view of the surrounding countryside and is a great place to have a picnic. There are tables, BBQ’s and a children’s playground as well as a walk trail.
A stop at the lookout at the top of the dam wall on the way back to camp was very informative. Construction commenced in 1953 and the dam was completed in 1958 and it supplies irrigation to much of the tableland country around Atherton.

We left Ravenshoe at about 12.30pm as Terry had taken the 4WD to the mechanic again about a small oil leak. We had lunch from the bakery and then drove through Atherton to find our campsite on the banks of Lake Tinaroo, a large lake created when they built a dam on the Barron River. It is about three times as big as Sydney Harbour. We were looking for Fong On Campsite as this seemed to be the only one on the lakeside that didn’t require an e-booking. Wrong! Terry went online and made the booking just before we set up camp.

Lake Tinaroo

Lake Tinaroo was beautiful spot for camping, particularly large groups, there were many sites around the 109km circumference and most of them were large open sites with easy access to the water

A couple of signs warning not to camp this close to the lake edge

One of the spectators as we set up camp at Lake Tineroo

Kookaburra watching our camp

Today was waterfall day, I had listed seven falls to visit, and the first was Tully falls. This turned out to be a trickle over a massive granite cliff face into a massive gorge, because the river is now dammed for irrigation the only time the falls are near their original flow is during a particularly heavy wet season.

From here we went down the escarpment to the Millaa Millaa falls, the most photographed falls in Queensland.

Millaa Millaa Falls

They are a very even single drop of around 30 mtrs into a beautiful, easily accessed pool. It is very popular and all the tour buses stop there to let the backpackers have a swim and despite the cool weather there were plenty of young people in the pool. The weather was becoming increasingly overcast and my enthusiasm for taking photos of waterfalls was rapidly declining. From here we went down further to Henrietta Creek, the place I had originally planned to camp at. One thing you have to give credit for is the way Queensland Parks set up their campsites, they are picturesque, green and well set out with the tropical rainforest as the back drop. We had lunch here, then walked down to the creek and again there was a beautiful fresh water pool with plenty of water running through it. A great place to swim but the weather was not encouraging us to get the bathers out.

Heading back we saw a sign to Mungalli Falls Retreat, this was one of the falls I had on my list however the sign indicated a private property. As it turned out Mungalli Falls has the distinction of being the highest falls on the tablelands and the only large falls in Queensland to be on freehold private property. There was a 450m track down to the bottom of the falls but it was late in the day and Jacky was not keen so we had afternoon tea instead.

Mungalli Falls Rapids

We had a nice Devonshire tea in a Gazebo right next to the Mungalli Falls Rapids.

Back to Ravenshoe was a trip into the clouds.

Lookout over Millaa Millaa

Lookout over Millaa Millaa (2012)

The first part of today was spent fixing mechanical issues, the vehicle was leaking coolant and diff oil. The coolant leak was fixed by tightening hose clamps however one of the side mounts for the radiator had broken causing an increase in vibration. The diff leak was the breather plug, it appeared that some object had hit it and bent it at a 45⁰ angle and split the metal where the tube attached. A very helpful local mechanical was able to straighten it and seal it with braze.

After sorting out those issues we headed off to Herberton. The last time we were in Queensland in 2012, we pulled into the car park of the Herberton Village and Jacky was unable to locate her handbag, we had to drive back to Mareeba to pick it up and ran out of time to see the Village, consequently this was a “must do” on this trip.

Herberton is an old timber / mining town similar to the timber towns in the SW of WA however I think some of their hills are larger and they certainly cover a larger area. The main attraction is the Herberton Historical Village which has over 50 historical buildings and displays which have been moved to the site and restored.

Historical Village in Herberton

The buildings ranged from the local school house to a variety shops, livery stables, mining shacks and garages all dating back to the 19^th century. The garage had a range of early vintage cars with some in running order. The highlight there is a 1923 F Model Harley Davidson and similar vintage Indian both of which were in running order. They also have the Morris delivery van used in the Sullivan’s TV Show

Delivery Van from the Sullivans TV show

Jacky at the Historical Village in Herberton

The village gave a real insight to the hardships and the working life of Australians in the pioneering days.

The afternoon was completed with coffee and cake at a quaint café in Herberton

Jacky got the brownie points today, she was the first to say Happy Anniversary. She had been prepping herself all week because for the past few years it has been me who has reminded her of the significance of today usually with the help of an Outlook calendar and often later in the day.
Today we are travelling to Ravenshoe, the highest town in Queensland, 930 mtrs (3,050ft) above sea level and after the dry flat Gulf country the hills and green countryside was a welcome change. We arrived around lunch time and checked out the visitors centre and they recommended camping in the old railway yards right in town.

It wasn’t too bad, though the caretaker was doing his best to squeeze as many people in as he could so it was a little cramped for space but at $10 / night for a powered site we couldn’t complain.
We set up camp and went looking for lunch, being such an important day we decided to hang the expense and eat out today. The local café made an excellent Chicken Caesar salad, from there we went to see the Millstream Falls, the widest single drop falls in Australia.

If this is true then we don’t have many wide rivers with water falls in Australia. After a look around it was back to camp to finish setting up, have a shower and head off  to the pub for tea.

There are two pubs in town, the lower and the upper, in our walk around town Jacky had checked out both dining rooms and the upper pub was in the old traditional pub style, it even had tablecloths and a white rose on each table.

Tully Falls Hotel – the highest pub in Queensland

At top end of town it also claimed to be the highest pub in Queensland. Dinner excellent, the pub staff were very friendly and it topped off a very nice day for our Anniversary.

Tully Falls Hotel Dining Room

It was a 8:00 am start for the lava tube tour, so it was a quick breakfast and off to the meeting point. With the temperature at 10C when we woke this morning it was jeans on for the first time.

Undara National Park is closed to the public, only authorised tour operators are allowed to take people in, this apparently is because access to the lava tubes must be monitored because the CO₂ gas levels can be high enough to cause people to pass out.

The main lava tube in the park is about 100 kms in length broken into many pieces by roof collapses and lava direction flow changes. We chose the easier of the tours that did not require any rock climbing. The caverns were quite impressive, some higher than others due to part of the roof falling in.

Undara Lava Tube

The Archway – Undara Lava Tubes

After the tour we went to Kalkani Crater where there is a 2.6 km walk around the rim of the old crater. It was the first time Jacky & I had walked around the rim of a volcano. From there it was back to the resort where Jacky generously paid for our lunch at the bistro. When they were setting up the resort the owner had the opportunity to purchase a lot of old Queensland railway carriages and he restored them and used them in resort from accommodation, dinning and information centres, there would be nearly 40 carriages on the property.

Undara Resort Bistro

The evening was finished off with a trivia quiz around the campfire.

Today we headed off to Undara, we had a 430 kms drive so most of the day was spent driving with little time to look around. We had lunch at Croyden, one of the old gold mining towns and the driving force for much of the early development in the Gulf Savannah country. Undara is a former cattle station acquired by the government for its unique lava tube formations. The former owner had started a tourist project to show visitors and when the station was changed to national park he was able to gain a 10 year exclusive access to the park to continue the tourist operation.

The view from our Undara Campsite

The Undara Resort is located in a beautiful bush setting. The camp site we have looks out into the bush with not a sole in front of us, just lots of birds, wallaroos and a few small bettongs (rat kangaroos)

Today we drove around Normanton to check out the historic sites. The 8.6m statue of Krys the crocodile was quite impressive as it is meant to be an accurate reproduction of this monster. It is the largest crocodile ever killed in the world apparently.

Krys the largest crocodile shot in the world 8.63 m (28ft)

We headed down to the Railway Station which also hosts a museum but it was closed.

The Purple Pub – Normanton

We spent the rest of the day reading, checking emails and just generally relaxing.