We really liked not only Atherton town but also the great range of things we could do from that base. Herberton is just amazing, a treasured memory around every corner; Yungaburra is very special, especially to celebrate Kerry’s birthday; the shapes and formations provided by the fig trees are amazing as are the 2 maar lakes; and it is just a pleasure to drive around a countryside that is so green and comprising lovely rolling hills and distant mountains. It sure gets our vote!
Kerry’s snippets are in fuchsia
Getting there
Millaa Millaa > Atherton (43km)
A very short drive to the our new destination – easy drive, through some very pretty countryside.
History of the Tablelands area
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range. Indigenous Australians have occupied the Tablelands for tens of thousands of years.
As we saw at the Nganyalji Aboriginal Interpretative Centre at Ravenshoe (see the Millaa Millaa post) there were elements of aboriginal culture on the Atherton Tablelands that differed from other areas of Australia. Some of the aboriginal camps were semi-permanent, with round homes, and resembled small villages. Cleared areas and walking tracks were maintained, and the people were not strictly nomadic.
The coming of white settlers fundamentally changed the aboriginal traditional way of life. There was frontier warfare, dislocation, starvation, and instances of wholesale massacres of groups of aborigines. It is estimated that the population of aborigines in the Cairns-Tableland region was reduced to less than 20% in just 20 years.
J.V. Mulligan and his party were the first Europeans to walk on the tablelands in April 1875. He found the Barron River and followed it south until hitting the jungle. Skirting the jungle, he followed native tracks through the country around the present day Atherton, then ascended the range to find the Wild River (as he named it), and found tin at a site of Herberton.
John Atherton was the first European settler on the Atherton Tablelands. From his cattle station near Rockhampton, he had driven large herds of cattle north to the goldfields to sell to the hungry miners in 1873 and 1875.
In 1876 Atherton retraced Mulligans 1875 exploration and claimed land near the present day town of Mareeba. He moved his family and cattle there in 1877, establishing his station, which he named Emerald End. He discovered alluvial tin at a place he named Tinaroo, and this brought the first miners to the tablelands. He also went to the Wild River, where Mulligan had reported finding alluvial tin. This led to the foundation of Herberton in 1880, the first town established on the tablelands.
Tin mining became the basis for the regional economy, giving impetus to the timber and agricultural industries by creating a local demand, and an infrastructure for transport, communications, and trade. Many townships sprung up, although most were short-lived. The mining industry created a demand for timber for both construction and fuel. The rainforests provided millable timber for local use and valuable timbers such as red cedar which could be sent to more distant markets. The township of Atherton began as ‘Cedar Camp’, and after the valuable timbers were removed, the fertile soils provided the base for agriculture.
The Palmer River gold rush from 1873 saw an influx of Chinese, and by 1877 there were around 17,000 Chinese in North Queensland. While many returned to China after the gold rushes, others chose to stay despite racist attitudes and government policies which attempted to deter their acquisition of land and access to resources. To this day, Europeans are referred to as the first settlers and pioneers, with the role of other races ignored.
In North Queensland, Chinese formed partnerships to lease land from European settlers, and a system evolved where white settlers acquired grants of undeveloped land which they leased to Chinese who did the hard work of clearing and cultivation, and growing crops. By 1911 the population of Chinese in the whole of Queensland had fallen to 5,518. However in Atherton, it had risen to over 1,000. A Chinatown existed well separated from the European part of town. As in other areas, the Chinese farmed under lease arrangements. Soldier Settlement schemes enacted after the First World War, saw the end of this system and the demise of Atherton’s Chinatown. Today all that is left is the Hou Wang Temple.
WWII had a significant impact on the Tablelands. With around 40,000 troops regularly stationed there, and the number sometimes swelling to around 100,000. Demand for fresh milk stimulated the local dairy industry, and caused the Malanda dairy factory to switch from cream-based to milk-based production. After the war, Malanda milk continued with the distinction of ‘the longest milk run in the world’, transporting milk as far west as the Northern Territory, and as far north as New Guinea. Although the period of the Atherton Project lasted only two years from 1943 to 1945, it changed the landscape and economy of the Tablelands, and its effects are still seen today.
In the 1950s Tinaroo Dam was constructed on the Barron River as part of the development of an irrigation scheme to support agriculture around Mareeba and Dimbulah. The dam also allowed an increase in generating capacity for the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station.
This helped increase agricultural production. Although at first it was mainly aimed at tobacco, today it supports a diversity of crops which include mangoes, bananas, pawpaw (papaya), avocados, sugar cane, and coffee along 365km of irrigation channel. The damming of the river created a lake which is 3,360 hectares in surface area, creating a popular fishing, boating and recreation area.
Today, Atherton is at the heart of the Atherton Tablelands, as a substantial, attractive and busy service town. The town centre includes a comprehensive shopping centre, a showground, hospital, Olympic swimming pool (1959), the Tableland information centre and cultural centre. The railway adjoins tall grain silos, and the station is next to Platypus Park. There are State primary (1891) and high (1959) schools and a Catholic primary school (1923). Its population was 6,676 at the 2011 census.
The van park
We are at the BIG4 Atherton Woodlands Tourist Park, which is very good, even if on the pricy side ($38.70 with our BIG4 discount). We have a drive-through site with a concrete slab and plenty of room. There is a colourful hedge separating us from the next site.
There is an excellent camp kitchen but its a bit of a walk for us so we don’t use it. The facilities are also excellent, and the pool looks good but it’s a bit too cool for a swim. There are quite a few permanents here and only a handful of travellers. Sites are all good grass sites most with a slab.
The maintenance man directed us to our site and guided us in next to the slab. He was really helpful and made a point of remembering our names.
Day 0 (arrival day)
We went straight to the Tourist Information Centre to get a handle on what we could do. Then we walked around the town, or the main part of it as it is quite large. It surprised us how busy it was.
“The Crystal Cave” is widely advertised as massive collection by one man. It is a wonderful little shop – full of crystals, both large and small. Very tempting to get some amethyst – but not in the caravan as I suspect it would shatter into 50 million pieces.
Day 1
Today was Kerry’s birthday
My 60th birthday. Received a few phone calls my family – and had a wonderful rendition of Happy Birthday Granny by Matilda, Brooke, Daniella and Kate in San Francisco. Later I got a similar rendition from Ella and Knox in Brisbane. So sweet.
We were going to go walking to look at waterfalls, but the weather didn’t look that good, so what I really wanted to see was the village of Herberton. so we did.
We drove across to Herberton to see the Historic Village, a large outdoor museum displaying the story of the pioneering past. Back in the 1950s, many relics were being sold off for scrap and old buildings were being demolished. Then collector Harry Skennar decided that he had to preserve history for generations to come. He set about creating The Village back in 1973, bringing the first building, the lovely Elderslie House, onto the site beside Wild River.
During the 1970s, many more buildings and relics from around the region followed. With the exception of the Tin Pannikin Pub, everything in the village dates from Herberton’s foundation years and almost all the buildings are as they were originally constructed. Beyond this, the buildings and thousands of original items displayed in and around them reflect everyday life in North Queensland as it was from the 1880s onward.
It really is an amazing collection of buildings, equipment and artefacts. We spent over half a day there.
We particularly enjoyed the blacksmith and stayed with him – as did a group of about 20 – while he made a useful tool to lift camp ovens and billys off a campfire. Or for us, to lift out tent pegs. He started from a bit of square iron and finished by adding a brassy colour. It was really fascinating. This feature in the video linked below.
I also also liked the display of ancient cars and 2 motor bikes in Days Garage – there are also many more derelict very old vehicles around the village. 
One of the motor bikes is very special – a 1925 Indian Prince. This is very lightweight with a low seat so was targeted at new riders.
At 11.30 one of the staff came down and started it up. It took a few kicks but then went off with a throaty roar before settling into a relatively quite chug chug. This can be seen in the video – see link below.
The bike cannot be ridden as sadly there is a clutch problem that they cannot fix.
They also started up a 1923 Model T Ford which started first time, and a 1927 Morris Cowley which also started easily and was extremely quiet. Lovely old cars.
I was also fascinated by the school room, particularly the exam questions written up on the blackboard. Talk about going back into another era – have a look at the photo and see how many questions you could get right. 
Another real memory jogger were the kids books. I had forgotten the old “books for boys” and the “books for girls”.
There was also a shop that held hundreds of old toys – the old dappled rocking horses, so many dolls (some very realistic) and the most marvellous dolls house.
Another shop has ladies “fashion” – including hats…. gorgeous dresses. I think I would have liked to have lived in that area just for the clothes.
We also went to a printing shop – to watch how print-sets were done in the old days. Pretty tiring work…. We came away with a personalised “Wanted” sign for me: “Kick Arse Kerry of the Crazy Cleary Gang“. Very interesting and informative man was running the shop – used to work for a newspaper. This also features in the video linked below.
We also loved Elderslie House, such a beautiful old home.
With my brother-in-law being a butcher – Annerley Meats where you will get the best pork, ham and sausages in Brisbane – I loved this extract from the 1951 Slalughtering Act dealing with smoking and expectorating..
This museum is an amazing place and will certainly bring back many memories for us older folk. There are too many thing to comment on in this blog, but many of the items are shown in the photos and video – see the links below.
After leaving Herberton we went around to the Mt Hypipamee NP off the Kennedy Hwy. It is a short drive to the carpark, and from there we walked the track to see the Crater (350m) and the Dinner Falls (500m).
The crater is a massive hole in the ground – no surprise there. The viewing platform is 58m above the water level and the water is 73 m deep. It is 61 metres in diameter. That’s what I call a hole. Surprisingly, the temperature in the water only varies a couple of degrees from the top to the bottom – how does that happen. It greatly reminded me of a sink hole we saw in France a couple of years ago.
It was first discovered by accident when in 1879 a gold exploration party nearly fell into it. The water surface is generally covered with duck weed. Apparently some visitors throw rocks down into the water to hear the loud bang when the rock hits the surface of the water and the noise echos up the sides. We did not do that as we had not heard about it.
We walked on to Dinner Falls, which is a mix of three waterfalls. The bottom-most of the series is a long cascade fall; the middle section of the falls is a trio of segmented drops; while the uppermost section of the falls has a triangular shape as it plunges off the tableland plateau.
The track took us past all 3 sections.
That evening we celebrated Kerry’s birthday. I had asked the ladies in the Tourist Centre which was the best restaurant in town. Their reply was that the best restaurant was actually out of town, and in Yungaburra. They recommended Obi’s.
I rang and booked but could only get a 6.00pm table. We had not been to Yungaburra, which is 13km from Atherton, but when we got there we found a delightful little town with so many flower baskets along the street and lots of lovely cafes and restaurants.
Obi’s is in a 1912 house that has been fully restored with beautiful gardens. They have restored the house really well – keeping in tradition with the age…. pressed tin ceilings, wide floor boards etc. We had a delightful dinner – Des having a Fillet steak and me Wagyu Steak with seafood on top. Both were very good.
Day 2
We woke at 4:30am to a seriously loud blast of noise. I raced out to investigate and was so glad it was not The Cruiser malfunctioning. The noise was coming from the motor home next to us – which was vacant – we had not seen anyone there. The alarm had gone off and the blasting horn was very loud.
Soon there were a dozen people assembled around the offending vehicle, one fellow muttering “I have woken up horny before but this is ridiculous”. One man seemed to know what to do and crawled around under the front of the vehicle. I got one of my screw drivers and held the torch, while he disconnected the horn. He could not have done it without me.
We had a lazy day that day, and needed it. Read, rested, shopped, caught up with blog stuff, etc
Day 3
This was the day for exploring the Lakes to the east of Atherton – shame about the rainy weather.
Approaching Yungaburra on the Gillies Hwy, we took the turnoff to the right for the Curtain Fig (well signposted). We were soon at the car park with a short walk to the tree.
It was amazing to see the curtain of aerial roots of the fig hanging off the host tree, and across a big expanse of tree. It’s Lord of the Rings stuff.
We drove through the pretty as a picture village of Yungaburra – we will stop there on the way back – out for another 7 or 8km to the well signposted turnoff to Lake Eacham, and it is only a few km to get to the car park. Lovely drive.
Lake Eacham and Lake Barrine, are termed maars—a volcanic crater formed by massive explosions from the superheating of groundwater. Today the remaining craters are the only catchments they have – no rivers run into our out of either Lake. In 1888 the Lakes were proclaimed scenic reserves, but It wasn’t until 1934 that they was gazetted as national park. Both Lakes are estimated at 65m deep.
The guides say Lake Eacham is a clear, blue lake but ours was a dull day with many showers. We did not get to see much blue water but we did see the incredible blue of the Ulysses butterfly.
Lake Eacham is surrounded by lush rainforest and a number of rainforest communities can be seen along the 3km track encircling the lake. Our Garmin watches rated the walk as closer to 4km than 3.
On the way around we same some more strangler vines crating curtains of roots, but nothing as massive as the Curtain Fig.
While we enjoyed the forest walk, it would have been nice to actually see the lake at a few points on the way around.
Back on the Gillies Hwy, Lake Barrine is a 5 or 6km drive further east from the Gillies Roadhouse. It is well signposted.
This is very similar to Lake Eacham, with a 5km walk around, which we did not do. But we did walk the 100m to see the 2 magnificent kauris pine trees. These are over 45m tall and are awesome.
This Lake has a tea house which was built in 1926, and also has 40min boat tours of the lake. We also saw more of the stunning Ulysses butterfly around the really lovely gardens around the tea house and house. These are impossible to photograph, so I downloaded a pic from the web to include here.
We had lunch at the tea house but were quite disappointed.
From here we drove to see the Cathedral Fig on the Boar Pocket Rd. It is similar to the Curtain Fig but more upright.
We returned to Yungaburra and walked around. Yungaburra is one of the most quaint towns on the Atherton Tablelands with its lovely streetscape largely unchanged since 1910. With 18 heritage-listed buildings, it is the largest National Trust village in Queensland.
It is a lovely little town – the most striking feature is the old lamp-posts with hanging flower arrangements along the street. They are so colourful. There are so many cafes and restaurants all in lovely looking restored houses or other buildings.
From there we went to the Gallo Dairyland.
This is where a tour person from the canopy-walk told us was so great. Yes, they do make a variety of cheeses, and yes, they do make chocolates. Incredibly expensive at around $7.40 for 4 small chocolates. There were no demonstrations on (perhaps our timing was bad), so we had a quick look around at all the cheeses and chocolates – all looking great – then the small animal petting farm, and then skedaddled off, much to the chagrin of the serving staff – escaping without spending anything. That’s not part of the plot!.
To see photos related to this post, click here
To see video related to this post, click here