Lake Eacham

 25 – 27 May 2021

Having made the big decision to sell our home of more than 30 years we wanted to take a short trip up to Artemis Station before knuckling down to get the house in order. We visited Artemis Station some years ago and have always been keen to return. As a bird photographer Mick was keen to try his luck with the Golden-Shouldered parrots on the property.

We set about getting the camper trailer ready, including having a lithium battery set-up installed in the hope of extending the time we could stay “off grid”. Our Cub Daintree LE has followed us to many places throughout the country, and all states except Tasmania. Each time we pack up to go away we seem to do things a little differently and this trip was no different. With only one, lighter, battery we had regained some space under the bed – room for more beer!

We had upgraded the car’s suspension recently so had to get the Prado in for a 500km check. Instead of waiting at home to make the magic number we decided to head for the Tablelands and have the car checked in Atherton, on the way to Artemis Station. Once we had made up our minds to go that way, there was nothing stopping us – even rain.

It seemed like a great idea to head for Lake Eacham – in the rainforest, with rain forecast for the next few days. Despite the mud and everything feeling damp, it was a  good couple of days. We left home in bright sunshine, and stopped at Tyto Wetlands in Ingham for a cuppa where the first spits of rain occurred. From there we continued north and drove down to Alligator’s Nest in Tully Gorge National Park for a picnic lunch. This lovely spot looked like it had recently been the site of a party of some sort as evidenced by broken glass in the grass and a wrecked car in the carpark. Still, the sheltered picnic tables allowed us to keep out of the rain. We walked down to have a look at the creek, which is a popular swimming spot.

From there we drove up the Palmerston Highway to Lake Eacham. We have been regular visitors to the Atherton Tablelands for over 40 years (Mick for more like 55) but we have never stayed at the caravan park near the lake. Neat and tidy but small, with a camp kitchen it would do us nicely for a couple of nights.

On the afternoon we arrived we drove the short distance to Lake Eacham and went for a short walk in between showers of rain. Some folk were swimming but at only 18 degrees it wasn’t on our agenda this time. The next morning we set off to visit a few of our favourite spots – Curtain Fig Tree (just out of Yungaburra), Hastie’s Swap (near Atherton) and Atherton itself. The first two are great bird watching spots and the latter allowed some shopping time. Later in the afternoon we went back to the Curtain Fig and the swamp.

The following morning we had to be up early to get the car to the 4WD centre by 7:30am. Once that was done we still had time to go back to the swamp and the Curtain Fig before returning to the caravan park to pack up. Fortunately for us, there had only been a few showers overnight and the morning was sunny so the canvas wasn’t too wet. Armed with a take-away coffee we headed further north towards our next destination – Artemis Station.