One of the reasons we chose to head in the direction of North Queensland, on our current road trip, was the opportunity to do a bunch of self-guided tourist drives. Between Townsville and Cairns there are a LOT of drives and a lot of things you can explore. I have to confess: even though we’ve been in Wongaling Beach for 2 weeks, we’ve only done ONE of those drives!
This is the guide we found that offers a LOT of fabulous self-guided drives in this area: Great Tropical Drive PDF.
We decided to do a ‘short’ tourist drive: Mission Beach to Tully and back again (route #10 if you look at the pdf), focusing especially on Tully Gorge.
Like most of this area, the foliage is lush, the clouds are low on the mountain tops, and the scenery is stunning. The Tully River is filled with rapids and interesting rock formations, and winds its way through breathtaking canyons.
There are some great scenic lookouts but there is also a LOT of bush and trees that block views. Tully Gorge Road ends at a hydroelectric power station, so the drive is one way in and one way out. Definitely worth a look, though!
By the way, did you know that the Kareeya Hydroelectric Power Station has the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power 70 000 homes – a year?! Mind-blowing how a river can be beautiful and incredibly useful at the same time.
