Yungaburra
Located around forty-four kilometres southwest of Cairns and fifty-five kilometres west-northwest of Innisfail on Yidinji and Dyirbal/Ngajanji country, Yungaburra was initially known as Allumbah Pocket until the similarity to nearby Aloomba south of Cairns, prompted the change to a modification of the Yidinji janggaburru, denoting the Queensland silver ash (Flindersia schottiana and bourjotiana).
Millennia of volcanic activity shaped the landscape on this part of the Atherton Tablelands, with the most recent activity occurring only ten thousand years ago. The area's volcanic cones (Seven Sisters and Mount Quincan), crater lakes (Barrine and Eacham), and Mount Hypipamee Crater are significant tourist attractions.
After tin was discovered at Herberton in 1880, this location on the track to Cairns, which had been blazed by John Atherton and John Robson two years earlier, became increasingly important as an overnight stop. However, although the area was surveyed for settlement in 1886, a dense rainforest covering meant it remained largely undeveloped into the 1890s. Early settlers in the area included former miners from the region's goldfields and tinfields who moved into dairying and mixed farming as the 'big scrubs' were cleared and large volumes of timber made their way down to Cairns.
A branch line off the railway between Cairns and Herberton that reached Yungaburra in 1910 moved much of that timber, allowed the area's dairy farmers to transport milk to Atherton's Golden Grove factory and opened the area to tourists. Around the same time, dissatisfied residents in Tolga, Millaa Millaa and Yungaburra, dissatisfied with existing local government arrangements, successfully petitioned the state government for a new local government area. Yungaburra was initially the administrative centre for the new Eacham Shire, created in 1911 until the council offices were relocated to Malanda in 1913.
Yungaburra remained the district's tourist hub, with Lakes Barrine and Eacham and the Curtain Fig Tree as significant drawcards. The opening of the Gillies Highway from Gordonvale in 1926 boosted visitor numbers, as did Lake Tinaroo, completed in 1958, where the options include camping, canoeing, fishing, sailing, swimming, and water-skiing.
Sources:
Queensland Places: https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/yungaburra
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungaburra
Links to add:
Innisfail
Dyirbal
Ngajanji
Allumbah Pocket
Aloomba
Seven Sisters
Mount Quincan
Lake Barrine
Lake Eacham
Mount Hypipamee Crater
Herberton
John Atherton
John Robson
Golden Grove butter factory
Tolga
Malanda
Curtain Fig Tree
Lake Tinaroo
