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Published: August 31st 2011
On Wednesday 24th August we finally found our way out of Innisfail taking a very hilly route towards Atherton. We didn’t have a choice because all routes to Atherton are hilly but the scenery is stunning. Poor old PIE struggled on the hills and seemed to be “coughing” a bit with puffs of smoke appearing when changing down to a lower gear. Let’s hope nothing untoward is happening especially as she’s only recently undergone a major service. We made it to Atherton in very good time and, unusually for us, we didn’t stop anywhere on the way. Atherton is in the middle of a dairy farming area but is also a very popular area for tourism and, not surprisingly, the caravan park we chose looked pretty busy. The Woodlands Tourist Park is just a kilometer or so out of Atherton and we were soon setting up on a reasonable site – not the best one available in our opinion but we made the most of it. There seemed to be bigger, grassier sites available and even some with a block much closer to the facilities but we don’t always get lucky in our site allocation. Nevertheless, although a little “tight” for
space, it did have a magnificent, uninterrupted view across the lower gardens so all was not lost. We had our sandwiches for lunch and relaxed for a while enjoying the view along with a couple of wallabies that passed right by the back of the caravan.
In the afternoon we drifted into town to familiarize ourselves with the layout – Woollies, garage etc – and to visit the Information Centre. Armed with a bag full of leaflets on local tourist attractions we made our way to the town lookout which was at Hallorans Hill. From there we had a fantastic view down across the valley below which was mainly cultivated farmland. The area is very fertile and crops such as potatoes, maize, bananas and sugar cane are grown. Millions of years ago volcanic activity created numerous mounds in the valley and they are known as the ‘Seven Sisters’. At the lookout there was an ‘upside down tree’, a steel ‘belladonna tingle’ and a delightful play area which included replica mounds, There was also a strange sculpture of a cloud. It must be a popular picnic place for locals and we thought we might return if we had a spare
Giving Sweetie another dose of sealant
hoping that it won't rain but if it does that this time it works!couple of hours. Back down the hill we drove past the caravan park and on to Hastie’s Swamp, a well known bird reserve. We climbed the stairs to the top level of the hide. The outlook was brilliant and there were lots of birds there but they were mainly what we often see – whistling ducks (who were very vocal!), magpie geese and pygmy geese – but we also saw a large turtle. We settled at that for the day but we had already identified things to occupy us for the next two days. So we drifted back to the caravan and relaxed the rest of the day away.
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kangaroojack
The Ts
Ah, Far Nothern Queensland
Hi Both, Great Blog, It made me miss our travels when I saw the picture of the "Animal Bridge". You are not far from Henrietta Creek, try and look it up, its a good spot and also not that far from Lake Tineroo, (School point) which is awesome and where we first met the Wallaby Wanderers. Stay Safe. Kangaroojack