A service centre for the Atherton tableland dairy industry. The town declares itself as the headquarters for one of the largest and longest milk runs in the world.
Location: 25 km south east of Atherton; 85 km from Cairns; 732 m above-sea level.
Places of interest: Atherton tableland; Malanda Falls; Majestic Theatre (the world's oldest operating cinema); Nerada tea plantation; Malanda Hotel (1911); Peeramon Hotel (6 km east, once a siding for the Tolga-Millaa Millaa railway)
Nestled beneath the canopy of the towering rainforests, Malanda Falls Visitor Centre is a great place to stop on your travels and discover more about this unique region of Tropical North Queensland, the wildlife, and the people who live here. If you have the time, stop for a while and you might well catch a glimpse of a tree kangaroo in the branches above you, or a cassowary and its chicks.
Malanda Falls Visitor Centre, 132 Malanda / Atherton Rd, Malanda
Opening Hours 9.00 am-4.30 pm
The town was first developed when the discovery of tin at Herberton brought a steady stream of miners moving over the mountains from the coast. Malanda was scheduled in 1886 to be included on the railway line to Kuranda, Mareeba and Atherton but problems of construction through the difficult terrain delayed its arrival until 1911. The line closed in 1964.
In 1908, James English (later the publican of the Malanda Hotel) and James Emerson moved into the area and brought cattle from Kiama and the Richmond River areas in NSW and Emerson had a herd of 1026 cattle overlanded from Lismore. They took 16 months to reach Malanda and only 560 survived the journey. Despite this arduous start the industry grew and by 1919 Malanda had its own butter factory. A sawmill was established in 1910.
Origin of name: said to be derived from the word for 'waterfalls' in the local Aboriginal language.
Experienced tea producers have transformed former farmland into over 700 acres of sweeping vistas of manicured tea that is harvested and cured on the Cairns Highlands. Here visitors can enjoy the hospitality at the Nerada Plantation teahouse and tour the tea factory complex. The Visitors Centre is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm, closed weekends and for the whole month of February. Here you can discover how tea is grown and processed. Take a tour of the factory (the factory may not always be operational), buy fresh tea or a special gift, or relax and enjoy a Devonshire tea.
Location: 933 Glen Allyn Road, Malanda
