The Atherton Tableland (wikipedia) is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It is located west to south-south-west inland from Cairns, well into the tropics, but its elevated position provides a climate suitable for dairy farming. It has an area of around 32,000 km² with an altitude ranging between 500 and 1,280 m (1,640 and 4,200 ft). The fertility of the soils in the region can be attributed to the volcanic origins of the land. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo, also Tinaroo Hydro, a small 1.6MW Hydroelectric power station is located near the spillway. This area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger North Queensland Highlands province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division. South of the Tablelands is the Bellenden Ker Range.

History

Atherton was first explored by JV Mulligan in 1875, but it was John Atherton who settled near the town which now bears his name in 1877. The area was originally explored for its mining potential where deposits of tin and a little gold were found. Industry Originally a pioneering pastoralist, John Atherton was the first to find tin deposits in Northern Queensland. Local legend has it that Tinaroo Creek received its name from Atherton who shouted, “Tin! Hurroo!” when he first made his discovery. Atherton and his friends, William Jack and John Newell, discovered the famous lode, which became the Great Northern Tin Mine. A rush of miners from the Hodgkinson’s Goldfields followed. The construction of a dray road through the Tableland brought a secondary rush, this time timber cutters to mine the red gold (redcedar) of the rainforest. Redcedar cutters camps were at Rocky Creek, Prior Pocket, Oonda Swamp (Carrington) & Ziggenbein’s Pocket. Although tin was a major part in the Tablelands, timber is what Atherton owes its existence to with large areas of redcedar, kauri, maple, black bean, walnut, white beech and red tulip oak being milled for buildings. Before the town of Atherton developed, a full-blown Chinatown sprang into existence. The Chinese had moved from the Palmer River Goldfields to the Atherton area, where the big timber stands had been cleared to make way for farming. The Chinese were considered pioneers of agriculture in North Queensland as 80% of crop production on the Tablelands was grown by them and they played a vital role in opening up the area for settlement. After the crops, they turned to dairying. As the population of Chinatown increased, small shops appeared, wells were sunk to supply water, there were cooks, herbalists, doctors and merchants etc. The rough straw huts were replaced by sawn timber houses with verandahs and corrugated iron roofs. By 1909, Chinatown had become the largest concentration of Chinese on the Tablelands with a population on 1100. Today, the Hou Wang Temple remains as one of the few reminders of the former Chinese population of the Atherton Tablelands. In the Second World War, Australian troops were camped around the district prior to being sent to the front and then again on their return. Many soldiers were interred at the war cemetery in Atherton. Crops grown in and around Atherton include banana, sugarcane, corn/maize, avocados, strawberries, macadamia nuts and mangoes and citrus. Tobacco was also grown until October 2006 (2006-10) when it was ended by a Government buyout. Dairying, grazing and poultry are also present on the Tableland.

Tourism

Tourism contributes to the Tableland economy, with Tinaroo Dam being the focal point. Yungaburra is also becoming a tourist destination with a number of restaurants and Bed and Breakfasts.

Towns

Atherton and Mareeba are the largest towns in the area. Herberton, Kairi, Kuranda, Malanda, Millaa Millaa, Tinaroo, Tolga, Yungaburra, Walkamin and Ravenshoe are also located on the Tablelands.

Environment

The area supports an important population of sarus cranes The tableland contains several small remnants of the rainforest which once covered it, many of which are now protected in national parks. It is classified by BirdLife International as one of Australia’s Important Bird Areas, supporting over 1% of the world population of the sarus crane and a significant population of the Bush Stone-curlew. Twelve species of birds are endemic to this area and the mountain ranges immediately south: Atherton scrubwren, Bower’s shrikethrush, bridled honeyeater, chowchilla, fernwren, golden bowerbird, grey-headed robin, Macleay’s honeyeater, mountain thornbill, pied monarch, tooth-billed bowerbird and Victoria’s riflebird.

14^th July Monday

Hello, from Atherton.  Here we are and all I can say is “WOW, WOW and WOW again”.  This place is stunning.  The road from Georgetown is not the best in the world, road works, strip roads and not in the best of repair.  About 50kms before you get into Atherton you start the climb into the mountains. The road here is good, but narrow (I suppose that, that is to be expected for mountain passes).  The vegetation is lush, thick and tropical.  The views are breath taking and everything is so green.  The valleys looking down from the road go way, way down.  It was overcast driving into Atherton and the mountain peaks are in the clouds.  The roads is windy, bendy, u-bends etc. and poor Ralph really had to concentrate because you can’t do it fast especially pulling the van.  You wouldn’t want to do it fast anyway because you would miss out on so much spectacular scenery. We pulled over a few times when we could to let the cars behind of us overtake. Everything is so green and the tropical forest is so dense, you can’t see through it. We passed a beautiful waterfall but unfortunately could’nt stop to look, see.  There is so much of that to see anyway and we are here for close on a week.  We are hoping that it will be long enough.  The caravan park is awesome.  The lot sizes are reasonable and it’s quite private.  The park is so well maintained and the gardens are beautiful, lots of colour with the plants and heaps of bird life. The town of Atherton is gorgeous, it’s a fair size but still a country town with that gorgeous feel of the country.  They grow coffee here and tea and have a cheese and chocolate place and place that makes liquors.  I think that I have died and gone to heaven.  Of course, we will be stocking up on all of these locally made and grown goodies. Ralph will have to throw his rocks out of the ute to make space (ha, ha). The service is friendly and I have said it before and I will say it again. “Queensland know how to cater to tourists”.  They are so good at it.  Little touches that make a big difference.  It is quite cold at the mo and we are in the van early.  We will have to put the blanket on the bed tonight and put on an extra layer of clothing.  It doesn’t matter as we’ve had such awesome weather along the way.

15^th July, Tuesday

Today is still overcast and although it’s not raining it’s sprinkling on and off. We took a drive to Mareeba.  It’s quite a large town, bigger than Atherton.  It was too early to do most things we wanted to do so we thought that we would do the hardware shopping to get that out of the way. Ralph needed some hose fittings, a pick and our compressor gave up the ghost and we don’t like travelling without one.  We took a drive around the farm lands, mainly sugar, bananas, mangos, paw-paws and coffee plantations and it’s all so lush and scenic. We went to the Golden drop winery.  They do fruit liquors and mango wines.  We have had fruit wine before but weren’t that taken with it.  This mango wine  is to die for, the fizzy one even better.  Ralph doesn’t drink sparkling wine and he walked out of there with 3 bottles.  Their liquors are awesome and we bought a range, they would be nice for a long drink mixed with soda.  Don’t know if there will be any left for you guys to try by the time we get home (ha, ha), we will think about you though every time we have one :-). We tried a coffee plantation (Skybury coffee) but they didn’t have much of a variety and I think that business for them had been bad and they had gone bankcrupt, we did buy a bag of coffee beans there though. We decided to try all the coffee places and wineries today.  We went to another coffee place (Coffee works), which was in town and not really a plantation but a big warehousy type place.  They do coffee tastings at $14 per person.  We thought that, that was pretty rich so decided to give it a miss.  They did have various coffee beans and we bought a pack of that.  They did lunches and the place was like an Alladins cave with gift ware, room after room after room.  It was squashy as there were a gazillion people there, very touristy and not our sort of place so we didn’t hang around.  We went to another plantation, this one was awesome (Jacques), beautiful gardens and settings and a nice lunch menu (more our scene).  We sat in the garden with Hugo and had lunch and all the farm dogs decided that they would come and visit us.  The people who own the place fly ultralights as well and do ultralight tours so Ralph spent about and hour talking specs and engines and knots and stuff – I played with the dogs and we left there with another bag of coffee beans (We should have enough of those to last the trip).  It was still early so on the way back to Atherton we did a bit of a detour to see Emerald creek, very pretty and there are falls but the hike was about 2kms there and 2kms back and it was a bit rainy and we weren’t prepared with our walking shoes.  We are going to see that many waterfalls in the next few days so it doesn’t matter.  On the way back we stopped off at another fruit wine place and their stuff was nice but not as nice as the Golden drop winery (bought another bottle of liquor – a lime type baileys).  We got back to the park and Ralph is making a curry as it’s still a bit rainy and a bit chilly. Tomorrow, we will do some more sight seeing as there is so much to do here and we don’t want to miss much.

Herberton (wikipedia is a town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Herberton had a population of 974.

History

The first European exploration of this area was undertaken in 1875 by James Venture Mulligan. Mulligan was prospecting for gold, but instead found tin . The town of Herberton was established on 19 April 1880 by John Newell to exploit the tin find, and mining began on 9 May. By the September of that year, Herberton had a population of 300 men and 27 women. Herberton Post Office opened on 22 November 1880. In December 1881 a State School was established.

In the late 19th century the Mulligan Highway was carved through the hills from Herberton and passed through what is now Main Street, Atherton, before continuing down to Port Douglas. This road was used by the coaches of Cobb and Co to access Western Queensland.

At its apogee, Herberton was the richest tin mining field in Australia, and was home to 17 pubs, 2 local newspapers and a brewery.

Tin mining ceased in Herberton in 1978.

Geography and Climate

Herberton is situated in the hills of the south-west ranges that surround Atherton. Vegetation ranges from tropical rainforest to the east, wet schlerophyl forests to the North and East and open schleorphyl forests and woodlands to the North and West.

Herberton is notably drier than the area around Atherton with average rainfall for Herberton 1155mm.^[9] Herberton is the most northerly location in Australia to have recorded a temperature below -5 °C, and also the only location in Tropical North Queensland to have done so. The average minimum temperatures ranges from 10 °C in winter to 18 °C in summer, while maximums range from 29 °C to 21 °C.

located in the town. Herberton is the oldest town on the Atherton Tablelands and is often referred to as the Village in the Hills.

A Heritage Walk for tourists that takes in some of the old buildings and historical features of the town is a popular attraction. Herberton Historical Village is a 16 acre, re-creation of the town during the tin mining era, with exhibits such as vintage machinery, cars and Australian antiques. It has more than 50 restored period buildingsThe Spy and Camera Museum houses antique spy cameras, a photographic gallery and photographic memorabilia with guided tours through the museum and a working photographer and photographic studio.

16^th July, Wednesday

It’s still overcast and drizzling and a bit chilly. We had brekkie and set off for Herberton which is a historical mining town.  The road is windy, bendy again and through the mountain range.  Wet slippery roads and sheer drops on my side and the locals are sitting on your bum like they have a death wish.  They have a few metres to pass and you can’t see around the next bend and they go for it.  They are crazy, no wonder so many of them land up going down the mountain.  We were doing the speed limit, so it wasn’t like we were going too slow.  Anyways, we went to the historical town of Herberton (which is all the original buildings and were just moved onto one site). It was fascinating, so much history and original works.  We had morning tea there (tea and scones), so yum.  The staff again are so friendly and accommodating. We then went to the mining museum, which was quite interesting, more Ralphs scene than mine.  I like the human stories and their lives more than the machinery.  Herberton town itself is really small and nestled into the mountain.  It is a charming town and you would think driving through there that you were in in a little town in Europe. We tried to find a doggie day care on the way back to put Hugo into on Saturday while we went to the falls but they don’t do it.  I don’t think that it will be a problem because unlike the Territory everywhere here is dog friendly, we even sat in the tea house with Hugo…. No-one seems to mind which is a refreshing change. We came back to the caravan park and decided that it was soup weather.  I am busy writing this and there is a knock on the door, an old fella, who lives here and noticed Hugo and brought over his left over T-Bone.  Of course, Hugo can’t eat cooked bones but I thanked him and took the bone and said that Hugo would eat it tomorrow, he was so chuffed and said that he would bring another one tomorrow night (really sweet). We are hoping that they weather might be a little less rainy tomorrow as there is a lake we want to visit.

17^th July Thursday

What a wonderful morning, the sun is shining and the birds are going nuts.  We took a drive to Lake Tinaroo (which is a dam as well).  It is used to irrigate the farm lands through channels very much the same system as they use in Kununurra. What an awesome wonderful place it is.  It is part of the National park and most of it is rain forest.  The drive, which is right around the lake took us about 2 hours, through rain forest and breathtakingly beautiful, when you stop you can hear all the sounds in the forest, it is so calming and the little creeks you cross are all full and running strong.  The road was a sand/mud road, because of the recent rains, some parts rough but not too bad (you wouldn’t want to take a 2 wheel drive through there though). We stopped a few times to take pictures and there is a separate lake that is not fed by creeks at all because it is volcanic.  There are 2 craters joined together which makes the lake quite large (Lake Euramoo), beautiful and so full of bird life. Some of the trees have what looks like huge hanging baskets with ferns growing in them, it is the strangest thing.  There are also some trees with natural stag horns (which we all pay a fortune for, just growing there, wild). We visited the Cathedral tree which is a huge fig tree and you can actually walk into the centre of it.  I can’t believe how beautiful this all is and how nature works this way. The roots hang down from all around the tree from just about the top of it to the bottom. The campsites around the lake are not conducive to caravans but we noticed that there were a few there.  There is no way that we would take the caravan across those roads and there is a warning saying that the road is not suitable for caravans.  The campsites however, are stunning, right on the lake, just beautiful and tranquil.  I know I harp on but it is awesome. After that, we went to Nerada tea plantation (I actually buy their tea from the supermarket).  It is a huge plantation and they have many teas on offer and of course I stocked up with my favourites and some tins of loose teas to go with my new teapot that Hugo bought me for Christmas, which is, as yet, unused. Of course, Devonshire tea………. 2 days in a row, I am in heaven.  We had a look at the process of the tea in the processing plant which was very interesting.  There was a viewing platform in the factory so we could watch the process and it’s a huge process and quite fascinating.  They have tree kangaroos in the garden and I managed to get a few pics of them (they are so cute and we’ve never seen them before).  From there we went to the curtain tree which is another huge fig tree and just as amazing as the cathedral tree. From there we took a drive through another charming little town called ‘Malanda’ and we will go there again on Saturday because they have the markets on every 3^rd Saturday of the month. We went to a cheese and chocolate place just outside of Malanda, which is a working farm as well (Milk cows, and they were all lined up ready to be milked when we were there). Of course, we came out of there with cheese and chocolate. The drive through these places I find hard to describe. It’s hilly, green pastures, the towns are charming, the people friendly and it takes your breath away. Back to the caravan park after yet another perfect day and an early night because we will go and see the waterfalls tomorrow.

18^th July Friday

Another stunning sunny day, how lucky are we?  Today we are doing some of the falls, not all of them as there are about 16 of them.  We will do 3.  These falls are all around the town of Millaa Millaa and again driving through some stunning countryside.  We went to Millaa Millaa falls first then onto Zillia falls and finally Elinjaa Falls.  They are all so stunning and I hope that my photos do them justice.  We stopped off at Millaa Millaa on the way back for something to eat.  It’s a very small town and again, like most Queensland country towns (especially up here on the tablelands) it was charming and friendly.  We sat outside and people stop by and start chatting to you, it’s awesome. There is a theatre here (The Majestic theatre) which is the oldest continually operating country picture theatre in Australia.  The building is original.  It was built in 1929 and show movies every weekend with some theatre productions throughout the year.  Back to the caravan park to have some r & r as we have been rushing around since we’ve been here because we didn’t want to miss out on much.  Just needed to catch up on washing etc. and put our feet up.  Tomorrow, we will go to the markets in Malanda.  Can’t wait as I love country markets and they are very arty farty here and that is exactly up my alley.

19^th July Saturday

I am going to be boring again  “Awesome morning, sun is shining”.  We went to the markets in Malanda (love that drive).  The markets are quite large and mainly produce, organic produce, plants, candles and the usual soaps and bric-a-brac. We ordered a sandwich from a stall which was an SES fund raising thingie ma jig.  This woman came up and gave me a lecture on how bad this stuff was that I was ordering and the fact that I was ordering bacon, I might as well bite a human because that is what the flesh is and she eats 80% raw, 10% cooked and 10% naughty, well I wanted to bite her and see if she tasted like a pig……. So annoying, these people, but never mind, it’s a story to tell you all (ha, ha).  We had to drive back to Mareeba because the compressor we bought was faulty and on the way we spotted a crop duster.  We had to pull the car up and watch because this guy was amazing.  Ralph said that they have to do tight turns and do it quickly because the farmer is watching and they pay by the hour.  It really was awesome to watch. We had to put the ute through a car wash because the bottom was so full of mud from our trip around the lake, poor Hugo was locked in with windows closes and the water was such a tease. We spent the rest of the afternoon, tidying up, cleaning the van and the car etc. as we leave for Mossman in the morning.  So it’s ciao from Atherton and we’ll see you all in Mossman. xxxxxxxxx