Tour through the Atherton Tablelands

On Tuesday, November 1st, we set off on a tour of the Atherton Tablelands, which lasted 3 days. At the beginning, we didn't know how long we would need for everything and what there was to see in detail, but we didn't have any stress. It's also kind of strange to have such nice weather in November. But it will be even weirder in December and January :D

Our first stop on the tour was Kuranda. It used to be a small mountain village that has been turned into a touristy hippie village. Some other people told us that there are great markets and a nice atmosphere there. Actually, the whole town consists of markets and shops, but it wasn't that special. A German woman who has a chili spice stand there and who we talked to a bit said that people used to live in the village, but now there are only shops. When the tourists go home in the afternoon, the village gets quiet. So we wandered around and looked at everything. Some stands were pretty cool and the winding alleys were quite pretty, but overall it was kind of quiet and many wooden huts were abandoned. So after about an hour or so, we drove on. Near Kuranda, there are the Barron Falls and we drove there. After a short walk, we could see the falls from a lookout. It was really great! The cliffs were really high and the water fell in multiple stages. After this lookout, we went to another one where we could see the Barron River in its valley and that's where we had lunch too. Then we hit the road again.

On the way, there was another nice lookout where you could see the coast all the way to Cairns. In general, the road was quite curvy. But it was nothing compared to the road in the Daintree :D

Next, we went to a farm where they sell homemade ice cream. Generally, the Tablelands region is known for its dairy farms as well as coffee and tea plantations. The ice cream was relatively cheap in this farm store because one scoop only cost $3.50 (usually it's $5) so Andi and I got 2 scoops together (only cost us $6.00). We chose the flavors Wattleseed, because we liked it so much in the Daintree, and Dragonfruit+Lime. Both were really good again!

After the delicious ice cream, we went to the Emerald Creek Falls. They are located slightly south of Mareeba and like almost all waterfalls in the Tablelands region, they are in the Wooroonooran National Park. Very funny name somehow^^ There wasn't much going on at the falls and when we arrived, there was only one other car in the parking lot. So we put on our sturdy shoes and swimwear and started walking. First, we followed the creek and went up to a lookout at the waterfall. But because we wanted to swim and couldn't do that there, we went back down and searched for a way down to the pool. There were 3 people swimming there, so we knew we had to get there somehow. Finally, we found the way and could cool off there (the uphill walk made us sweat quite a bit). The water was really cold, but the atmosphere was nice. For some reason, I was really creeped out when I looked down because it was just black down there even though the water was very clear and I could easily see my feet when I stretched down in the water. It was somehow creepy. So we didn't stay in the water for long, also because it was so cold, and warmed up again on the rocks in the sun. Then we got back in the car.

Our first overnight stay was a free campground at a War Memorial on Rocky Creek. We asked about accommodation options at the Visitor Centre in Kuranda and the guy there told us about this free spot. The place was spacious but not very shady and it wasn't crowded, so we could eat and sleep peacefully. In the evening, when we were already in bed, we heard rustling in the bushes behind the car and when I shone the light on it, I saw an animal that looked like a cross between a quokka and a rat :D But it quickly disappeared, so I couldn't see it more clearly. Camping in Australia is always exciting :D

The next day, after breakfast, we continued south, passing Atherton, to Yungaburra. There, we first visited the famous Curtain Fig, a really huuuuge tree with thousands of those aerial roots. Really cool. Then we went on the Peterson Creek Walk, where you can see platypuses. Unfortunately, we didn't see any on the walk along the creek, but when we came back, we saw one from the Platypus Viewing Platform. It was far away, but we could see it with the zoom lens of the camera. Really cute! Unfortunately, it disappeared very quickly, but at least we can now say that we saw a platypus in the wild :D

After the short walk, we drove to Lake Barrine, one of two crater lakes around Yungaburra, which were formed by collected rainwater in an old volcanic crater. There was a small café, you could go boating, and in the forest next to it, there were two pine trees that are estimated to be over 1000 years old. We only looked at the pine trees, which were really tall but otherwise rather unspectacular, and then we drove to the other crater lake, Lake Eacham. There you could swim really nicely and also swim without any obstacles again. That doesn't work so well in small waterfall pools. When we were sitting by the edge, many little fish came and nibbled on my feet and legs. It was really funny :D Then we got out of the water, laid down in the sun for a while, and then continued driving.

Before the next waterfall, we made a little detour and went to Gallo Dairyland. It's a cheese and chocolaterie in the picturesque hills of the Tablelands. There we could watch how Camembert was made in the cheese factory and how a woman prepared ginger chocolates. We could also try all the types of cheese they sell there. And it was soooo good! All the types tasted so different and all so delicious. Besides "normal" things like Brie, Cheddar, and Tilsiter, there were also cheeses with macadamia nuts, rainforest herbs, or pepper. It was really great that we could try everything. We didn't buy anything because all the cheeses cost over $40 per kg and we didn't have a way to keep them cool. Instead, we each treated ourselves to a chocolate praline from the chocolaterie, which cost us $2.50 together. Andi had a macadamia slice and I had a hazelnut truffle. Yum yum. Then we looked at the animal sanctuary, where we could see chickens, calves, goats, pigs, and turkeys. Even the air there smelled like the countryside :D The detour was definitely worth it :)

The next stop was Malanda and the Malanda Falls. The village and the waterfall sounded really nice in the tourist brochure and we wanted to have lunch there and maybe swim again. But when we arrived, it turned out that the waterfall was anything but nice, so we continued driving. It was right by the road, so it was noisy, the water was really turbid, and old concrete walls around the pool with ladders looked like a rundown natural swimming pool. So we went to Millaa Millaa with its famous Millaa Millaa Falls, which are the most famous in the Tablelands. We heard that it is also the waterfall that appears in the Herbal Essences commercial, and many people do that hair-through-the-air photo there. We haven't checked yet if we recognize the waterfall in the ad :D

The Millaa Millaa Falls are really beautiful, a perfect waterfall with a round pool at the bottom and jungle and lianas around it. But there were really many people there, so the paradise atmosphere was pretty much gone. We just sat down in the grass, had our lunch, and watched the people. That was also good^^ Plus, we had to watch out that one of those Brush Turkeys wouldn't steal our food. They're not stupid and they know exactly where to pick at bags and backpacks! At the beginning, such a turkey was still something special, but by now we've seen them so many times and they were really pushy there. We didn't go into the water because it was too fresh for us in the shade, there were too many people, and the water didn't look inviting.

After the Millaa Millaa Falls, we continued on the small Waterfall Circuit northeast of the village, where the Millaa Millaa Falls and two more waterfalls are located. The next one was Zillie Falls and it was in an impressive gorge. Unfortunately, because of the vegetation and the location of the viewing platform, we couldn't see the end of the waterfall very well, but it was still nice. We even saw a rainbow from the rising spray. Unfortunately, Andi got injured there because he climbed onto the railing without shoes and when he jumped down, he stepped on some old piece of iron. A small hole in his foot and blood everywhere. It wasn't the end of the world, but it was quite annoying because we couldn't do any more hikes. First, we took care of the wound and then continued driving. I went alone to the next waterfall on the circuit, the Ellinjaa Falls, and took some photos there.

South of Millaa Millaa, our route continued and next, we visited the Mungalli Falls. The upper falls were quite pretty, and right next to them, there was a restaurant. Unfortunately, we couldn't look at the lower falls, which are supposed to be far more impressive because the viewing platform was under construction and we couldn't do the walk. On one hand, because of Andi's foot and on the other hand, because it was quite late and we had to think about where we wanted to sleep.

A bit further along the road, there was one of those national park campgrounds, and that's where we wanted to spend the night. But because we had to book online again, we drove the road a bit further north toward the town until Andi had network coverage, and then we quickly paid our $6.15 per person. After that, we went to the campsite, and of course, we didn't have any network coverage there, so it was good that we had made a little detour before. The place itself was nice though, and we even had a picnic table in our spot, so we didn't have to settle for the small camping table. We had pasta salad there in the evening and sat outside for a while. As soon as we were in bed, we heard rustling outside again, like the night before, and we looked out again. This time we saw an animal that looked like a big guinea pig with brown fur - only it had a long trunk-like snout. It looked sooo funny :D I have no idea what kind of animal it was, but it was really cute, and we were happy that we had the chance to experience the nocturnal jungle animals live. And this time it wasn't spiders^^

The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and enjoyed that we still had some shade from the surrounding forest in the morning. Then we continued driving. We stopped at a sign with "Walking Tracks" at a bay on the road and walked to two different waterfalls. Andi managed it with his foot because one was only 560m away and the other was 700m away. Both were very pretty to look at, and we took our obligatory waterfall selfies^^

After the waterfalls, we passed a beautiful lookout on the road and then we drove east for a while and then north, basically around the end of the Wooroonooran National Park. Our next destination was the Josephine Falls, which are in the same national park, but accessible from the other side. Unfortunately, we had a bit of bad luck there because just when we arrived, there were also two tour buses and hundreds of cars in the parking lot. So we could expect many people. First, we walked the 700m to the waterfall and sat down on a bench there and had lunch in peace. From the bench, we could observe all the people down in the water and especially at the waterfall. Because at the Josephine Falls, there is a special feature that a rock is so smooth and accessible that it forms a natural water slide. And some people made funny shapes there :D

When most of the crowds had left, we also went down to the main pool of the falls, where swimming is allowed, and I got into the water. Andi didn't dare to because of his foot and the potential contamination of the wound by water and sand. That was pretty sad because everything is only half as much fun alone. Of course, I still took the opportunity to slide down the rock slide, and that was really funny :D The falls also made a beautiful picture, and despite the many people (who spread out quite well), it was a great atmosphere. Unfortunately, the water was pretty cold, so I didn't stay in for long, and then we continued our journey.

We hadn't planned anything further than the Tablelands Tour, and because it was now over, we didn't really know what we wanted to do next. So we first drove south, but I will write about the experiences of the next few days in a separate entry, otherwise it would be too much. See you then :)