We awake to drizzly rain again , but it wont stop us , breakfast over it was out and on the road again , through the rain and fog .
The views on todays drive would be spectacular , if only we could have seen them !! We left Ravenshoe and took the Old Palmerston Highway ????? toward Millaa Millaa . This road is a smidge bigger than single lane , very winding and rough , little better than a goat track , and they call it a Highway - it must have been an hilarious planning meeting the night they called this a highway - I’m betting the bar was open , and this road was the last one on the agenda for naming !!!
We saw a sign for our first waterfall of the day - Pepina Falls , so we pulled off the road to have a look - it was only 30m away . That was good because it was raining again - the all terrain sandals got relegated to the back seat & hiking boots went on .
That one ticked off , we headed for No. 2 Souita Falls , that was after we engaged 4wd to get out of the slippery , muddy parking area - Lyns first 4wd effort !!
The road took us a few kilometres up the road to the next turnoff , 4.5klms down the track to Souita Falls . We wound down hills , through dairy farming country , before parking beside a creek and wandering through the rainforest - and it was - wet slippery rainforest - this one is probably the least visited of all of them , the track being a little overgrown .
It was a bit of a hike down lots of steps and gravel paths , but pretty good at the end of it . There was also a little surprise at the end - rather lots of little surprises - leaches about 15mm long , clinging to our boots - that started the leach effect - the rest of the day feeling them crawling over your legs , even though they weren’t there at all !!! You know the feeling!!
We made it out still alive , and headed back to the goat track , I mean Palmerston Highway, winding our way back up to Millaa Millaa . Crossing into the village , we drove down the main street all 200m of it and found a sculpture at the end . It was a rural farming based sculpture of a cow , a galvanised bucket and a farmer/vet with his arm firmly fixed in the cows @#$$#%* - you know - artificial insemmination of course !!! and it was full size , true to life !! They like celebrating the rural lifestyle !!
Back to the falls , we made our way to probably the most photographed waterfall in Queensland - Millaa Millaa Falls . Fortunately for us the rain seemed to ease most times when we arrived at the falls and started again as we left , however I did have the best rainstopping device holder with me as I took photos - no-one can hold an umbrella like Lyn !!
Back to the ute and off again to Zillie Falls , the road taking us through more dairy country , winding roads across ridge tops with views ( when you could see them ) of rainforested valleys and hills .
The falls were easy access , with a track that lead you straight to the top , with no access anywhere else .
Elinjaa Falls were next , only 2klms up the road . The track in was a little more strenuous than most with a hike down lots of steps to get to the base of the falls . We haven’t been on our own today , there are quite a few other people out checking them out also !!
That lot ticked off the list , we headed back to Mt Hypipamee National Park - it’s back toward Atherton , and has a crater , and Dinner Falls . After a lot of wet winding road , we arrived , the undercover picnic table was in use , so we went to The Crater and Dinner Falls instead .
The crater is where the pressure built to a point that couldn’t be held , so it erupted and created this deep narrow hole - it is about 40m to the water and another 40m of water below. Also very difficult to take a photo of - very narrow & deep .
From there is a loop track that takes you way down to the creek that falls over several falls that form Dinner Falls . The rainforest comes down to the rock shelves that form the creek - there are very few if any loose rocks , its all rock shelves !!
We came back and had some lunch and chatted to another couple who had just pulled up , before heading back to Ravenshoe , via the highest road in Queensland . Judging by the shape of the trees up on top , it gets a bit blowy up here . Again the view would have been lovely , if we could have seen it - ah well - next time !!! The road took us through Tumoulin , then back to Ravenshoe where we refuelled the ute , so that we could use the 5cent a litre discount voucher we got from Mareeba .
That done , it was time for some cheese & bickies and the obligatory beer !!
Just a pre-warning for everyone , we may well be out of range for internet etc , for a while so don’t be too upset if the blog isn’t up to date , we will update it whenever possible . Cheers
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