We had only driven through Ingham on our big trip around the country in 2018. Much of what we had sought to do on the first visit had been denied us because of rain and flooding. This time the weather had been beautiful. But we had scant knowledge of Ingham other than it appears to be the gateway to Wallaman Falls, a pleasure that we had given up on before as the return trip was over 100km.
We arrived at Ingham from Mission Beach – where we were staying with friends – on 18 Jun 2024 and left on 20 June, heading south and home.
Getting There
From Mission Beach, Ingham is a short drive on the Bruce Highway – 124kms. But it was an easier drive than going up the Great Inland Way.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
History
First Nations
Prior to British settlement, the Ingham area was inhabited by the Warakamai people. Warrgamay (also known as Waragamai, Wargamay, Wargamaygan, Biyay and Warakamai) is a First Nations language in North Queensland. The language region includes the Herbert River area, Ingham, Hawkins Creek, Long Pocket, Herbert Vale, Niagara Vale, Yamanic Creek, Herbert Gorge, Cardwell, Hinchinbrook Island and the adjacent mainland.
Whilst at Springsure on this trip I found some excellent informations panels about the first Nations people in that area – around Emerald. To read about these people, and particularly their use of plants for food and medicines, click here.
The way of life of the First Nations people can be read here in the first 5 or so pages after page 3. This is a generic assessment, not one specific to an area. Click here.
There was terrible conflict between the First Nations people and the British settlers in relation access land across the country. There were terribly tragic events that were commonplace as the British commandeered the land, and used the Native Mounted Police to clear the lands of the traditional owners. This is very well documented in the booklet Aboriginal people in Queensland: a brief human rights history issued by the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland, Click here.
Colonial Times
The area around Ingham was first explored by George Dalrymple in 1864. The first settlement occurred in 1865 when the Vale of Herbert Station was established. The town was named after William Bairstow Ingham who was a British colonist who operated a sugarcane plantation in the region and was an agent for the colonial Government of Queensland during the early years of the British occupation of New Guinea.
The full history can be read here.
Also read here for other information.
Today, Ingham has more than half its population being of Italian descent – so it isn’t surprising that the township is often referred to as “Little Italy”. Settled in 1864, Ingham is the heart of the local sugar cane industry, where many Italian migrants came to work, and has one of the largest sugar mills in Australia. The annual Australian-Italian Festival in August brings thousands of visitors to the town to enjoy Italian wine, cuisine, music and culture.
In the 2021 census, the locality of Ingham had a population of 4,455 people.
Day 1 – Tuesday 18 June 2024 – To Ingham, around town
It was a beautiful morning, with cloudless deep blue skies. The landscape is the same as it was when we drove north to Mission Beach from Cardwell. We stayed at the Ingham Tourist Park. This is a good park with lots of room and all facilities you need, even though they were a bit dated.
We walked around town and were amazed at the range and size of some of the trees. Some are really massive and others were like several knotted trees as a trunk. Really unusual trunks.
Other trees were so different with trunks made up by thin stick like branches. – almost like vines had knotted around them, but without the vines.
Monument to the cane cutters.
We also saw the Italian influence on the town. What was striking was the record of what happened during World Wars when the Italian workers were imprisioned. There are two murals that show that in WW1 South Sea Island labour had been brought in to replace the Italian labour. The Islander labourers were sent home after the war.
During WW2, many women cane farmers were obliged to do the framework and cane cutting as their Italian husbands were sent to internment.
We also walked around town to see the Post Office, the fancy water tank and find the origins of the song “Pub with no Beer” (the Lees Hotel not the Royal), and a few other attractions.
Day 2 – Wednesday 19 June 2024 – Wallaman Falls/Lucinda
It’s a bit over 50km to the Falls from Ingham, and its a misty drive with low clouds, through an increasingly forested landscape. Quite etherial.
It’s a narrow winding road up to the Falls with little wriggle room. The filming in the Video at the rear of the post was done in the lower half of the drive up. The road gets narrow and twisty. We did come up against an RV heading down but fortunately they could reverse back into a relatively wider section. Drive slowly everyone!
The Falls are in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, surrounded by one of the world’s oldest rainforest. The Falls are also part of the traditional lands of the Warrgamay People, who have a spiritual connection to this sacred place.
Just a short walk from the carpark, you come to the Falls – simply stunning. Feast your eyes on Wallaman Falls – the highest permanent single-drop waterfall in Australia. It’s a towering 268 metres tall. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall is 20 metres deep. One of the most spectacular falls we have seen anywhere.
Fed by Stony Creek, a tributary of the Herbert River, there is no bad time of year to see Wallaman Falls, although the Wet Season is best.
We walked around to the Gorge lookout – great views. I walked the first 100m or so of the track to the bottom of the Falls – it’s very very steep. We could not tackle that one.
On the way down we came across a couple of these ugly things scurrying on the roadside. Tragic to see wild boars in a National Park.
In the afternoon we drove out to Halifax and Lucinda. Halifax is a small coastal town near Ingham. In the 2021 census, the locality of Halifax had a population of 477 people. The area started as a sugar plantation in 1880. Much of its heritage is still there today.
Lucinda is an enjoyable place to visit – described in the literature as a sleepy hamlet. In the 2021 census, the locality of Lucinda had a population of 435 people. In 1896, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company built a tramway from its Victoria sugar mill to Lucinda Point where a storage shed and jetty was built. The first harbour at Dungeness – less than a km from Lucinda – was not viable due to its shifting sandbanks.
There is a good boat ramp at Dungeness and a tower to get views across to Hinchinbrook Island.
A sugar-exporting town, Lucinda is noted for its 5.76-kilometre (3.58 mi) long sugar jetty, which is the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere and the world’s largest bulk sugar loading facility. Must be fun during a cyclone.
Due to its length, the jetty could not be built flat but follows the curvature of the Earth creating a difference of 2 metres between the two ends of the jetty. A few other pics of Lucinda
Finally a pic from nearby Taylor Beach.
To see photos from this post click here.
To see a video for this post click here