Gillies Range and Lake Eacham

Saturday the 17th August, Louise and Gavin took us on a "mystery drive". From Atherton out to "The Chimneys" - and old homestead where only the chimneys are left, on to Lake Euramoo - a cavity created by some volcanic vents. This lake is not fed by anything but runoff - and has no creeks that empty into the surrounding areas.

Next we turned off to the Cathedral Fig - an enormous fig tree that you can actually walk 'into' - another fig not far from here is the Curtain Fig - just as old, just as enormous and home to dozens of birds nest ferns and hundreds of tiny finches and beautiful birds.

5 klms of 4 wheel driving and then on to Gillies Range Lookout. What a stunning view!! They had never been there before, and WOW - what a place to have lunch. (Photos below). Not until you actually get out of the car and walk across to the small plateau, do you realise the immensity of the Atherton Tablelands. The small area is all fenced off as the Cairns Parasailing Club jump off the ridge - down into the Gillies Valley. Looking north you can see Goldsborough - and looking east through the valley past Mt Bartle Freer - is Babinda.

All packed up after a barbie lunch, we headed back towards Lake Eacham.  This and Lake Barrine are two volcanic craters, and together the form the Crater Lakes National Park. Both lakes are formed by volcanic explosions, and neither lake has streams that run into or out of the lakes. They are both freshwater and have a constant depth of around 65m. We loaded the kayaks into the lake and Geoff and I paddled slowly out to the middle.

As we were looking across the lake, a voice called out - "Can you help us please?" Two young boys were struggling to swim back to shore, as their two mates had swum off and left them to fend for themselves. Great mates those two!!

Initially I had them both hanging onto the back of my kayak, but eventually Geoff caught up and we shared the load. Later on their Mum came and thanked us, but they were really starting to struggle, so if we had gone the other way around the lake, the ending might not have been as happy. The lake is approximately 1 klm across - and being fresh water, is not so buoyant.

It is sooooo awesome to come back to "my roots" - and see names such as Tolga, Malanda and Millaa Millaa where my family all grew up. If you get the chance, and your parents are still alive and healthy, sit down and record their stories - because once the pass on - your history - is "just that - HISTORY!!

The Cathedral Fig - near Yungaburra

The Chimneys - out in the Danbulla Forest Drive

The Gillies Range Lookout - looking towards Mt Bartle Freer and across to Babinda.
You can see the removable gates to allow the hang gliders to launch

Looking north to Goldsborough and Mt Pyramid

The first thing you see as you come up over the ridge!
The Gillies Highway is directly below the lookout.

Lake Eacham - looking across to where we found the boys drowning