Diggers Creek rest site to Tolga
Distance Travelled - 219.8 km
There was a dreary sky with a little rain welcoming me this morning although I could have done without the 3.30 am wake up call from a truckie going past who decided to blast his air horn about 8 times. Glad I slept in the car because the ground was quite wet this morning which would have meant packing gear away wet, never a pleasant task, then or when you get it out again.
Drove the 35 km into Innisfail stopping for a quick photo of a banana plantation on the way and got some fuel before hitting the town proper. Posted the blog and wandered the streets for a while looking through a few shops. Headed off about 9 am to start a day of waterfalls.
Heading up the Palmerston Highway there was a little waterfall right next to the edge of the road but I could not locate a name for it. The first official waterfall of the day was Ellinjaa Falls and this was quite pretty. The walk down to the base was through some nice rain forest and was warm and humid. The walk was well worth it though with very pleasing view from the base.
The second waterfall was Zillie Falls and this too was pretty. The walk here was more difficult, mainly because it was over some muddy sections of a down hill track. Got down without stacking it and had a reasonable view of the falls, much better than the one from the top.
The third waterfall was Millaa Milla Falls. This was the easiest walk to the bottom, down a couple of sets of steps and into an open area set up for picnicing and swimming. Whilst not cold, it was not quite warm enough to swim today. The falls were very nice to sit and listen to as they thundered down into the pool below.
After these waterfalls I went to the Nerada tea factory where you can see the tea plants growing and look inside the factory where they process the leaves ready to be sent to Brisbane for packing. Whilst there I was able to see, but unfortunately not photograph - it was gone too quickly - a rare tree kangaroo.
After the tea factory I went to Malanda Falls, not as impressive as the rest but still nice to see. Who would have guessed but in talking to one of the volunteers at the Malanda they told me they are related to the Eifflers in Southern Cross.
After the Malanda Falls I headed through Tolga and stopped at a wood gallery where I drooled over some very nice pieces of woodwork. Luckily they were so expensive I did not have to worry about trying to find room in the car for anything.
Just out of Tolga is a camping spot. It is next to the war memorial which was very well set up. It has over 100 large rocks with plaques on them, each one dedicated to battalions, squadrons, corps or such that trained or worked in the Atherton area in which Tolga is situated.
Tomorrow I head off to see Emerald Falls, a coffee farm and who knows what else before getting to Cairns and maybe Mossman. After Mossman it will be back down towards Townsville and further down the east coast, I guess in some ways it will be the start of the trip home.
No comments:
Post a Comment