Atherton tablelands - A Waterfall Paradise

This leg of the road trip follows our Hinchinbrook Island trek. We didn't spend too much time tidying ourselves up after our trek, rather, we were on a mission to get to Port Douglas which we had booked ahead of time (unsold.com offers super deals, but you have to book 15-days in advance). After Hinchinbrook, we drove to the Lucinda Hotel where we grabbed lunch and were offered a free hot shower in Lucinda. Then it was time to move again, Queensland isn't going to explore itself!

The Atherton tablelands are notorious for the region's plentiful waterfalls. We backtracked slightly, heading southwest to the first of the many waterfalls - Wallaman Falls.

Below: Wallaman Falls

Wallaman Falls is situated in the UNESCO World Heritage 'Wet Tropics' and is the largest single drop waterfall in Queensland with a height of 268m (depth of the pool at the bottom is 20m)! This waterfall was impressive, it seems to separate into a beautifully fine and textured mist shifting with the wind. There is a walk to take you to the bottom of the falls that zigzags steeply down the hill, apparently becoming rougher the closer you get to the valley floor. We didn't do this walk but stayed to enjoy the sunset and clean out our car before setting off north again via Ingham.

Our story of the day: 'Poor domino's workers'

We would like to think that we have ordering Dominos $5 pizzas down to a fine art ($6 here in Australia as they charge $1 for a Peri-peri swirl) - its a pretty wicked, cheap deal for a quick dinner option. We got to work and ordered: 1 Vege trio thin and crispy w/peri-peri, 1 Vege trio thin and crispy w/BBQ sauce, and 1 Cheesy garlic, all under the name 'Hungry Boi'. Normally this order would be ready within 15-minutes or so. However, after submitting the above information the 'live cooker' page told us our food would be ready in an hour's time. We obviously thought this was a glitch....but, it only got worse! As we pulled up to Domino's we found swarthes of people milling around, some bored, many hungry, and a few aggressive. It appeared that Ingham Domino's were severely understaffed; one young lad in the kitchen, one large lad out of breath running deliveries, and one haggard looking, weather-beaten, tired manager facing down an onslaught of greasy abuse from a disgruntled customer; her face and multiple chins were jostling around as she exclaimed that it was absurd that she should wait over an hour for her food. It was at this point, Marcus got a sharp stare from Rachel for mentioning that it didn't look as though she would starve to death.

...Pizza acquired we drove to a free campsite in Bilyana. This campsite was nice and clean, had toilets and was nestled between the main road and a railway track at the back. That night we slept well only walking once due to a passing train. Can't complain, a free campsite is a free campsite.

After our stay at Bilyana and on the way to Atherton Tablelands, we stopped briefly in Tully which is a sugar cane town and claimed to be 'the wettest town in Queensland'. Tully also has a big gumboot that is the height of the town's flood in the year 1950 (7.9m).

Below: The 7.9m big gumboot in Tully

The following day was one big day of waterfalls. There are so many waterfalls in the Atherton tablelands so much so that we had to handpick the good ones that we wanted to see.

The first 2 waterfalls that we visited were Tchupala and Wallicher Falls, which were located together only a 5-minute walk from the main road. In this area there are 2 main threats to be aware of:

1) March flies (big fat flies that bite)

2) Gympie Gympie (a type of stinging plant with needle-like hairs on heart-shaped leaves that inject your skin with a painful neurotoxin and which cause hospitalisation). Marcus saw some of these on the track and claims it to be the most dangerous thing he saw that day.

Above: Tchupala and Wallicher Falls

One of these waterfalls had an old closed-off section of the track that gives you a cool secluded view of the waterfall. Although it was hard to know why they no longer maintain it, probably people slipping off the edge when it is in flood.

Mungali falls

Further along the road to Milla Milla there is a loop road out to the right where you can find Mungali falls. These falls are picturesque and located at what looks to be a school outdoor education area complete with abseiling and obstacle courses. The river passes through the camp and serves as an amazing water feature to have in the garden. The river then crosses under a wooden bridge and tumbles over the edge for a 90-m drop.

Also on this narrow side loop of a road is the Mungali dairy farm and restaurant. We had planned to stop at this scenic location for lunch but it was incredibly busy so we kept moving.

Milla Milla

This waterfall was number one on many travel sites and did not disappoint (for Marcus). The water pours down towards you like the fringe of a bowl cut and is surrounded by long hanging dreds of moss. The pool below is inviting with many people enjoying a swim. Big open grass areas for picnics and lounging areas were framing the pool and there was even a van selling ice cream.

Rachel found this place to be a little bit gimmicky/touristy but that is probably expected when you can walk 2 steps from your car to the waterfall. Rachel thinks there were better waterfalls along the way, such as Josephine Falls.

Nearby to Milla Milla falls are Zillie and Ellinjaa Falls which we don't have amazing photos of because Marcus used too much lens cleaner on the camera and it ended up getting some unfortunate condensation issues (Rachel here: I'm surprised Marcus owned up to this one on such a public platform. It starts with acknowledgment ;) ).

Further up the road was Malanda Falls which is practically on the road and the pool below has been formed into a swimming pool. There were quite a few people here swimming.

Nerada Tea

This place was a highlight for both of us, as we both love a good cuppa. By this point of the day, we were very hungry so it was a relief to be able to sit down and enjoy 2 pots of tea and a scone each for only $8! We had a coupon from a little coupon book.

Rachel chose Devonshire tea and Marcus chose Oolong tea. We thoroughly enjoyed this stop and wished we could have stayed longer. We did have a second coupon and if we weren't pushed for time may have been tempted to return the following day.

Another food-related place that was in the tourist brochure was the Gallo Dairyland. It was getting towards closing time so we had rushed our Nerada tea session to arrive here prior to closing. Gallo Dairyland advertises chocolate and cheese and it does have both of those things made on site. The place was swarming with people and due to covid-19, there weren't any tastings available. The food did look good but also seemed to be rather on the pricey side so we just window shopped then headed to the farm area behind the shop. There were some chickens and other birds as well as two calves that licked your hand when you tried to pat them. This place would probably appeal to families.

We were really hungry now as we had had only tea and a scone for lunch having shied away from the price of the cheese and chocolate. To help protect our budget we traveled to the IGA in Atherton to find a good deal on a sausage roll. This wasn't our first rodeo dealing with sausage roll crumbs so we ate the roll prior to getting back into the car. Sharing the many falling pieces of pastry with a butcher bird (Marcus will take any opportunity to help out the birds)

Tonight, we chose to camp near Granite Gorge which supplied us with a classic Australian sunset.

The next day there were still more waterfalls to see! Davies creek waterfall was on the way to Kuranda and we had heard it was nice from a man we were chatting to whilst waiting for Dominos in Ingham. It was a beautiful waterfall that you could get up close to. Above the waterfall, there is a swimming hole that a track takes you to. This swimming hole wasn't much to look at or very deep but if you were warm you could use it to cool off. There was also a camp spot downstream from the waterfall which looked like a groovy place to camp nearby large boulders by the river bed.

Above: Davies Creek

Baron falls was one of our favourites and is located in Kuranda. After walking down to the train platform you are able to get a panoramic view of the valley and of Baron falls. The waterfall looks rugged and would be very interesting to see it after a heavy rain like the picture you see on the road sign as you drive into Kuranda.

Below: Baron Falls

We visited the Atherton tablelands in late September when there had not been much rain, so it would be interesting to visit again during the wet season to see the difference when the water is really moving.

Marcus has listed the waterfalls we visited in order of most to least liked (we only really visited the good ones so if you have time visit them all, do so):

Wallaman Falls

Milla Milla Falls

Baron falls

Tchupala Falls

Malanda falls

Davies creek falls

Zillie falls

Mungali falls

Ellinjaa falls

Our next stop sees us soak up some relaxed luxury in Port Douglas. See our Port Douglas post.