Australian Bicycle Camping Fact Sheets
: www.iinet.net.au/~bikefish/| *
Cairns & Atherton Tableland,
By
Grace Newhaven
DISCLAIMER : this fact sheet was
first compiled in 1997. Some information and contacts may have changed since
then! However, looking at some of the other (largely anecdotal) information
available on the www, I reckon it’s still well above average!
PURPOSE
This
fact sheet is intended to provide background information for bicycle camping in
the
RESOURCES
Sunmap Tourist Map - Cardwell to Pt Douglas
1:250 000 ( Qld Dept of Lands) Readily
available in the region. About A$7.00. NB that the
RACQ has no useful regional map of the area.
Cairns
Bicycle User Group . ( http://cairnsbug.org/ ) includes
some cycle touring information on its web page.
ENVIRONMENT
The
weather in July/August was very mild during the day, with some hot days. Nights
were cool to cold on the Tableland, mild on the coast. Warm clothes and
rainwear are essential for the Tableland. Rain in the "dry season"
was infrequent but unpredictable. Sunlight was about 12 hours from 0600 to
1800. Gradients are sometimes steep.
BIKES
There
are lots of bikes in
ROADS
There
is a network of bike paths and on-road bike lanes across the city, extending as
far as Palm Cove, but with very poor signage and little continuity for the out of
town traveller. Coming in to the city from the North was particularly
unpleasant around the airport perimeter. The city has a "roundabout"
traffic system, with the usual problems for cyclists particularly when left
turning traffic sweeps very fast down the freeway style exits, menacing the
cyclist in the left lane. Peak hour traffic was awful.
Note
the steep scenic road behind
Outside
The
steep Kuranda road was hard but far from impossible, though you could take the
scenic train (student concession available) with your bike (
$7.00 more). We came down the
Particularly
pleasant roads were the scenic route from Ravenshoe to Millaa
Millaa, and the back road from Millaa
Millaa to
FOOD
Most
shops seemed to be open 6 days. EFTPOS is almost universal, sometimes with a small fee for
"cash out" (beware of damage to your card from the old style
"slider" machines ! ) In
There was another good wholefood shop in
Ravenshoe (tel 070 976 260), with a helpful, cyclist
aware owner.The "Big Peanut" store just N of Tolga had a useful selection of dried
fruits and nuts - the dried tomatoes were both delicious and better value than
the fresh ones.
Markets
with locally grown fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, and some prepared
foods, are held in the region on the following roster :
Saturdays : 1 Atherton/ 2 Mareeba/ 3
Malanda/ 4 Yungaburra
Sundays : 1Tolga/ 2 Archer's Creek & Kairi / 3
Herberton/ 4 Ravenshoe .
If
you're travelling to the deep interior, you might consider a food parcel from
Cairns to a post restante address - prices are reasonable at the Post Office,
and the cost of supplies escalates when you leave the city as fast as the
choice and quality declines.
CAMPING
Sites
in
In
the interior, most towns have at least one campsite with tent site prices
around A$8.00 to A$10.00 dble.
Many sites have permanent residents. All are overrun with 4 WD's full
of lazy tourists - who'll patronise you
endlessly if you're a cyclist. The
There
are several quality camping shops in
"Freecamping" in the dense rainforest seemed as if it
would be uncomfortable, and there are risks
of leeches, ticks and snakes
The
TOWNS :
Atherton : large s/market, several
pubs, good bakery. Two campsites, one up-market, one bleak.
"Atherton Backpackers" was
clean, good kitchen, no camping. Gem caves in Main Street are artificial ( A$8.00).
Restored steam railway.
Freshwater : N of
Herberton : extensive but jumbled
collection of old buildings and museum
items, A$10.00. Pub, store etc. .
Kairi : tiny town, pub, small shop.
Kuranda:
s/market, pubs, YHA (pleasant but no camping ),
un-signposted camping ground 1 Km. Market overrated.
Malanda : Dairy town. All services. Gigantic pub, unsympathetically renovated.
Excessive use of commercial signs in main street. The milk factory supplies
the longest dairy delivery in the world - to
Millaa Millaa : attractive camping
ground. Pub, s/market etc. Name means " Rain Rain". Busy, narrow road to
Malanda, try the unsealed route via the
Palm
Cove : cheap, friendly , crowded municipal camp site,
which doesn't advertise itself anywhere
! Fast foods, cafes, but no real food stores. Too many
cars ! Beach nearby not too crowded. 2km walk to "free"
Ellis Beach on the Highway.
Ravenshoe : two caravan/tent parks of differing quality. Good whole food
shop. Interesting local interpretive / visitor centre. Two
supermarkets. Highest town in
Redlynch : just N of Cairns.
Pleasantly quiet, clean and friendly campsite ( despite
appearances !) at
Yungaburra : Heritage village, groceries,
pub etc. " On The Wallaby "
( tel 070 510 889 ??? ) is
an excellent, purpose built, backpackers
with dorm beds, or ( better !) camping in the yard for $8.00 pp. Clean,
friendly. A good base camp. Good idea to phone ahead
.NB this building was built with the intention that it never lock up -
interesting design feature !
***************************************************************************
Further
information :
The Traveller's Guide to
Bicycle Touring In
"Freewheeling "
Magazine ( refer your bicycle advocacy group's library )
#
01, p 22 - cycle touring
the Atherton region. A little dated, but still very useful . (1978)
#
25, p 25 - N of
#
38, p 44 - sagged
tour of the Tableland (1986)
#
39, p 40 - Daintree region (1987)
#
45, p 43 -
unsealed route from Mt Garnet to Cardwell (1987)
Australian
Cyclist Magazine
18:3:54
(1994) is a modest backgrounder to
18:5:46
describes the journey through
Cycle Touring & Campaigning
Magazine (August 1996) -
20/07/2008