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Official web site for Tropical Tablelands Tourism (TTT), the approved Local Tourism Organisation for the area.
Atherton Tablelands/Cairns Highlands/Outback
The Tropical Tablelands Tourism region encompasses an area of more than 20,000 sq. km, including the Atherton Tablelands/Cairns Highlands, the Outback areas of Chillagoe with its limestone caves and the Undara lava tubes on the Savannah Way.
World Heritage Rainforest
The
Atherton Tablelands/Cairns Highlands is a blend of the best
attractions of the wet tropics and the dry outback charm; a combination of nature and lifestyle at
its finest. Among the World Heritage listed rainforests, national
parks, mountains, rivers, lakes and waterfalls are some of Australia's
richest agricultural lands, cattle country and charming small townships.
Biologists have described the spectacular rainforests of the Wet
Tropics as the "greatest celebration of life on earth". The farm and
grazing lands are "the food bowl" of far North Queensland - yielding a
constant supply of fruit, vegetables and grains to local and export
markets.
Mild Temperature
The rural landscape of the Atherton Tablelands/Cairns Highlands is green throughout
most of the year, with a temperature which rarely exceeds 30 degrees C.
Everything, including the people, thrives on this cool tropical plateau
some 600-1100 metres above sea level where temperatures and humidity
are lower than on the coastal plain. The Outback is the opposite with its parched appearance changing to verdant green in the Wet Season and the temperature sometimes hits 40 degrees with low humidity
Attractions
For visitors, the Tablelands and Outback present opportunities
for bush walking, bird watching, limestone cave tours, a wildlife cruise, marsupial spotting,
hot air ballooning and water sports as diverse as fishing, water skiing and white
water rafting. Here settlers from all over the world share their arts, crafts,
music and festivals.
Winding roads lead to spectacular lookouts and waterfalls, and
highlights include Australia's widest waterfall - Millstream Falls -
and many others flowing all year round, the deep blue waters of extinct
volcano crater lakes, Lake Barrine and Lake Eacham, the ancient
Bromfield Swamp near Malanda and the Mt. Hypipamee Crater National Park
near Herberton. A little further West, the lush farming lands change to Wooded Savannah with dry creek beds, wandering cattle and the beautiful ochre colours of the Outback
Rare and Endangered Regional Wildlife
Wildlife is abundant on the Tablelands and in the Outback, as a night time spotlighting
tour will show. There are possibilities of seeing shy tree kangaroos, wallabies, possums, sugar gliders
and the Tablelands is the best place in Australia to see a reclusive platypus from the vantage point of a cool
riverbank.
Accommodation & Dining in our Region
Classic old hotels, motels, guest houses, backpackers, farm stays,
boutique style cottages and caravan and camping parks provide the ideal
base for exploring. There are excellent restaurants and cafes to enjoy,
weekend markets, and many World War 2 troop staging sites.
The special attractions of the Atherton Tablelands/Cairn Highlands postcard-like towns and villages will captivate any visitor.
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