This
region is large and diverse, the rainforest quickly changes
to the famous Australian bush once
you reach Mareeba and
the further west you travel, the drier the landscape
becomes. A
range of different food crops are grown in the Mareeba area
including avocados, coffee, tropical
fruits and macadamias.
Towns
such as Chillagoe with its magnificent limestone
caves, Undara with its amazing volcanic
lava tubes, and Innot Hot Springs with
its naturally occurring therapeutic waters make
this region so incredibly unique.
Watch
out for wildlife out
here too, if you’re lucky you’ll find emus,
goannas, kangaroos, rock
wallabies and a host of different birds and
animals found only in outback areas.
The
dry conditions are in contrast to the wet tropical
coast. If it’s raining on the coast you can almost
guarantee there will be sunshine out here.
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Population
Mareeba
6 400
Chillagoe 150
Herberton 950
Mount Garnet 420
Mount Surprise 162
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Julatten is
between Port Douglas and Mareeba on the Rex
Range Road. This lovely township is well known
for birdwatching.
Mareeba is
only an hour from Cairns but climatically a world
away. It is both cooler and drier here and with 300
days of sunshine almost always fine.
A
number of small townships exist between Mareeba
and Chillagoe, two of these are Mutchilba and Dimbulah which
both have playgrounds and shops
where you can pick up basic supplies.
Chillagoe boasts
some of the world’s most spectacular limestone
cave formations. It's also where you will
find amazing Aboriginal cave art,
believed to have been here for thousands of years.
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Herberton is
situated on the headwaters of the Wild River in
the heart of Australia's Great Dividing Range. It has
an interesting Spy and Camera Museum with
some of the world's oldest and rarest cameras and spy
equipment on show here. Herberton was
one of the first towns established in the region when
tin was found by James Venture Mulligan in
1875.
Innot
Hot Springs is
a natural mineral springs located
between Ravenshoe and Mount
Garnet on the Kennedy Highway.
The hot springs of Nettle Creek have
long been established as rejuvenating and
healing. Hot water bubbles throughout the
sandy creek bed, and many locals and visitors
come here to sit in the shallows of the creek
and enjoy the healthy properties of the hot
springs. As well as trying out the
hot springs you can visit the topaz
fossicking field or take binoculars
for bird watching.
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Mount
Garnet was
first settled around the turn of the century
when copper was found in the area. Within months
the Mount Garnet Freehold Copper and Silver Mining
Company Ltd had built a smelter and was busy
hiring men to dig the valuable mineral out of
the ground, however it was not to last and when
the price of copper dropped quite suddenly the
mine was closed down. Now the township is home
to only 420 people and has a reputation as a
good starting place for gold prospectors
and gem collectors.
Mount
Surprise is a great place for fossicking
for gems and precious
stones and the area is lots of fun for
the amateur prospector. Some of the stones found
here include topaz, sapphires and garnets and
small amounts of gold can be found
here from time to time too.
Undara contains
the remains of the Earth’s longest flow of lava originating
from a single volcano. Caves within
this lava tube are fertile pockets in which rainforest
plant and animal species thrive. Undara is
in traditional country of the Ewamian Aboriginal
people and is a great place to experience
the plants and wildlife found in the outback, with
guided tours available here too
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Undara
Outback Experience
Undara
is great for kids. You can walk
in the path of a volcano, sleep cocooned in an ancient
railway carriage, sing songs by the campfie and see native
bush wildlife first hand.
Tyrconnell
Outback Experience
Dimbulah
The
historic Tyrconnell gold mine offers guests a unique insight
into life in the goldmining era.
(07)
4093 5177
Click
here for more attractions
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