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Back To Nature - Waterfall Circuit
Back to Nature (waterfall circuit)
(this is a full day drive starting at approx 9am, returning at approx 5pm)
Starting from Atherton, travel up Herberton Road until you come to a sign saying Nyletta Wetlands/Hastie Swamp (Hastie Road) and turn left. Head down over the railway line and on the right hand side you will see the entrance road to Hastie Swamp. Here you’ll be able to see a wide range of birds, ducks, magpie geese but to name a few. These can be viewed from the ‘bird hide’ without disturbing their normal behaviour. Naturally the best times to view the many different breeds are before 6.30am or after 6pm but you will see many birds at any time during the day.
When leaving the Swamp, turn right into Hastie Road, then right onto the Kennedy Highway, which will take you to the Mt Hypipamee National Park where you can see the ‘Crater’ and Dinner Falls. It’s a 10 minute walk (approx.) from the car park to the Crater, then you can return via the ‘natural’ path to see the different sections of Dinner Falls.
Continue along Kennedy Highway, heading for Millaa Millaa, where you will see the sign for Millaa Millaa Lookout. On a clear day, you get an amazing view of the vast green, rolling hills and plateaus that make up the Atherton Tablelands. Continue through the town of Millaa Millaa, past the bright yellow building until you come to The Falls Tea House. Turn left into Theresa Road to see Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls. If pressed for time, visit Millaa Millaa Falls and Ellinjaa as these are the nicest.
Turn left onto the Palmerston Highway. Within approx. 10 minutes, you’ll see a large weigh bridge shed on the left. You need to turn left into Brooks Road Junction, which is straight after this shed. This road will take you to Mungalli Creek Dairy where you can sample the locally made organic cheeses and if lucky, get to view the dairy products actually being made. This is also an ideal spot for a healthy, fresh lunch or snack while sitting on the deck, taking in the view. If you’re up for another waterfall, travel a bit further along the same road until you come to Mungalli Falls. There are actually 3 stages to this waterfall, the smaller rapid like falls where you can have a dip, the 2nd level, which you can view from the lookout platform and then the 3rd, which you can view after following the dirt track to the bottom.
Travel back along the Palmerston to Malanda where you’ll see the Malanda Dairy Centre which has tours through the Dairy Farmers Milk complex and displays of the Dairying History. Next is the Environmental/Visitor Information Centre which has a wonderful display of the volcanic history of the Tablelands, with a mock volcano. (There is a gold coin donation for entry to the centre.)Opposite the centre is a rainforest walk that takes approx 1 hour to complete and you can view the many turtles and fish in the river. Next to the Centre is the famous Malanda Falls, which was the original town swimming pool and is still used to this day for swimming – being a popular BBQ/picnic site for both locals and visitors.
From Malanda, you can head to Lake Eacham for a swim &/or do the 3km rainforest walk around the Lake, then onto Lake Barrine where you can go on a 45 minute cruise around the lake (if arriving before 3.30pm) and enjoy a Devonshire Tea on the deck of the Tea House. Ask about the history of this building while there. Heading back to Atherton, the last attraction is the world famous Curtain Fig Tree. There are two major fig trees on the Tablelands, but this is by far the most amazing. The strangler fig took over a ‘host’ tree, which later fell, landing on another. Over the years, the root system grew along the fallen tree, developing a ‘curtain’ of roots. At different times of the year, the tree actually changes colour from a brown to an almost orange colour.
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