5th May 2018–To Herberton and Beyond…

Distance: 147 Km
Fuel: 47 L

Hou Wang Temple

At 9am arrived at the Old Atherton Post Office Art Gallery.

Visited the Chinatown exhibition first before being taken out to the Temple (built in 1903). It is made of wood clad in corrugated iron – the temple’s internal walls are Red Cedar as are the meeting rooms walls, the remaining walls are unlined iron walls so it must have boiled in summer especially the kitchen.

Interesting to compare the Fong On Rd as it was in 1912 and as it is now.

Herberton

Herberton was originally the major town in the area because of the mining activities, Atherton was just a staging post on the way.

Herberton has an historic village which I presume is like Old Sydney Town (as was). I didn’t go. I went to the Spy and Camera Museum which was very interesting. A collection originally started by a local who was a cold war spy now taken over by the local photographer.

Millaa Millaa

I had intended to have lunch at Millaa Millaa but instead when on the “Millaa Millaa Falls Drive’ which took in three of the local waterfalls – I didn’t go swimming.

Millaa Millaa Falls

Zillie Falls

Ellinjaa Falls

Nerada Tea Shop and Visitor Centre

I saw the sign as I neared Malanda so turned off and followed the back roads to the plantation. The tea looked very healthy but the Visitor Centre? Closed Saturday and Sunday… I shall be buying Bushells from now on.

Malanda

I had a late lunch in Malanda at the ‘Original’ Cafe. The coffee was fine, the chips were fine, the hamburger ordinary (and I had to pick the beetroot out).

Malanda Falls

These falls have been turned into the local swimming pool as well as a tourist attraction and they were very close to town.

Back in Atherton I filled up with fuel ready for tomorrow and returned late afternoon to the caravan park. On the way I came across the Atherton War Cemetery.

Yes, it did rain for about 5 minutes around midday today but after a cloudy morning it turned out to be a very enjoyable day.

Don’t forget that by clicking on an image you get to see that image full size.

4th May 2018–Atherton

Distance: 317 Km

Set off at about my usual time of 8.30am for a reasonably steady drive to Atherton – certainly no rush.

Stopped on the way to look at Black Mountain a rather odd old volcanic mountain of what appears to be a pile of rocks with little or nothing growing on it.

Also stopped once more at Coffee Works in Mareeba for their equivalent of a Strawberry Sundae (Strawberry Chilla). i also bought some of their mint chocolate. It was OK, as with coffee chocolate is not a particular favourite of mine so to me Cadbury chocolate tastes much the same at a fraction of the price.

Found the caravan park I selected, it was about 4km outside Atherton and I was tempted to have a look at the other ones. They charged $35 for a night which I think is getting excessive. The grounds were fine but the facilities need an upgrade, they are OK but that is all.

Drove into Atherton to have a look at the town; quite a busy but commonplace shopping centre. I went to have a look at an historic Chinese Temple but it closed at 1pm which seems a bit early to me. Will try to fit it in tomorrow.

At just after 5pm it started to get a bit chilly must be the altitude it was still over 21’ at the time but once the sun went down the temperature dropped noticeably and rapidly.

1st May 2918–Mareeba

Distance: 561 km
Fuel: 60 L

Today was to be a long drive. There are really no stops until Mt Garnet unless you go to the Undara Lava Tubes but I have visited them twice in the last 5 years, including last year so that was not practical. ,There are virtually no rest areas on this road either – the only place.s are left over sites from past roadbuilding/repair.

>>>Click Here to Revisit Lava Tubes<<<

The drive from Charters Towers was fairly uneventful except for occasional encounters with the local wild life.

[googlemaps https://www.youtube.com/embed/amqj8s-PkNo” frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; encrypted-media” allowfullscreen>

When I first visited the Undara Lava Tubes over five years ago the road north of Charters Towers was mostly single lane.

Now there are only a few km of single lane road left.

The weather was beautiful until I reached Mt Garnet where I stopped for fuel – ironically the cheapest since leaving home – from then on it was getting noticeably cloudier as I drove.

By the time I arrived at Ravenshoe it was pouring with rain, I stopped and had a look at the forecast; not good! This is almost exactly what happened when I drove from Undara to Cairns five years ago – the weather was appalling all the way to Atherton where it continued raining.

BTW I think Ravenshoe is the highest town in Queensland.

Decided to push on to Mareeba where the forecast was not so bad. Arrived at the Tropical (?) Tableland Caravan Park at 3pm. It had been a long drive and the skies where still threatening.

In the event it did rain for a while when I was getting fuel but as sunset approached small patches of blue sky appeared – I hope this is an omen for tomorrow and my drive to Cooktown.