Atherton Qld July 21st-25th 2023

Atherton Qld July 21 2023

Easy run up into the mountains except for the last 40km which was at snail’s pace due to climbing and twisting and narrow road  which banked up the traffic into a convoy. Oh well nought to do but tag along and enjoy the scenery.

Made it into what must by now be in our top three van parks, the NRMA Atherton Holiday Park.

Shock! Horror! They’ve heated the pool! Yeah, way to go them.

Got parked up and nipped into town to hit the shops for some essential food items, and Bunnings for a new heater and a new hose fitting.

Later in the day I walked back up to the platypus pond, saw nothing, then went around to the old train station and took some snaps of the carriages now being used  for a cafe.

Train cafe, Atherton Qld

Train cafe, Atherton Qld

Atherton July 22nd 2023

I was up early and did the Atherton Parkrun for the second time. its been four years since I did this one last, the time certainly gets away. This time I walked up to the start of Parkrun, maybe 400 metres, which is a nice little warmer-upper, even if it is only 10°. Anyhow we got under way and I walked with a fellow from Townsville who couldn’t run because he’d just had his hip replaced, but was keeping a solid pace nonetheless. The course was a bit different this year in as much as it was now one long loop of 3.6km and a shorter loop of 1.4km, instead of two at 2.5km. At the end of the big loop I was feeling lucky so I trotted off on the last leg, probably lasted about 100m but kept up a good pace, threw in a few more jogs, shuffle, jog sections in and came home 58 seconds faster than last time. Yippee a PB!

After breakfast we headed out to Yungaburra to go to the markets. Yungaburra is only a small place and its flooded with market doers and market goers. The markets are surprisingly large but as we’ve been to ten-thousand or so around the country, not all that exciting. Even Judy was finding it hard to find something to look at. We bought a cucumber, then slid out of town down to Malanda where we found a nice cafe and took our repast.

Just out of Malanda is the info centre and Malanda Falls, which look enticing, but not enough for me to brave the water. There was one couple however, she with a metal detector and he in a wetsuit and snorkel, scouring the bottom for sunken treasure.

Malanda Falls, Malanda Qld

On our way back we stopped at they Gallo Cheese factory where they no longer do tasting but are happy to sell you their cheese products... and their chocolate ones as well.

Before we reached the van park I was looking for an old train track, which turns out to be almost at Herberton. We ended up at the Herberton Train Station, which is now the Steam Train Fnaciers' club and a Men's Shed. I took a snap of their old train and we headed back

Old trains, Herberton Qld

Back at the van park we had a swim and sat in the weakening sun for a while before going back to the van for some warm clothes. You tend to forget that you are at the top of the mountain and its quire a bit colder than you think it should be.

Atherton Qld July 23rd 2023

Slow start today and we headed out to Mareeba late. Late enough to think that after a nice ramble around the Coffee Works museum and gift shop that it would be time for lunch.

But as has been a bit of a recurring theme this trip: the museum is closed indefinitely while the owner does some renovations. It was all so vague I suspect that it is just closed. End of. We had a quick look at the trinkets for sale and checked out the chocolates and were in two minds whether to stay or go. In the end we elected to stay for some lunch, which was ok even if it were slow, but the coffee was Black Mountain, not even one of the coffees they praise themselves on being experts on.

The Coffee Works, Mareeba Qld

The Scone with cream and jam was excellent however.

From the Coffee Works its a short drive west out to Granite Gorge, which we hadn’t been to, so it was a must-do. 

On the way we were distracted by a lookout, the Bunny Seary Lookout, whoever they may have been, the view was not particularly inspiring, and I wondered why they had bothered really.

Bunny Seary Lookout, Mareeba Qld

Granite Gorge turns out to be a a caravan park of sorts whose claim to fame is a 3 1//2 km walk down into a ... granite gorge. There is supposed to be swimming in the gorge which would be great on a hot day so we might keep this in mind for next time. Oh and there is a $15 per head day use fee if you just want to do the walks. There is also another huge “bush” camp just before you get to the place but you have to have a self-contained unit. 

Granite Boulders at Granite Gorge, Mareeba Qld

Atherton Qld July 24th 2023

Only one visit today; Millaa Millaa Falls. Actually there are three waterfalls to see on the Waterfall Circuit, Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Elinjaa Falls. Millaa Millaa (which may be a translation from the aboriginal words Malay Malay, referring to the fruit of vine which was a seasonal food source) is taken from the name of the nearby town. The falls are recorded as being 18.3 metres in height and display three distinct streams as the come over the top and make the fan into the large pool.

Plant of hardy folk were swimming despite the very cold water.

Millaa Millaa Falls, Millaa Millaa Qld

The other two falls may be spectacular, but one you can't see at all, the other requires you to be descendant from a mountain goat to get to the bottom so you can view it. I opted for a sidewise  snap though the vegetation.

Zillee Falls, Millaa Millaa Qld

 Elinjaa Falls, Millaa Millaa Qld

We went back to Millaa Millaa the village for a coffee and cake in a nice coffee shop come dress shop come toy and gift shop.

In all pleasant afternoon. 

I also took this snap on my morning stroll, Its in the middle of Atherton and it just appeals to me, all that rust and decay and it's like time has just stopped at this particular workshop!

Old junk, Atherton Qld

Atherton July 25th 2023

Today we set out to see if we could find a platypus or two, so we headed to Yungaburra where we had a brilliant sighting a few years ago. On the way we took the slight detour to check out the Curtain Fit tree.

Curtain Fig Tree, Yungaburra Qld

The tree is looking as magnificent as ever, and the stag-horns growing way up there in the canopy look just superb.

Staghorn in curtain fig tree, Yungaburra Qld

Back to those pesky platypus though. We thought we were clever when we found them last time because we went across the bridge, under the bridge and along the creek for a hundred metres or so in an area that is known as the Allumbah Pocket.

The disappointments continue. You can follow the track undef the bridge, but alas, the farmer that owns the land has closed it and fenced it off. Rats!

We went to the info place looking for a replacement waterfall brochure that I had left in the van, and got talking to the guides about the platypus pond and the fenced of area, when we discovered that the track we had followed goes quite a bit further along the creek. All we had to do was drive to the next access point and walk from there.

This we did and as soon as we neared the creek we say our first platypus, but only for a moment. They don't stay up on the surface long, stay down for 8-10 minutes at a time and can come back up anywhere.

Undaunted we went to the left of our entry point and crossed the creek on a genuine swing bridge. Ok so it doesn’t take much to amuse us. 

Swing bridge over Pattersons Creek, Yungaburra Qld

We hung around but saw no further signs of our quarry. Crossing back over we then followed the creek further along when we were rewarded again with another sighting, and another. The creek has quite a thick covering of some form of vegetation and the platypus seemed to be diving under it. We saw it one more time before we retraced our steps. 

Platypus, Petersons Creek, Yungaburra Qld

We had also been given a heritage trail map, which we duly followed looking for the numbered signs. On the way we drove through a rather good looking garden area and stopped to take snaps of another monotreme, an echidna. These animals are so timid, the second you stop they scurry off into a bit of grass and curl themselves up into a spiked ball.

Echidna, Yungaburra Qld

The only other highlight was the old railway bridge. The story is that the original railway line was flooded when they build the Tinaroo Falls dam in 1958. This bridge and the others like it were build at great expense and only used for six years before road transport took over when they were all closed.

Railway Bridge, Yungaburra Qld

As a final tourist thing, we went back to the van via Hasties Swamp where there is a two story bird hide, but apart from the ten-thousand Magpie Geese in residence, there wasn’t much else to see.

As has become a bit of a tradition, I took the car to the carwash and relieved it of its thick coating of red dirt and grime. Voila! You can see out the windows again.