Road trip Tropical North Queensland - Part 2 - Innisfail, Atherton Tablelands, Kurrimine Beach

At sunrise the next morning we were up in the air as there was a small break in the weather. What a joy it is to be like a bird and look down at the patchwork quilt landscape of rich red earth and bright green plantations of bananas, papaya and sugarcane. The mangrove lined river snakes its way to the Coral Sea, and the enormous art deco buildings of Innisfail are distinctive in the near distance.

Getting ready to fly the gyroplane at Innisfail Aerodrome

When the weather closed in, with touring map in hand we headed for the lower Atherton Tablelands along Palmerston Highway for a bit of a drive. Whilst the visibility was poor for views of the district, the waterfalls were in fine form. First things first though; morning tea at Mungalli Creek Biodynamic Dairy and Organic Cafe after our early start to the day. The scones were the best I have eaten - light and fluffy - and made all the more yummy with homemade butter and strawberry jam.

Making cheese at Mungalli Creek Dairy

Feeling recharged, we drove along the 15 kilometre waterfall circuit just up the road. After slathering ourselves with Bushman’s insect repellent, it was a rewarding short walk to the base of Ellinjaa Falls, whereas the Zillie Falls further up the road was viewed from above. The picturesque Milla Milla Falls is the most popular and perfect for a refreshing swim. Depending on how much water is flowing over the top, it’s possible to duck under the falls and sit in behind the curtain of water. It’s a most beautiful sight looking up underneath the falling water – the droplets are like stars raining down over the vertical carpet of ferns.

Ellinjaa Falls

Zillie Falls

Milla Milla Falls

Returning back down the tableland to Innisfail aerodrome it miraculously stopped raining for us to get an afternoon fly before heading to the Mena Creek Hotel for dinner.

The next day after another early morning fly, we headed for Kurrimine Beach, which according to the brochure is “a beachside haven where The Great Barrier Reef nearly touches the coastline”. Guided reef walks to nearby King Reef operate throughout the winter months, and if you have your own boat the Barnard Island Group and the dense rainforest of Dunk Island are only kilometres from shore.

Kurrimine Beach

Not a lot happens during the wet season - the place was like a ghost town whilst we were there – so we enjoyed a stroll alone along the lengthy beach. It coincided with the first time it had stopped raining since we arrived in the wet tropics.

Heading back out to the Bruce Highway we passed Murdering Point Winery but it was a little early in the day for us to taste the red and white tropical fruit wine on offer. The name is a point of interest though: the survivors from an 1878 shipwreck on Kurrimine Beach were not so lucky after all, having been murdered and eaten by local aborigines once they made it ashore.

We continued our day of sightseeing to Coquette Point for a view of where the South and North Johnstone Rivers converge. Once again the view was diminished due to the rain and associated cloud but we still enjoyed a cup of tea from the thermos whilst watching the rain fall on the windscreen of the Subaru.

Rain, rain, rain on the South Johnstone River

We headed back into Innisfail and crossed the river for a drive north to Flying Fish Point and a dirt road to the secluded and peaceful beach of Ella Bay. We passed a prawn farm along the way and at the end of the public road is a cassowary sanctuary on the former cattle property, which backs on to national park and the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.  However, that is all about to change according to some locals we were chatting to that night, as a three-stage resort and residential development has been approved for the area. I wonder where the cassowaries will go then – their habitat continues to diminish putting their future at stake.

Ella Bay

Back to Roscoe's for a take away pizza to eat on our cabin balcony in amongst the rainforest at Paronella Park.

Relaxing on the balcony

Road trip Tropical North Queensland - Part 1- Ingham to Innisfail

It was time for some more gyro plane flying lessons, so last Monday we set off for the six hour drive from Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays to Innisfail. The weather forecast wasn't looking promising (200 mm of rain over the next three days!) but we had the time off so if we didn't get any flying hours we would relax and do some sightseeing around this relatively unfamiliar area.

Waterfalls were on the agenda, aptly so considering that the wet season had officially started in the Tropical North of Queensland. I wanted to see the longest permanent single-drop waterfall in Australia, near Ingham in the Girringun National Park. We stopped off at the information centre to get details of the drive out there as takes about an hour from the centre of town. Just as well we did. The helpful and informative staff advised us that it hadn't been raining enough yet to see the 267 metre waterfall in its entire splendour, and if we were passing through again it was best to wait. So, we’ll schedule that detour for further into the wet season in February or March.

Continuing through Ingham we left the Bruce Highway for Lucinda, via Halifax. We passed Victoria Mill, once one of the largest sugarcane mills in the southern hemisphere, with its three tall steam stacks clearly visible in the distance. From June to November, the mill crushes 3.74 million tonnes of sugarcane, and recycles its waste into energy and feeds power back into the electricity grid. The raw sugar produced is then transported by rail to the port village of Lucinda, home of the world’s longest offshore sugar loading facility with a 6 kilometre long jetty stretching out to sea.

Lucinda Jetty

Majestic Hinchinbrook Island looms in the background - Lucinda is the departure point for channel boat charters and access to the well-known Thorsborne Trail. The Palm Island Group is also nearby, which includes the luxury resort island of Orpheus.

Hinchinbrook Island

The sleepy main street of Halifax, once the hub of the Herbert River district, is lined with heritage listed mango trees and historic building facades. The smell of mango hangs heavy in the air at this time of year, as abundant fruit falls from the trees and ferments in the hot sun.

Herbert River

Mango madness

Looping back on to the highway the road climbs for some fantastic views of the Hinchinbrook Channel. There’s a lookout at the top – well worth the stop to take in this World Heritage Area if there is no cloud.

The day was getting on and we were keen to see if we could get some gyro plane flying in, so we continued north through the seaside town of Cardwell and onto Tully. A quick stop to climb the Golden Gumboot for a view of the town, its sugar mill and surrounding misty mountains was in order. At 7.9 metres high, the gumboot marks the record-breaking rainfall the town received in 1950 – well above the annual average of four metres.

The Golden Gumboot

Tully sugar mill

We moved on as it started raining, not surprisingly, turning off onto the Canecutters Drive for a more scenic route into Innisfail. This led us to Paronella Park and our accommodation for the next three nights. We were booked into a cute and cosy cabin backing onto dense lush rainforest this time instead of the campground, which worked out well as it pretty much didn't stop raining for the next three days. The nearby Mena Creek Falls were deafening (we could hear them from our cabin) as we hung out on the swing bridge watching the water thunder over the cliff.

 

Cabin accommodation at Paronella Park

View from swing bridge over Mena Creek Falls

Mena Creek Falls - view from inside Paronella Park

No flying that afternoon due to, you guessed it, the rain, so we celebrated our wedding anniversary at a local Innisfail restaurant, Roscoe's. Each evening they put on a splendid Italian buffet and it’s very difficult not to stuff yourself silly. A tip though; get there on opening at 5.30pm, or wait until after 7.30pm when the tour bus departs and it starts to quieten down. Alternatively, order takeaway pizza or pasta from the window at the front and enjoy very casual al fresco dining with a glass of something red from the bar.

Whitsunday butterflies

We see a lot of native wildlife, day and night, living in the Whitsunday hinterland; a 20 minute drive from the resort seaside town of Airlie Beach. 

Butterflies are the prettiest, but they are short lived. The beautiful Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera euphorion) only lives for four or five weeks. It is the largest butterfly in Australia with a wingspan of up to 18 centimetres. The male is smaller in size than the female, with rich upper wing markings of jade, gold and black. I am yet to capture a photo of the more attractive iridescent male; however, the larger black and white female is just as striking with her distinctive yellow markings on the hind wings. Plus the fact she is the size of a small bird.

Male Cairns Birdwing

Female Cairns Birdwing on mini torch ginger

Due to the short life span, the female Cairns Birdwing butterfly mates as soon as she emerges from the pupa, laying her eggs on the native large leafed vine Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia tagala). To find the Dutchman's Pipe, she flies from leaf to leaf and tastes each one. Unfortunately, she cannot differentiate between the native vine and the poisonous exotic species from South America, which then becomes a deadly mistake. If she does get to lay her eggs, the caterpillar that develops can grow up to 9 centimetres and is dark with bright orange spines.

Cairns Birdwing caterpillar

As they migrate up and down the east coast, the striking and longer living Blue Tiger (Tirumala hamata) butterflies can be found in their thousands in and around Airlie Beach, the surrounding forest and Whitsunday islands. After a big rainfall they are also known to come out in their masses, shaking them out of aestivtion (like a suspended animation), the blue and black wings come to life. They will even fly out to the boat as you sail around the Whitsunday islands and as far out as the Great Barrier Reef. 

Blue Tiger butterfly

The most well known butterfly; the one most associated with tropical Queensland, is the electric blue Ulysses butterfly (Papilio ulysses). It's difficult to photograph in all it's glory because when it is perched, to help blend in with its surroundings, the intense blue of the upside of its wings is hidden by the plainer brown underside. Once in flight you are rewarded with sudden flashes of brilliant blue as it flits about the garden.  

Ulysses butterfly on Ixora coccinea

There are many more varieties of butterfly in the Whitsundays - these above are the most recognisable. 

Daydream in the Whitsundays

It's not until you walk the bush trail between the southern and northern areas of Daydream Island that you can get a sense of what this island was like before any development. Majestic hoop pines are in abundance at its highest point of 50 metres above sea level and the man made structures are well hidden from view. Surrounded by natural bush and the azure Whitsunday waters the natural scenery still looks the same as pre-European settlement.

View from highest point in Daydream Island

As part of the Molle group of islands, Daydream was officially known as West Molle Island since its naming in 1881 by Captain Maclear of the Royal Navy when surveying the area. At one kilometre in length and 400 metres at its widest point, the island was never put to use by any of the local lease holders over the years, due to its small size and the lack of a freshwater supply. The aboriginal Ngaro tribe, who once used to travel in and around the Whitsunday islands and mainland, didn't find much use for it either.

It wasn't until Connie and Paddy Murray, along with their good friend Charles Hird, arrived from Sydney in 1932 in their yacht Day Dream that all began to change. Making a payment of 50 pounds to the leaseholder of the Molle Island group Henry Lamond, the threesome set about starting a tourist resort on West Molle Island and unofficially renamed it Daydream after their vessel. They received their first guests in 1933 and charged a guinea a day (approximately $2) for visitors to enjoy a tropical island paradise, transferring them to and from Cannonvale or from visiting coastal steamers on Day Dream.

Daydream Island had many more leaseholders over the years, building on from the six original cabins and the kitchen, dining and recreation rooms on the southern end. A subsidiary of Ansett added some more modern accommodation to the resort, including for the first time septic-system toilets. However, water was still an issue and it wasn't until Gold Coast businessman Bernard Elsey took over the lease in 1967 that the water problem was resolved. He spent a fortune on refurbishing the resort, including the installation of a desalination plant, only for it all to be wiped out by Cyclone Ada in 1970.

The resort was rebuilt and the island's lease again changed hands many times but increasing the number of guest units to a total of eighty. In 1988 Daydream's name was formalised and underwent a $70 million redevelopment; this time on the northern end and with water now being piped from Shute Harbour.

In 2000, world champion water skier from the Gold Coast and founder of vitamin company Nature's Own, Vaughan Bullivant, bought Daydream Island for $25 million and transformed it to what it is today. There are now 296 guest rooms and suites, a waterfront wedding chapel, conference and reception facilities and a day spa with 16 treatment rooms. The Living Reef is one of the world's largest outdoor aquariums where you can easily view sharks, rays, coral and a variety of fish swimming in and around the resort grounds. There are many activities including playing a round on the Australia themed mini golf course, swimming in the lagoon pools, watching a movie under the stars at the outdoor cinema, tennis courts, a gym and several restaurants and bars all with fabulous views of the Coral Sea.

After spending $50 million on creating this wonderful island resort, Vaughan Bullivant sold it to a Chinese investment group for $30 million this year due to ill health. Let's see what the next chapter brings for Daydream Island Island Resort and Spa.

We enjoyed a day out exploring Daydream Island the other week, travelling from Port of Airlie with Cruise Whitsundays on a high speed catamaran. A far cry from the sailing yacht transfer of 1933.

Cruise Whitsundays fast ferry transfer

Daydream Island marina and guest accommodation

Lagoon pool at the quieter southern end of Daydream Island

Around Australia mini golf course

View from inside the chapel

Living Reef on Daydream Island

Eastern shovelnose ray

Common Wallaroo at home on the resort lawns

For more information on the history of Daydream Island read:

• The Whitsunday Islands: An Historical Dictionary by Ray Blackwood 1997
• The Daydream Island Story by Boyd Anderson 2002

Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim

Weather and sea conditions were ideal for the annual November Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim, hosted by Hamilton Island in the beautiful Whitsundays last Sunday.

The seven kilometre stretch of pure white silica sand on Whitsunday Island National Park is one of the world's most pristine beaches and a draw card for international and Australian visitors alike, so it was an unique opportunity to take part in the event.

Silica sands of Hill Inlet and Whitehaven Beach

The 2 kilometre or 750 metre swim followed on from Saturday's Hamilton Island Triathlon. As part of the entry fee, ferry transfers were included from either Hamilton Island or the mainland resort town of Airlie Beach. From Port of Airlie, the ferry takes 45 minutes to Hamilton Island, then the same time again to the azure blue waters of Whitehaven Beach in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Rail transfer from Cruise Whitsundays ferry to Whitehaven Beach

There were a record 340 competitors, plus spectators: adding those to the usual number of day visitors it made for a very busy day on the beach.

On our arrival we thought we'd warm up with a walk around 1.5 kilometre Solway circuit to the lookout on the southern end for spectacular views of Pentecost Island across the Solway Passage.

 

As we returned back to the event area to wait for the start, a light easterly breeze was blowing, water temperature was 25 degrees and the last of the tide was ebbing north. That meant for an easy swim on the outward leg but more challenging conditions as we turned south against the tide and into the wind.

Resting before the big swim

I swam the 2 kilometres and was pleased with my time of 42:39 even if I was 16 minutes slower than the first lady home in my age group, Olympic swimmer Susie O'Neill, OAM. As we like to say, I put in a solid midfield performance. So too did Gary in his first ever 750 metre event, finishing 29 out of 35 men with a time of 22:00.

Starters for the 750 metre ocean swim

Post race massage

Whilst it was a well organised day, next time we will charter a private boat and spend a night anchored off Whitehaven Beach to avoid the ferry transfers and waiting around.

Mayfield Garden, Oberon

Every so often you come across something that is an absolute marvel. When you have time and/or money, you can achieve anything, and Mayfield Garden is testament to that: all 160 acres of it.

Mayfield House

Located just outside the NSW rural town of Oberon on the way to the city of Bathurst, Mayfield Garden is one of the world's largest privately owned cool climate gardens.

Creek Garden, part of the 160 acres of cool climate gardens at Mayfield Garden

Nestled within a 5000 acre working farm, the Hawkins family, inspired by the grandeur of  English country garden estates, began developing their legacy in the mid-1990's.

This extraordinary private garden is open for the last two weeks in October and April, allowing the public the privilege to see it in all its glory each Spring and Autumn. For any garden lover this needs to be on the calendar.

Parterre garden

Follies and features to experience in the private garden include the newly developed grotto, creek gardens, birch grove, rose garden, fernery walk, walled kitchen garden, sunken garden rooms, lawn parterre, croquet court, amphitheatre, chapel and aviary.

Chinese Pagoda

Mayfield Cascade & Temple

Walled Kitchen Garden

Luxury chicken houses

Amphitheatre

Allow at least 3 hours to walk around the private Mayfield Garden. There is a shuttle bus that will run around the perimeter (on weekends only) but you'll still need your walking shoes to get the best experience. See the garden team at work on weekdays, and enjoy live entertainment on weekends as you spend a leisurely day wandering this beautiful garden.

If visiting outside the private garden viewing dates, you won't be disappointed. The six acre Water Garden is now open all year round and is amazing.

Cascades in the Water Garden

The Water Garden is beautiful anytime of year; the water lilies bloom in summer and the Hydrangeas last throughout the Autumn as the foliage of the cool climate plants change colour, and you may even see snow during the winter months.The mass plantings of Rhododendrons are stunning in their many colours in Spring - pink, red, orange - and the stone and water features make this garden a wonderful place to stroll around and sit amongst its beauty.

Rhododendrons in Spring

Water lilies and Irises in the Water Garden

Construction of the Water Garden began in 2005 and everything you see has been created on site. Meander along the paths that wind around the stream and cascades, and cross the blue-stone bridge (which took a year to build) for a bird's-eye view of this magnificent garden and the surrounding countryside.

Obelisk in the Water Gardens

There are several other follies in the Water Garden, including boardwalks, a red bridge, a 25 metre obelisk, an avenue of London Plane trees and the work-of-art Copper Tree Fountain. Completing the Water Garden experience is the Nursery, stocked with a range of cool climate plants, most of which can be seen in the garden.

Copper Tree Fountain

Entrance to nursery

The Kitchen Cafe is a local's favourite, serving freshly prepared food made mostly from what is grown within the grounds of Mayfield Garden. There is a chook house and herb garden for the sole use of the cafe, and where possible the chef uses produce from the orchard and veggie patches.

For outdoor cooking and entertaining there is an enormous stone fireplace and a wood fired pizza oven. Whether this is for show or it does get used by the family or for special events, it certainly provides house and garden envy.

Kitchen Cafe & chook house

Grand outdoor fireplace for outdoor entertaining in Kitchen Cafe surrounds

Pizza oven at Kitchen Cafe

The Mayfield Garden Nursery, Kitchen Cafe and Water Garden are open 7 days a week from 9.00am to 4.30pm, except public holidays and Christmas/New Year period.

Open days for the entire gardens are in the last two weeks in April and October.