Atherton

After Hughenden we intended to go to Porcupine Gorge which was north of Hughenden, however when we got there and set up we realised the generator was not working and Papa had some urgent work to do. Unfortunately we had to pack everything up again and try and make it to three ways roadhouse, which was also closed when we got there. Papa managed to get some internet sitting outside of the roadhouse door and so did his work there while the rest of us tried to get some sleep for the night parked in the truck stop opposite the roadhouse.

The next day we all got up really early and made our way to Atherton. We couldn’t believe the difference of Outback Queensland to the beautiful rainforest of Atherton. It really felt like paradise to us. It was cooler, green, lush, pretty, and so full of variety. We rested for the weekend in a caravan park and started to explore for the next few days.

Crystal Caves

The first place we explored in Atherton was the Crystal Caves shop in town. It was so interesting! It was started by a man who had an interest in finding all sorts of crystals. He then started on a quest to find every kind of different crystal in the world and started setting up his collection in the shop. Then he decided to make it interesting by putting in an artificial caves system for kids to walk through with lights and crystals put in strategic places around. It was so interesting. There was the biggest geode in the world which was found in South America. He bought it for $190,000.

Hypipamee National Park

We went to explore Hypipamee National Park which was a beautiful rainforest walk with a lovely waterfall and at the end a volcanic crater with interesting green liquid in the bottom. It was really exciting because we got to see our very first Peregrine Falcon nest with chicks. The people there who were bird watching said there had been two chicks but while the parents were teaching it how to fly one of the chicks had fallen into the water below and drowned. Now there was only one. We were watching the parent feeding the chick meat. It was very special!

Milaa Milaa Falls and Waterfalls Circuit

We went to see the most photographed falls in Australia, Milaa Milaa Falls. They were very special and pretty. There was also a little river nearby that had little baby turtles and lots of catfish in it. We tried fishing them with nets but they were too fast for us.

We went to see another two waterfalls nearby another day called Zilee Falls and Elingaa Falls. They were also very special and we got to swim in the bottom of Zilee Falls. It was very cold and the water pounded our heads but it was fun! We always got to see Ulysses butterflies everywhere. It was amazing!

Bonadino Nature Park

After three days in the Caravan Park of Atherton we stayed in Bondadino Nature Park which was a working farm that had space by the river and rented out their space to Caravans. It was the most awesome place! At night time they had a little feeding space there for the animals that came out at night. There were loads of possums, wallabies and little tree kangaroos. Lots of the possums had babies and they would eat from your hands.

There was supposed to be plenty of Platypus in the river by the farm so one day we went for a walk down by the river to try and spot them. We were there for a long time without seeing anything. Papa came to join us when it got close to sunset and we decided to walk further up. There were other people walking there as well and then we saw them! The platypus would pop up, swim around a bit and then dive back into the water. We saw three of them at different locations. It was very special as we watched them in their natural environment. They looked like chocolate animals.