| Ingham |
| INGHAM,
110km north of Townsville and home to Australia’s largest Italian
community, is well placed for trips inland to three national parks or for
access to the port of Lucinda. The road through the centre is Lannercost
Street, on which you’ll find everything you need; interstate buses
stop opposite the theatre ten times daily. You can pick up information
on the area at the Hinchinbrook Visitor Centre (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat
& Sun 9am–2pm), on the corner where the highway from Townsville
meets Lannercost Street whilst the NPWS office, which issues permits
and information about local parks and Hinchinbrook Island, is at 49
Cassady St (PO Box 1293; Mon–Fri 9am–5pm; tel 07/4776 1700).
Accommodation
prospects include the Palm Tree Caravan Park and Ingham Motel
on the highway at the south entrance to town. For the national parks, turn
west to Trebonne (lucidly marked “This road is not Route 1”);
for Lucinda, follow the signs for Forest Beach and Halifax.
Lumholtz National Park |
|
| Set
around the Herbert River, the open woodland and pockets of dense
rainforest at Lumholtz National Park shield rare kangaroos and
possums, but the area is of interest mainly for its undeveloped state
which makes it the preserve of determined bushwalkers only. A 4WD is
needed to reach the Yamanie Falls track’s trailhead at the end of
the road from Trebonne, but contact the NPWS first –you need to know the
latest on several saltwater crocodiles resident in the river –
and come fully equipped for a two-day hike.
Mount Fox National Park
|
| The
road from Ingham divides at Trebonne, the northern branch running 50km to
the borders of Lumholtz National Park, the southern route splitting again
to Wallaman Falls or Mount Fox.
|
|
| For Mount Fox National Park, stay
on the sealed road for 55km as it crosses cattle country to the base of
this extinct volcano cone. A rocky, loose path climbs to the crater rim
through scanty forest; it’s hot work, so start early.
Wallaman Falls |
| The
road from Ingham divides at Trebonne, the northern branch running 50km to
the borders of Lumholtz National Park, the southern route splitting again
to Wallaman Falls or Mount Fox. The Wallaman Falls track initially
follows the same road as Mount Fox, but soon leaves the bitumen, on a
signposted turning to the right, for a dusty forty-kilometre run up the
tight and twisting range; heavy rain makes it impassable.
Tunnelling through thick rainforest along the
ridge, the road emerges at an NPWS campsite before reaching the
falls lookout. The falls – Australia’s highest at 305m – really are
spectacular, leaping in a thin ribbon over the sheer cliffs of the plateau
opposite and appearing to vaporize by the time they reach the gorge floor.
A walk down to the base dispels this impression, as the mist turns out to
be from the force of water hitting the plunge pool; platypuses are
sometimes seen further downstream on Stony Creek.
Maps |
Area between Cairns and Townsville
Townsville Area (Tropical Coast)
|
|
Area between Cairns and Townsville
Townsville Area (Tropical Coast)