Misty Mountains Odyssey

Since coming to dwell on the Tablelands, we have neglected our usual practice of poking around in every available corner, and some less accessible ones also, until we know as much as, or more than, most of the locals. To give credit where it is undeniably due, the history and geography of this area has been documented better than most, and history groups continue to make more and more information available. To return to our present personal exploratory inadequacies, we are slowly getting back on track and we are determined to travel the highways and byways of the district. There is so much variety in such a relatively small area that there can be no valid excuse not to get out and appreciate it.

This week our trip, encouraged by the Southern Overlanders, was up into a pocket of the misty mountains to mythical Topaz. This is a tiny collection of scattered farm houses hidden in the scrub at the end of an isolated road. It could not be described as a township or even a village. It is a former gold-mining area, but there is little to be seen of its gloriy days, especially as mist accompanied us all morning, muddy tracks proved uninviting and grass and scrub had reclaimed so much of the country. Mt Bartle Frere is within sight of the area, and there is a designated walking track to its summit, a trip that sadly we would be unable to accomplish these days. The Lone Ranger has walked this track and camped at the summit, an enviable journey, even with its accompanying discomforts; e.g. leeches behind the eyelids. We confined our efforts to a mobile exploration until the road had reached a point of petering out.

Throughout the trip we were shrouded in mist or fog. Topaz is quite high and because of its position on the slopes of the range it is frequently mentioned on evening TV as being among the top rainfall areas. Its nearest centre is a damp little village called Butchers Creek which has the luxury of a school and a decrepit Local Hall. On a lot of the hill-tops and upper slopes there are tea plantations, (some in an overgrown, neglected state). These individual farms sell their harvest of tea tips to the Nerada Tea Plantation for blending etc. We visited the Plantation to browse its history and sample some of its brews.

After descending the mountains, we visited the Malanda Tourist Information Centre where there is an excellent small display of local history, photos, nature information and lots of books produced by the hard-working Eacham Historical Society. We finally arrived home having had a lovely morning, despite inclement weather. We feel that we are beginning to live up to our previous standards of inquiry and look forward to our next excursion.

P.S. We heard on this morning's news report that the Malanda Tourist Centre had been destroyed by fire. This will be a great historical loss and we feel deeply for all those people who had worked so diligently for so long to build a fine presentation.
This is a good example of why we should visit and examine as much as possible at every opportunity. Do not put them off ! They may not be there next time you come around !!