Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, 7 to 8 August 2022
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Click on any image to see it larger (If you are on a PC at least).

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Cairns/ Atherton Tablelands Road.

This is a view from the road from Cairns to Atherton Tablelands.  I posted an infrared view from the same spot in the previous post.

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Curtain Fig Tree.

 In the previous infrared post we saw images of the Cathedral Fig Tree.  This is a different one, close to Yungaburra where we stayed on the first night. the Curtain Fig Tree.

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This tree started out as a seed dropped in the branches of a host tree, presumably excreted by a bird.  Over time, the fig strangled the host, causing it to fall over against another tree and the fig roots reached to the ground, creating the curtain you see.

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Over more time, the host rotted away, leaving just the fig tree.  It is nearly fifty metres tall and you can get a sense of the height of the roots from the people on the platform near ground level at lower right.  It is believed to be around five hundred years old.

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On our way south, we dropped into the Hastie’s Swamp Bird Hide.  These are plumed whistling-ducks, in the reeds near the shore.

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Great Egret, in non-breeding plumage.

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 We next spent a few hours at Herberton.  This is a grevillea in flower at the side of the path..

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One of the main reasons I wanted to visit Herberton was the graveyard of old cars, which we will see more of in a future infrared post.  The is a 1942 UK Austin, ex Forestry Department.

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Time takes its toll.

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This small bird is a Chowchilla, the southern subspecies orthonyx melasmenus with a longer beak.

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Dodge emblem.  The text says Dodge Brothers and is probably from the 1930s.

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1936 Pontiac Flat head 6.

I don’t think this one would make a good getaway car, given that it has wooden stumps instead of rear wheels.

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1934 Buick Straight 8.

The cornering ability of this one is probably suspect.

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No identification for this one.

Since it has no wheels, maybe it was intended to fly.

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Perhaps the front of an engine housing.

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Gone full circle.

Different view of the same grevillea.  I realised my shutter speed had only been 1/10 sec so retook it, but need not have worried due to image stabilisation on the lens.

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Inside Elderslie House, home of J.Newell, Founder of Herberton.

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Herberton was established by John Newell in 1880 for tin mining.  In late 1880 it had a population of 300 males and 27 females. The Historic village opened in 1973, on the edge of the actual town of Herberton.  It was created by Harry Skennar and includes buildings and artefacts from nearby and further afield.  There are probably forty or fifty buildings including historic shops.

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Coach House.

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Day’s Garage.

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The Dispensary or Chemist.

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Dispensary window ledge.

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Driving on further south towards Tully Gorge, we visited Big Millstream Falls near Ravenshoe.

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Tully Gorge Lookout.

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That bare patch in the lower mid right is where Tully Falls was when it was the largest waterfall in Queensland.  The free flow of the Tully River was stopped in 1960 by the construction of the Koombooloomba Dam, so now the falls only flow during a big wet season.  The road to Tully Gorge Lookout has been sealed for only a couple of years.

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A stream flowing by the path on the walk down to the lower viewpoint.

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Cliffs and trees from the lower viewpoint.

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A closer view of the Tully River above where the falls used to be and might be again from time to time.

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Looking down also at the Tully River, downstream of the falls, now only occasionally fed by the waterfall.

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