Without wishing the labour the point, let me begin this piece with the further comment that the weather during our stay at Lake Tinaroo was marginal, to say the least. In our total of fourteen days the sun managed to shine on but three, of which the first was the day of our arrival. False promises indeed! With the exception of the following Sunday and Monday, the mood of the weather gods reminded me of an old saying I first heard during my posting to Mount Gambier in 1968...."when it's not actually raining it's dripping off the trees".
I think the local physio Liz had to consult to obtain a new compression sleeve best described the climatic conditions as 'mizzle'. And it blew, and blew, and blew.
By the end of the first week I was becoming a little desperate. Was I going to be able to show Atherton and its surrounds in any way other than mist shrouded and bleak? At last, a break in both the weather and my luck on our second Sunday...and I was off at the speed of light to happy snap my way into Atherton and back.
One of the reasons I was becoming so browned off with the weather was that the Tableland is a really beautiful place. The contrasting colours of the rich red soil and the different greens of the crops of the flats viewed against the backdrop of the blue haze of the surrounding mountains, in every direction, was just lovely (when you could see it).
The back road from Lake Tinaroo into Atherton township provided some good examples.
Atherton was first settled in 1877 by one John Atherton, who, believe it or not, gave the town and the surrounds its name. What may be less obvious, given the current focus on agriculture in the area, is that this was not its first industry.
The development of the Atherton area was actually founded on the discovery of tin, as we had previously seen at Herberton. Together with William Jack and John Newell, John Atherton was responsible for the development of the Great Northern Tin Mine, which provided the impetus for early settlement and development. Rumour has it that the name 'Tinaroo', which features so prominently in the area, is a derivation of Atherton's cry of discovery triumph when he purportedly yelled out "tin, hurroo!". Nice story...who really knows?
This find brought many eager souls to the Tablelands, including a large group of Chinese who, as they had done in many other areas of the country, did not mine, but rather developed market gardens to provided for those who were engaged in gouging at the earth. At one stage the Chinese community of this district was the largest in QLD. Little now remains to show of their presence other than a Chinese Temple on the outskirts of Atherton, which, for some inexplicable reason, I forgot to photograph.
Despite its mining origins, the real wealth of the Tablelands was to lie elsewhere...in the valuable 'red gold' which flourished in real abundance. The cutting and milling of the highly prized red cedar became the major local industry. Other valuable native timbers thrived in the ideal conditions. Kauri, maple, blackbean, walnut, white beach and red tulip oak all fell to the cutters' blades. As the land was cleared of the forests, so the farmers moved in to take advantage of the rich volcanic soil.
The significance of the early timber industry to the development of Atherton can still be seen in a mural on the wall of the Grand Hotel.
Timber still plays a part in the local economy, but it is now all managed forest of predominately pinus, as we had discovered in our circumnavigation of Lake Tinaroo.
The Tableland now produces maize, sugar cane, bananas, avocados, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries, macadamia nuts and citrus, in abundance.
I have never seen such fields of corn before,
on every road in and out of Lake Tinaroo, and,
in so many varying stages of growth.
Whilst the maize harvest is now handled differently, reminders of the past management practices abound. This maize silo to be found in the tiny town of Kairi, between Atherton and Lake Tinaroo, is typical of that past era.
The harvested maize was first dried in large sheds before being stored in the silos awaiting transport.
And from what I could gather, the drying process took some doing. Preserved in, of all places, the entry hall to the Atherton IGA store, is this huge engine which was used in this process.
The maize fields lie side by side with acres of sweet potatoes,
tomatoes, and
avocado orchards, at the front of each are the ubiquitous self serve stalls....$2.00 a bag. It is in places like this that I really regret my intense dislike of 'avos'....just like eating green soap!
In all of this cornucopia of crop and fruit production, I almost forgot about the cattle and dairy industries, which also thrive on the Tableland. Malanda, through which we drove to reach Atherton, is the centre for thriving dairy farms, which supply milk to the Dairy Farmers processing factory. This is, incidentally, the home of the longest milk run in the world....from Malanda to Darwin.
I did not come across dairy cattle near Atherton, but was certainly visited by beef cattle as I stopped to take photos on the Lake Tinaroo road. No sooner had I pulled up than these fine beasts all arrived at the fence at the gallop, and then stood expectantly staring at me. Dare we suppose they are hand fed from time to time?
I completed this whistle-stop tour of the Atherton surrounds with a shot taken from 'Tinaroo Rise', looking westwards across the flats to the mountain rim beyond. Atherton itself is located to the far left of this picture.
Coming up, the towns of Atherton and Tinaroo, social activities at Lake Tinaroo and beyond and the Crystal Cave.
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