No Cassowary Sightings for Us

[RB]

Anne Atkinson was a family friend.
One of the lookouts near the resort is named after her.
She only died a couple of years ago.

It was an article that a google search bought up and I thought it had good info

 

[RB]

Mt Surprise to Atherton
An easy drive where we progressed from savanah/eucalypt woodlands to large trees with creepers and undergrowth, the termite nests faded away and the beef cattle eventually gave way to a few dairy herds. The road had plenty of straight stretches, some narrow bridges, rose in elevation in a steady manner and the traffic remained light.
Millstream Falls (widest in Aust) was our first stop. An easy walk from the carpark gave us great views-again not many people around (we mustn’t do popular things!). A refuel stop was Ravenshoe Ravenshoe, QLD - Aussie Towns .The highest town in Qld at the top of the Great Dividing Range at 920m. Formerly a timber extracting town it is now a very clean friendly town that is more reliant on tourism, dairy & beef farming. The servo had a bag of 8 local advocado for $2 & the lady kindly suggested we go to Atherton via the Tumoulin Rd & the highest road in Qld.

Good accessibility to the falls








Some burning off was happening

 

[RB]

We stopped at Mount Hypipamee for the look at the crater at the end of a 400m walking track. There is a huge variety of vegetation and then sheer granite walls, a long drop below the rim & a 80 m deep lake covered in native waterweed. We were there in the middle of the day so shadows made it more difficult to get reasonable photos of the lake itself. On the walk back we took a rougher track down to the Barron River & the Dinner Falls. Bit of a back story When is The Crater not a crater? Mt Hypipamee National Park, Atherton Tablelands, Far North Queensland | by Bronwen Scott | Medium
From here to Atherton it was a steady drive through beautiful countryside that seemed a long way removed from Mt Surprise.

 

[RB]

Dinner Falls


The walk back up to the car park




Roadside approaching Atherton

 

[jastel]

Actually, (I just checked with mum) she died in January THIS year at 95...covid must make it seem longer!

The Atkinson family were pioneering families of the area, along with the Collins family who were their neighbors.

In the 1980's after "retiring" from farm work she became more interested in the "funny caves" on her neighbors property where everybody stopped for smoko while mustering, which we now know as the lava tubes. She was in her 60's but went to university and trained as a geologist and researched and mapped the tubes for Gerry Collins.
It was her (and others) work in proving how unique they were that got National Parks and the govt interested in the idea of the current tourism resort setup. She visited overseas volcanoes and lava tubes in Hawaii etc and became well known as an expert.

She lived on one of her properties with family until about 2010 when her husband died, then she moved to Cairns and had a nice unit on the Esplanade, and eventually a retirement home.
The family still has some properties in the area.

She was probably around 90 when I last saw her but was still sharp.

(Dont take all these as rock solid facts but its what mum and I remember from her stories)

 

[RB]

Lilly Pilly House Atherton-4 nights Lilly Pilly House, Atherton – Updated 2021 Prices
Selected because of the location, space and glowing reviews, this was a very comfortable stay. Just the 2 of us but we had 4 bedrooms (all with air con if needed), a well decked out kitchen, great internet, chromecast & good tv (Olympics were on), off-street parking, laundry and a great shower. About 1km flat walk right into the centre of town ( some food places & supermarket even closer). Certainly not an instagram worthy place but it was very clean, a safe quiet area, the check-in/out was via a key safe & was very easy.

 

[RB]

Certainly suited us more than a motel room

 

[RB]

25th July- 1st full day around Atherton & time to take a drive to Malanda and then on to the waterfall circuit. Weather was excellent, crowds minimal and excellent scenery. Easy driving on good roads, good signage, adequate carparks and plenty of space at the various falls. Only saw a couple of swimmers & they didn’t stay in long.
The Malanda Falls Info centre was great. Excellent volunteers (one lady had recently relocated from Mt Surprise) and plenty of info & display boards. The falls themselves are very close to the road and good access for everyone. Some interesting signage of prior flood levels & our first encounter with the warnings about the Jangali (stinging) tree.



The falls are off to the right & way below this level


Malanda Falls


The ground level of the shade structure in 2nd photo is approx where the fence is on far right of this photo




Malanda Hotel- quite a structure


Part of the dining room

 

[RB]

 

[RB]

The town of Millaa Millaa (850m elevation) is set in idyllic countryside of lush pastures and rainforest with the landscape formed during volcanic activity. The circuit road is bitumen, not particularly wide but not challenging at all. Zillie Falls followed and then another short drive to Ellinjaa Falls.

Typical of the land around Millaa Millaa


Millaa Millaa Falls





Zillie Falls





Ellinjaa Falls

 

[RB]

To finish our day, we stopped at Hallorans Hill in Atherton-great views over the spectacular tablelands.

 

[RB]

Our next day was spent visiting Yungaburra & surrounds. Yungaburra, QLD - Aussie Towns

Another day of easy driving through spectacular countryside & close to our Atherton base. First stop was the Curtain Fig Tree Curtain Fig Tree - Wikipedia. Certainly an amazing species & well worth the effort & the boardwalk makes it very accessible. From there a short drive to the start of the Peterson Creek Wildlife & Botanical Walking track. A pretty easy walk to soak in flora & fauna, a bit of history, platypus viewing ( no tree kangaroos for us). Again very few people seen (maybe a dozen on the track) and then we meandered through the tranquil village that was established in 1890. The locals were keen to talk & seemed to love their lifestyle. Back to the car, we then ventured to the other edges of town with the new housing estates, parts of Lake Tinaroo and the Avenue of Honour Afghanistan Memorial. Avenue of Honour :: Home . We finished our day with the drive out to Lake Barrine & completed the circular walk-again the only people we saw were in the carpark (near the scones & Teahouse).

Curtain Fig Tree








There are certainly some very tall neighbouring trees

 

[RB]

Peterson Creek Walk- some great info posted along the walk (the suspension bridge, water wheel, coal fired boiler, old railway bridge) and of course our successful sighting of a platypus



Landcare group has created quite a few viewing stops


You need to venture on to this at one stage


Frawley's Pool

 

[RB]

Yungaburra Township Centre

 

[RB]

On the drive to the Avenue of Honour

Some farming hanging in there

 

[RB]

We were very impressed with the Avenue of Honour

 

[RB]

Lake Burrine Walk Cairns Attractions | Lake Barrine Volcanic Crater . A facinating mention of the female eels in that article. The twin kauri pines were a highlight and having walked clockwise from the carpark, the 2nd half of the circuit was more interesting.

 

[jastel]

My backyard...

I like how you say no or very few people...most of us locals have never seen it so busy full of covid refugees from the south.

 

[RB]

My backyard...

I like how you say no or very few people...most of us locals have never seen it so busy full of covid refugees from the south.

I have no doubt that there are plenty of people around-same as our trip to Sth Aust in May. I am not sure of the explanation of numbers doing things. We are fortunate not to be constrained by health or money when we holiday ( we are not big spenders on eating out or where we stay) but I think quite a few travellers are. Even at home during our beach walks we see a lot more people in the first few minutes after we leave the car park and then the beach is sparsely occupied. I also think there are a lot of current domestic travellers who can't afford to do much when travelling. I read a lot of forums and there are so many people seeking free camping & cost cutting measures. We saw many siting around caravan parks all day doing nothing (some by choice) & not driving around so they can lower their average daily costs.
Maybe it was cost that kept people away from the lava tubes. There were a lot of people at Mt Surprise but not big numbers at the lava fields the same as numbers at the Skywalk & Paronella Park were not big while we were there.
I guess it is the beauty of travel that we all have different ideas of what we want to get out of it.

 

[RB]

Our next day was a walk downtown to attend to some unexpected paperwork ( locals were exceptionally helpful) and then out to the Danbulla State Forest, Tinaroo Spillway & Kauri Creek area. Unfortunately our planned walk was closed due to works by National Parks. We ended up walking around the Downfall Creek area. There are certainly some excellent camping areas here & a sharp contrast to the throngs of Fletcher Creek. Our afternoon was out to the Nyleta Wetland- a National Park that is certainly a birdwatchers paradise. Where Waters Meet: Nyleta Wetlands, Hasties Swamp National Park, Far North Queensland | by Bronwen Scott | Medium

Downtown Atherton-Courthouse & the ad for a locaal business









Mrs RB in front of a brush turkey nest


Some great National Park camps on the lake