Tablelands Falls & Lakes

31/7/2018 Tuesday R & R slept well and woke about 7:00am to a cool morning.  They had a plan to be away early and set about breakfast, tidying up and packing down.  The best laid plans … they got chatting with a camper they had seen before, so it was almost 9:00am before they were away.  RL headed north east on the Kennedy Highway towards Mt Garnet about 70kms.  The road was in good condition and for the most part built up higher than the verge on either side.  For most of the journey the country side was densely wooded on both sides making it difficult to see fences and the cattle farming that must have been happening further back, since the area was not listed as parks or reserve, other than the Forty Mile Scrub National Park that began near where they had slept overnight.  The vegetation had changed from Savanah to bushland with tall trees, dense shrubs and less grasses.  R & R could see paperbark in the lower lying areas, conifers and the very slender trunks and branches of the golden flowered grevillea that had leaves which glistened silver grey in the early morning light.  The anthills were no longer numerous, tall and thin but much more spread apart while being big and bulbous, in whatever colour soil they were built in, red, grey or yellow.  Overall the level above sea was rising steadily to 725m with hills like Mt Bear rising to 842m as RL drove alongside and into the Great Dividing Range.  RL drove through Mt Garnet, which in its heyday extracted large deposits of silver, tin, lead and copper from its mountain and RA could see with the help of the Navigator where active and abandoned mines existed.  Mt Garnet calls itself the Gateway to the Tablelands.  As RL rose up the hill out of town facing east, there were white clouds blooming on the horizon on an otherwise beautifully sunny day.  At 9:50am, just a few kilometres east of Mt Garnet, RL stopped at Innot Hot Springs to look at the hot water (about 75*C) bubbling out of Nettle Creek.  R & R were not able to swim as there were only little pools but it was warm and steamy in the sandy pebble creek line as they walked to take photos.  Apparently, as early as 100 years ago, locals were sending this health giving water to Europe. About 10:30am, RL drove out of Innot Springs and within 15 minutes R & R had arrived at Archer Creek Rest Area where they planned to dump the camper and drive around without it for the rest of the day.  They walked down to the river which was delightful and chatted with a couple of Asian grey nomads; it was quite unusual to see Asian seniors on the road like that.  Within half an hour RL headed up the steep incline from Archer Creek towards Ravenshoe.  RA felt her ears pop as they came over Millstream River with Bald Rock at 1075m just to the north.  Ravenshoe is Queensland highest town at 920m.  Situated on top of the Great Dividing Range, it sits between the drier Savanah country to the west and the tropical rainforests to the east.  At 11:30am R & R were sitting outside the information centre, pleased to have reception, and speaking to their daughter, S, and their son, J.  They left a message for RL’s brother, G before heading in to ask for a town map.  R & R looked at all the displays inside.  The rainforest display was awesome, in particular one part which required the viewer to take up one of their torches and look into the darkened space beyond.  Inside were models of all manner of nocturnal creatures whose eyes shone.  It really was a surprise.  It was in the rainforest section that R & R found out that the lovely little yellow butterfly they had seen the day before is called Lemon Migrant Butterfly.  They had other displays like, dairy and timber, which are still practiced in the area today, and a section about Ravenshoe’s military presence during WWII.  The indigenous display about the Jirrbal people was equal to any that R & R had seen. It was a lovely 21*C when R & R went shopping downtown despite the clouds.  They were fortunate to be able to top up on a few grocery items, pop into an op shop and do a book exchange at a book shop since RA was desperate to find a new book with an Australian flavour.  They enjoyed lunch before setting off for a drive southwards 24kms to Tully Falls about 2:30pm.  They passed the sawmill and as they drove they noticed left and right of the road small properties right up to the beginning of the Tully Gorge National Park.  The road was winding and quite steep up and down.  Up to the beginning of the park it was double lane but as soon as the park started it was single lane.  The last kilometre was unsealed.  Immediately, RA felt the cold and it was dark, the road so narrow and the forest so dense and tall.  Only speckles or thin shards of light could be seen.  The scale of the flora was staggering:  tall eucalypts, cypress, palms, vines and a particular plant that had leaves the size of dinner platters.  R & R arrived at Tully Gorge Lookout (Altitude 700m / Gorge depth 293m) about 3:15pm and were impressed by its magnificence but so disappointed that there was no water falling.  The panel tells all!  After WWII, the Tully River was selected for a hydro-electricity scheme and was subsequently dammed before and after the falls.  What looked like far to the south east, could be seen water in the Tully River, beyond where it would fall if it was falling.  RL could hear water somewhere and could not resist taking off along the rainforest walking track which indicated it was only 1.3km return.  Not 20 steps down the path, there was a little bridge over a babbling stream which was a great consolation prize.  RL was determined to go to the end knowing that what goes downhill needs to come back up hill but at least it wasn’t too far.  They were pleasantly surprised when the path ended on the Tully River at the spot they had seen from the lookout (not as far as it had seemed).  Although R & R heard many bird calls they saw none. On returning to the Ute they had a cup of coffee before heading back.  This time RA kept a track of the distances and figures that it was about 12km on strip and 12km of double lane; the strip taking almost double the time at a much lower speed. On the return journey, RL saw a ‘live’ black pig and just out of the park from a farmyard, some domestic guinea fowl and peacocks with their feathers in full display.  Once back into town it was only 12kms back out to Archer Creek and the camper.  R & R popped it up about 4:45pm and prepared for the evening.  They read maps before reading and writing and then helping each other prepare dinner.  After dinner, they read and wrote a little more and looked forward to a good night’s sleep.  RL had planned a route, leaving the camper behind again, to see as many waterfalls as possible on one day … secretly, RA was hoping she’d see a platypus!

1/8/2018 Wednesday R & R slept well and were out of bed at 7:00am.  After breakfast, they left the camper at Archer Creek Rest Area and headed towards Ravenshoe about 8:45am to look at Millstream Falls which was just west of Ravenshoe and only 800m on a gravel track off Kennedy Highway.  So, it was not long before R & R had walked the 340m bitumen path and were looking out over the falls.  The forest smelled sweet and damp in the early morning.  From the car park R & R also took the 1km walk around the WWII historical site.  Troops from the 7th AIF were sent to the tablelands to develop sites for training.  It was an ideal environment for preparation in Papua New Guinea.  The area at the top of Millstream Falls is the best preserved of the many training camps that were in the area.  R & R had worn their thongs down the path but decided that it would be sensible to put their shoes on for the day since they would probably be doing quite a bit of walking.  It was only a few minutes and R & R were parked at Little Millstream Falls which was only about 3km south of Ravenshoe at about 9:45am.  There was a 300m gravel track walk to the bottom and when they returned, R & R had a coffee and rang RL’s brother, S, to wish him a Happy Birthday for the next day just in case they had no reception.  RL pointed out a delightful little bird, something like a wren, with a red head.  About 10:30am, RL headed east out of Ravenshoe towards Windy Hill, past the Wind Farm with 20 turbines, which generate enough electricity to supply 3500 homes and, following the Old Palmerston Highway, drove to Pepina Falls.  The sign warned the drive not suitable for caravans and RL drove accordingly between 30-40kms/hr. The road was sealed and single lane, extremely winding and hilly, but unlike the drive the day before, it was open farming, mostly dairy, country.  Some properties had horses, and cattle could be seen everywhere, often with an egret beside them.  There were trees, lots of them, and tall, some closer to the road and others on the tops of the highest hills, but it was all grassed and fenced in small paddocks.  RL commented that the cattle would never have known what flat was, having always stood or sat sloping either up or downhill.  At one point near the road the slope was such that the most practical form of fence was a single hot wire.  Loading ramps and yards were precariously situated on the edge of the road and RA bet you would not see a cattle truck other than a single on these roads at these heights.  Driveways had letterboxes, signs warned for children and school buses, with Tully Gorge 1330m to the north and Mt Father Clancy 1087m to the south.  In between the hills, there were gullies with creeks and rivers, over which there were single lane bridges. At the top of the hills there were more hills in the distance of a darker blue and beyond, on the horizon, more hills in a lighter blue. Just after 11:00am, R & R got out of the Ute and walked to Pepina Falls and were shortly back into the Ute, where 1km further along there was the turn off to Souita Falls about 5kms south.  As R & R were coming back out G, RL’s brother rang him back, so they stopped and had coffee and chatted a while, where RA saw a pair of grey goshawks.  It was about 12:45pm when R & R arrived in the township of Millaa Millaa, where they stopped and went into the information centre and walked round the well kept semi tropical gardens.  Millaa Millaa has a history of timber, gold mining and dairy industry.  Christie Palmerston, with an aboriginal companion, was the first white man to make a feasible track through the rainforest in the area in 1882.  His ability to understand Aboriginal people is as note worthy as his feats in exploration.  From Millaa Millaa, there is a 24km loop which takes in Millaa Millaa Falls which actually has changerooms and facilities for swimming in a beach like grassed setting, Zillie Falls on Theresa Creek and Ellinjaa Falls on the Ellinjaa Creek, all of which were on RL’s list.  Then before returning to Millaa Millaa, RL turned south for a few kilometres to take in Mungalli Falls and the Mungalli Creek Dairy.  Mungalli Falls had an education facility which can also be used for receptions and corporate events and looked like an awesome place to stay or work at. It was about 3:45pm when R & R arrived at the dairy and its boutique café with only 15 minutes left before closing.  They tasted the cheddar cheeses, the Greek yoghurt and the sweet chili quark dip but were not tempted to buy anything. By 4:00pm, R & R were heading back through the township and up to Millaa Millaa Lookout.  The road now being highway was double lane and, being so steep, had overtaking lanes, but more significantly it had yellow outside lines marked for being able to see the road in foggy conditions!  The roads were just as steep and winding only faster because they were wider and had wider verges.  To lookout from the top of Mt Evelyn at 1207m across all that treed and farming country to the hills in the distance and down to the road that RL had just driven up, with powerlines overhead drooping to the distance below, was just amazing.  RL rang his sister, E, to wish her a Happy Birthday, from that height with good reception.  R & R had a cup of coffee and a banana before the 24km return journey along the highways to Ravenshoe and then the 12kms back out to Archer Creek and the camper.  Back at 5:00pm, R & R wasted no time in getting down to the creek for a quick dip. How good was that!  It was refreshing in the not too cold water, with the last of the sun’s rays glistening through the trees on the water downstream.  R & R read some maps and helped prepare dinner together.  After dinner RL read and RA wrote diary.  It certainly had been a long day.  RA worked out that they had travelled a total of 135kms, loosely in the shape of a figure eight, looked at 8 waterfalls and walked at least 5-6kms just in the steep tracks/trails down to and up from the waterfalls.  And which did they like best?  They were all different … so it was too hard to decide.

2/8/2018 Thursday R & R slept well and got straight into gear having climbed out of bed about 7:00am.  Except for that last minute chat with a camper, usually RL while he is waiting for RA to go the loo before leaving, that held them up a little, R & R were away about 8:45am for Ravenshoe 12kms. Dark clouds were in the east and rolling towards them over the hills as RL turned north, still on Kennedy Highway, toward Atherton 50kms away.  The wind turbines were almost hidden in the heavy mist at the top of Windy Hill.  Fortunately, the road which was sealed and double lane, veered away from the taller hills up in the clouds so that visibility remained good.  Of the 50kms, the first ten were what RL had returned through the evening before and was not quite so steep and densely forested but the next 20kms or so was very winding and steep where the sides of the road fell away and rose up sharply on either side or was in the low forested areas where the vegetation was so dense that the road seemed to be going through a tunnel, especially driving through Mt Hypipamee National Park. At times, only shards of light could be seen through the trees.  The road rose and fell in level above sea by about 200m as it wends itself up and down and round the hills.  The last 20kms was more open and undulating with the dark green of hills being seen further away and all manner of farming enterprise could be seen on the red soils.  The rich red soils (ferrosols) are a remnant of volcanic activity from millions of years ago. R & R saw sugar cane in its green form, maize in its dry state, a Christmas tree plantation, cattle, and orchards, as well as ploughed ground and irrigation.  It was about 9:40am when R & R arrived in Atherton – A Tableland Paradise.  There was a major shortage of parking space requiring the Hum to go round the block several times to end up parking in a street full of houses with no shade, a full block away from the information centre.  The frustration fuelled the need for coffee so R & R had a cup before even heading downtown.  They popped in, to get information before walking up and down the two main streets.  Atherton is a very big town which has lots of services to support the farming community and was quite crowded and busy.  R & R popped into the op shops and went to look at the Crystal Cave, where beautiful gems and stones from all over the world can be bought.  It was possible to buy a geode and have it cracked on the spot – a bit like a lucky dip.  By noon R & R were back at the Ute having a cup and cake, checking Mass times nearby for the coming weekend and chatting to their daughter, S.  R & R had urgent need of food shopping and refuelling before heading further north for the next few days so they located Woolworths and restocked before having lunch at the Ute, which was parked near a school, and ringing the other daughter, H.  It being just before school out time, R & R signed off and refuelled on their way north out of town.  It was a very quick 4kms towards Tolga, most of which was densely forested, and then out eastward another 6kms to Kairi where R & R set up the camper in Lions Park on the main street.  In that last six kilometres of relatively flat to undulating country side R & R saw irrigation, sugar cane, orchards, cattle, hay, eggs, bees, peanuts, mulch, a Primo Produce shed and ploughed ground. R & R were keen to see Lake Tinaroo, another six kilometres away so they did not dally for long.  As it was already after 4:00pm, it was quite cool overlooking the lake.  The wind had come up and the sky was overcast so it may not have been at its best look.  Lake Tinaroo was formed by the Dam that was built on the Barron River in the late 1950s to supply the area with water for domestic use and for irrigation for farming.  It rivals Sydney Harbour being just a little smaller in most dimensions and about ¾ the total volume.  The site also had a monument about the area being used during WWII for AIF training.  When R & R returned they helped each other sort out the shopping and prepare dinner.  After dinner they read and wrote for a while.  It had been a long day without actually doing much other than shopping and refuelling … but those sorts of jobs are necessities.

3/8/2018 Friday R & R slept well and woke to a misty damp, though not raining, morning.  It did not matter as far as the camper went, since R & R had intended to drive around for the morning and only pick it up on their way back through.  But as it was misting and would spoil any sightseeing, they decided to read some draft and wait till the sun came through.  Shortly after 8:00am, R & R tidied up the camper, rang E for her birthday greetings and set off on their morning’s excursions.  At 8:40am, RL set out for the Curtain Fig Tree, about 15kms away, just east of Yungaburra.  There was more flat farming including sugar cane, strawberries, vegetable crops, orchards, hay and cattle on lovely rich red soil.  The fig tree, in the Curtain Fig National Park, was most impressive with its thousands of aerial roots which feed it until it eventually strangles the host that it started on.  RL headed through Yungaburra, which appeared to be a delightful little town, to look at the twin crater lakes, firstly Lake Eacham 7kms away and Lake Barrine a further 7kms beyond.  Both are within the Eacham National Park and are marr or volcanic craters, created thousands of years ago by massive explosions of superheated groundwater. As soon as R & R left Yungaburra they noticed that there was no more flat farming; it was extremely steep and hilly and winding again.  Lake Eacham had a turtle viewing platform from which R & R were lucky enough to see several saw-shelled turtles swimming below.  They continued on the 3km track around the lake reading all the panels and looking up and down. The forests were home to oak, pine and ash often with buttressed (fluted) bases of their trunk.  Always there were ferns, vines and orchids growing in the upper story of branches.  It was cool in the shelter of the trees and they could hear all manner of bird calls, though they only saw a little hopping black bird, swamp hens, ducks and brush turkey.  One of the panels describes the Aboriginal tale of how the lake was formed.  A couple of the young men were disobedient and causing trouble.  Then strange things started to happen and a violent eruption of the earth caused the lake to appear.  When the others returned there was no sign of the young men or the dry land area that had been their home.  Interestingly, scientific studies reveal that the lake only formed about 10,000 years ago and pollen studies indicated that the vegetation was dry forest, supporting the “myth”!  Water levels in the lake fluctuate up to 4m but this is caused only through evaporation, seepage and rainfall since there is no in or out river associated with it.  Part of the way round, there was reference to the AIF partaking of recreational activities at the lake while they were in the Tablelands area during WWII.  R & R were pleasantly surprised by how one end of the lake has a pool like entrance for swimming and interested to know that it is home to a freshwater crocodile!  Lake Barrine was quite different as it had been managed by a family (Curry) who have boat tours and a teahouse.  It had a 5km walk round the lake but R & R only went the 80m to see the twin bull kauri trees.  At 45m tall and 6m in girth these are some of the largest of Australia’s 38 conifer or pine species. It was under these trees that RL was chatting with a tourist who said that Australia has no birds who make hollows in trees, but that it has the most species that live in tree hollows.  It was only about another 12kms to the Cathedral Tree, another fig, in what was called a Feature Protection Area.  It was possibly even more impressive than the Curtain tree because a look upward revealed how many ferns were growing up near the top.  About noon, R & R had a cup before heading back to Yungaburra.  They had not intended to stop but RL saw a sign for a secondhand shop called “Aladdin’s Other Cave” and RA saw another that said,” Platypus Viewing”.  Irresistible!  R & R bought a jigsaw puzzle at the cave and ventured to the platypus viewing hide.  There at the bridge and on the edge of a busy road, through the hide, holes or burrows could be seen in the banks of Peterson Creek.  RA had read that it is important to look for ripples or bubbles.  R & R could not believe their eyes as they watched a platypus rise to the surface, then dip down.  They followed the circular ripples and it popped up again.  Furiously, they snapped with their cameras.  Then they just sat to watch and savour the moment of watching a platypus in its own environment.  It was a little sad for a family who arrived just after, for it had gone and they saw nothing.  R & R, hopeful of seeing more, followed the trail along the river just in case.  At the far end there was a suspension bridge, which though it was not long, was quite wobbly.  R & R walked through Yungaburra and found it to be a delightfully pretty town with lots of cafes, antique shops and boutiques.  By the time they returned to the Ute it was already 2:00pm and they were well and truly ready for lunch. On the way back, they stopped briefly to take a photo of a field of sugar cane.  It was only 15 minutes back to the camper.  R & R put it down and hitched it up in record time, headed for Rocky Creek Memorial Rest Area about 6kms to Tolga and then another 6kms north on the Kennedy Highway and set it back up again by 3:30pm.  They had a cup of coffee before walking around the area.  The memorial part is that, the area was the site of a hospital base during WWII at the time (1943-45) when the Atherton Tablelands area was the largest military base in Australia.  One inscription reads “You are here today because we were here yesterday.”  Over the other side of the highway a Nissan hut still stands.  Originally the Entertainment Igloo, it had become a private residence, which having been donated to the community is now being restored by the Rotary Club.  R & R were keen to see how the platypus photos went before helping each other prepare dinner.  After dinner they read and wrote for a while.  The photos actually show what might be a platypus surfacing or swimming … but R & R know what they saw … and it was awesome.