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Published: September 1st 2011
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Thursday 25th – when we looked out this morning dark clouds greeted us and it was a little chilly. So I dug the anoraks out of their storage cupboard and popped them in the car and off we went prepared for whatever weather conditions came our way. One of the major tourist attractions in the area is the Herberton Historic Village so we made that our first port of call. It was only about 18kms from Atherton and we arrived pretty early which was good because we were able to mooch about at our leisure without dodging the crowds that appeared later in the day. The village is a collection of more than 50 buildings brought together from all over Queensland and placed in a “village” setting. The earliest ones dated from 1870 and have intact interior displays, original machinery, vehicles and related vintage items making it the most significant collection in Queensland. It has to be said that Graham spent many of his childhood years growing up in a property older than most here but in terms of Australian history this collection is magnificent and extremely well presented.
Our first stop was a pub! The ‘Tin Pannikin’ pub
The rather strange sight of a kangaroo
but not strange at all because it's a TREE KANGAROO! was one of the few buildings that wasn’t transported intact to the village but was constructed on site from re-claimed red cedar retrieved from a small hotel. The Tin Pannikin is styled on the famous Ettamogah Pub and the car on the roof supposedly got stuck there after a flood! Inside was a bridal suite and a room for the drunk! From the pub we staggered over to the school which looked much as it would have done in 1881. Apart from all the usual desks etc there were numerous apt sayings dotted around the walls, such as: ‘Time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils’ and ‘When you educate a man you educate an individual but when you educate a woman you educate a whole family’! The building also housed memorabilia from WWI and WWII including postcards sent from a Digger who was in Europe in 1918 and items used by the American forces who were stationed in the area in WWII.
We wandered through the local Post Office/Telephone Exchange, the Bank and ‘Ada’s Frock Saloon’. The frock shop was full of a whole range of clothes from beautiful dresses to very uncomfortable looking
The Tin Pannikin Pub
prominent building in Herberton Historic Village corsets! Next came the toy shop with so many familiar toys from when we were kids.
Then we came across one of the villages prize possessions: a Model-T Ford car named Daisy. ‘Daisy’ was built in 1923 and looked in perfect condition but we’re not sure if she still works. She was in a large garage with a very impressive (horse-drawn) hearse complete with coffin (hopefully no body inside)!
Inside another building was an ‘Axemen’s Hall of Fame’ – a fascinating collection of memorabilia from some of the well known and very successful axemen of the district. Axemen, loggers and sawmillers played a major role in the development of Atherton and Herberton. Hugely popular competitions took place (and still do) and some of the local trophies and medals were on display. In the early days many monster trees were felled and great skill was needed to get them down safely.
Into another lane we went where our first stop was a grocery shop. My Dad was a grocer and butcher so I always find this sort of display very nostalgic. Next door was the butchers then the farmers’ store and then, very handily placed, a dunny! We
Splendid pedal organ
part of the contents of the Bishop's cottage strolled by all sorts of machinery and a huge windmill and then came upon another lane of shops. There were shops dealing with radios, cameras, sewing machines, music and shoe repairs - it was amazing. At the end of the row was the local newspaper office which was filled with an array of printing machines and old typewriters. By now we were beginning to feel weary and hungry so after spending the whole morning meandering around we were pleased to see the ‘Bakerville Pub’ which, conveniently, is now a restaurant. We were relieved to sit awhile and then enjoy our lunches which were excellent.
Feeling suitably refreshed, we left the Historic Village and passed through Herberton town which was very pleasant. We drove through some spectacular countryside, stopping at the McHugh Lookout near Millaa Millaa which provided another splendid view across the Tablelands countryside. Millaa Millaa is also famous for its waterfall circuit so we decided to drive around the 15 kilometer Waterfall Tourist Drive. The first falls, naturally enough, were at Millaa Millaa and were probably the best of the four falls that we visited. All were attractive in their own way but Millaa Millaa Falls were the
most “gushing” and had a beautifully inviting swimming hole at the base of them. There were plenty of people taking advantage of the water but we hadn’t gone prepared for a swim. We thoroughly enjoyed the sights and also the journey between the falls as the country side is beautifully green (no shortage of rain in this area) and undulating.
On a trip a few days ago up to the MaMu Treetop Walk, we had spotted some tea plantations and, in particular, a big sign advertising The Nerada Tea Factory. We were quite close to the tea factory today so we decided to have some afternoon tea and scones at what were very impressive tea rooms. It was too late in the day for a tour of the processing plant but all of the information displayed in the tea rooms was very good, telling the history of how and why the decision to grow tea in this area was made and how the business has developed over 100 years. There were seemingly scores and scores of different teas available in their gift shop along with every conceivable aid to brewing the perfect cuppa including some really splendid tea-pots. Naturally
I couldn’t resist buying a few things but, disappointingly, they only had one serving of scones left for our Devonshire afternoon tea. The scones were mine but Graham took no persuading to have some lemon cheesecake with his tea.
Our route back to Atherton took us through Malanda where we had stayed 8 years ago (it had rained from start to finish so we didn’t do much then). We stopped by yet another waterfall, Malanda Falls, which are not particularly high but there was plenty of water flowing over. It has a large swimming hole by it although no-one was taking advantage of it. We had heard that some tree kangaroos had been spotted by the picnic area so while Graham went back to the car I strolled along a footpath through the woods desperately trying to see one of these elusive creatures. I had no luck but when I got back Graham was sitting on a bench, smiling broadly. He asked if I had seen any tree kangaroos – “no” I said somewhat disappointedly. “I have!” he said smugly and pointed to a branch high in a tree just across the road. There, totally oblivious to the fuss
it was causing, was a TREE KANGAROO! We hadn’t considered the possibility that they lived so HIGH up in trees but this one was about 50 feet above us. The one we saw was a ‘Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo’, one of two species found in the rain forests of northern Queensland. Sadly, because of loss of habitat they are on the endangered list so we couldn’t believe our luck. It was a “first” for us as we’d never seen a wild one before and it was a brilliant highlight to what had been a truly enjoyable day.
On our way back to the caravan we stopped briefly to look at the impressive Curtain Fig Tree – the strange formation of the root system over many years makes it one of the most famous trees in this part of Queensland. The ‘Mabi’ Forest that is home to this magnificent tree is considered vulnerable and is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. After we’d walked round its huge girth we went directly back to Atherton to give us time to settle back in before it got dark and to plan our second day exploring the delights of the Atherton Tablelands.
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