We have been living on the Atherton Tablelands for 2 years now on a block of rainforest off the waterfall circuit (Theresa Creek Road) not far out of Millaa Millaa which is about 40km from the Wondecla/ Herberton camp site. It is a shame we won’t be around when the muster is on as we have already made & paid for other holiday arrangements. Not to worry I look forward to hearing about it. We think you have chosen a wonderful part of Australia to come & look at. The people are friendly down to earth rural stock & we have been made to feel very welcome in a short time. I have made up a list of just a few of the things we have enjoyed finding, seeing ,doing & it still continues to this day so I hope it helps in your pre muster planning.
..Firstly we have free local newspapers that have lots of information in them plus look for the “Whats On Where” and “Discover “ Brochures at any Visitor Information Place.
.. I would recommend you go & visit one of the many wonderful information centres at Atherton, Malanda, Ravenshoe, Herberton, Mareeba, Yungaburra, Kuranda, and Chillagoe & Dimbulah . www.athertoninformationcentre.com.au has links to all these & more.
You can get free information books, brochures, maps, bird lists, a list to our wonderful monthly markets( on every weekend at differing towns where you can buy fresh tableland produce, & in my case lots of pot plants.) gifts & clothes.
..The Tablelands have many beautiful waterfalls the most famous is Millaa Millaa Falls but in our 16km circuit you also get to see Zillie Falls & Ellinjaa Falls. If you want more there are Mungalli Falls down the Palmerstone Hwy turn onto Brooks Road, closer to Innisfail there are Nandroya, Wallicher & Tchupala Falls accessed from Palmerstone Highway. Further down again is the Ma Mu canopy walk a must see on a clear day with stunning views over Wooroonooran National Park & world heritage rainforests.
We have many unique & wonderful animals in our area such as the Lumholtz tree kangaroo, musky rat kangaroo, rare possums like the green, striped & Herbert river ringtail. Volunteers for the National Parks have a spotlighting trip once a month at Mt Hypipamee starts from car park & just meander along bitumen road for hour or so with hot drink & chat with reference material to identify what you have seen. They ask a donation & being volunteers it is very worthwhile. (Numbers may be limited to 20 only).We have done this twice & seen many different possums & the tree kangaroo. Arrive earlier to do walk to crater & falls.
Great spot to have a picnic tea before night walk as well.
..It took us 2 years before we finally found a tree kangaroo at Mt Hypipamee Crater on the Kennedy Highway then not long after I was very lucky to see a mother & young very close at Malanda falls picnic area.
..Atherton is the main centre for the area with lots of shops & usual supermarkets. Just out of town on south side is century old Hou Wang Temple & museum site of a old Chinese town .While here you can also watch the Atherton Birds of Prey display held at the rear of this building at 11.00 four days a week ,which I go & watch quiet often being a local bird enthusiast.
Hasties swamp on outskirts of Atherton is bird watchers must.
The Barron Valley Hotel has nice food for lunch or tea.
O’Hallorans Hill is on the south side of town & offers great views of the surrounding farms & mountains.
On the road to Malanda is Gallos Dairy which sells wonderful cheeses & chocolate & if you get there at the right time you can even watch the cows bringing themselves up to be milked all 600 plus of them.
There are 2 crater lakes with lovely walks around them Barrine is 5km & Eacham 3km & you will see birds & animals on the way.
..Yungaburra is near the Curtain Fig tree lovely old village with historic hotel & Platypus viewing on creek just on outskirts. The Chalet rainforest Gallery has some interesting things especially upstairs.Close to Lake Tinaroo with a great monthly market.
..Malanda has a lovely waterfall & swimming area adjacent to 2 beautiful rainforest walks where you will see lots of birds & wildlife & has a nice café & visitor information centre. For the ladies there is a dress shop & great gift shop in the town plus supermarket & butcher & Historic Hotel for the guys with gorgeous silky oak staircase.
The Dairy Centre has displays & tours of all things dairy & the café has lovely food. Malanda markets have great fresh produce as well.
You will see 2 lovely statues in tribute to the farmers of the area on the main road & many lovely mosaics in the park & on buildings. The historic Old Majestic Theatre is one street back from main road & we still watch movies here in sling seats.
..Ravenshoe has a couple of Old Hotels ,lovely ions wide main street & old buildings & great bakery & cafes .I loved the Torimba festival they put on lots of timber carvings & crafts & Winsomes Gallery has beautiful paintings. On the road out to Mt garnet is the Millstream National park with the widest waterfalls in Australia. There are a lot of WW2 sites marked out around here but the whole Tablelands was a staging post & training area
The Ravenshoe Historic Rail Station & Train are worth a look & ride on Sundays around 1.00pm.
..Herberton the first town established on the Tablelands due to discovery of large deposits of Tin with a very interesting Mining centre, mine walks, and it has a camera museum, The Historic Village recently reopened & so interesting. Historic Irvinebank is 30km to west of Herberton was a tin settlement in the hills behind Herberton & has a historic house museum built by mining magnate John Moffat in 1884 that will take you back in time. There are many other historic constructions around Irvinebank & the Hotel does great steak sandwiches.
..Mareeba has quite a few coffee plantations & places to taste the brewed bean & all things coffee. Mango wines are at The Golden Drop, Warbirds display with ex military craft on road to Atherton, Mt Uncle distillery 10 mins south has liqueurs & spirits of many flavours,& the Mareeba Wetlands a bird watchers must north of Mareeba at Jabiru Safari Camp.
..Kuranda is famous markets on every day plus the Butterfly sanctuary are a wonderful place to spend some time & learn about these beautiful creatures. The Skyrail cable car down to the base of the mountain is very exhilarating giving stunning views over the forest & Barron gorge & the Train ride is just as wonderful you can arrange a package to go down on one & return on the other.
..Tolga is on the road north of Atherton & it has a quaint old rail station & The Woodworks with handcrafted timber pieces you’ll just want to own.
..Lake Tinaroo is our dam & water supply for people in this area & also a great recreational fishing & boating area. There is a circuit drive around it on the Danbulla Drive & you will find there are lovely bays where camping is allowed some have vans but it is a National Park & State Forest. You will also find The Cathedral Fig Tree & Euramoo Crater Lake here & Mobo Creek Crater walk & the chimney remains of a soldier settler’s house from 1920’s.
..Millaa Millaa a small town that services the dairy farmers around it but is also surrounded by the most beautiful scenery. Some old buildings have been preserved & there is a museum open in the mornings by volunteers ,also has remains of huge old Kauri Pine tree a victim of a cyclone, estimated to be about 1000 years old & one of the last great giants that covered our area before logging. A monument to Christie Palmerstone is in the park who was first European to come through the thick forests following old aboriginal trails. There is a pioneer statue in the form of a cow at the end of the street. Millaa Millaa has a fabulous Golf course & visitors are always welcome. Keep an eye out along the creek for Tree Kangaroos. The Old Cheese factory once renowned is now derelict but there is a lovely bio dynamic yogurt & cheese factory down the mountain toward Innisfail on Brooks road called Mungalli Creek dairy with fabulous views & tea room. A bit further down this road you will find Mungalli Falls, drive into the retreat to see them.
Anyone to coming to the Tablelands has to see The Waterfall Circuit which is Theresa Creek road (we are lucky to live on it). This circuit starts or finishes just out of Millaa Millaa off the Palmerstone Highway toward Innisfail & has the famous Millaa Millaa falls seen in many adverts on TV the most recent was for the ice skating for the winter Olympics. Also a good spot for a picnic & swim if you dare. You will see some amazing scenery along here looking over Mt Bartle Frere (Queensland’s highest mountain) & Mt Bellenden Kerr. Further on you will find Zillie Falls & Ellinjaa Falls.
If you keep heading down the Palmerstone Highway to Innisfail you will come to Crawford’s Lookout on the side of the road which has a beautiful view down into the Johnstone River & not long after this is the turn off into the MaMu Canopy walk which has some stunning views of that valley as well as you will get a bird’s eye view of the rainforest.
This is just some of things in our wonderful Tablelands area so get yourself a brochure I know you will love it. There is an abundance more to see at Cairns, Innisfail, Port Douglas, Mossman, Cooktown Chillago, The Savannah Way, Cassowary Coast, Great Green way so get planning & you’ll need lots of time.
As mentioned we have been here 2 years & still learning.
EVENTS ON IN AUGUST (from TRC
events calendar) 2010
7th Cairns Cup for race go’ers
7-14th Great Pyramid race & country fair at Gordonvale
7th Gold Panning Championships at Mareeba
14th – 27th Maize Festival Atherton
28th Mareeba Multicultural Festival
22nd War birds Air show Mareeba
1-8th Cairns Open Golf Week
SEPTEMBER
4-5th Herberton garden Show
4-5th Lever Action State Championships at Ravenshoe
11th Mt Garnet Garden Competition & Mini Show
18th & 19th Tablelands Garden Expo (not sure where yet)
10-12th Kuranda Spring fair
5th Carnival on Collins in Cairns
OCTOBER
2-16th Festival of the rainforest & Torimba in Ravenshoe
9th Torimba Mardi Gras & market
7th- 10th Walkamin Country Music Festival
21-24th Yungaburra Folk festival
17th Tastes Of The Tablelands in Atherton
8-9th Opera In The Outback at Undara Lava Tubes
To The committee , I have contacted the editor of “Whats On Where” her name is Katje Pyne & she is happy to send some copies of Whats On Where to you for the time you are there when they are printed. She can be contacted on Katje @whatsonwhere.com.au phone 0740152377 or 0409725466 for an address to post them
