The Mamu Walkway is a must-do in FNQ.
The Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway near Innisfail, Qld, opened in August 2008. It provides visitors with unique, close-up views from the forest floor to the leafy canopy of the World Heritage-listed rainforest of the Wooroonooran National Park, as well as scenic views across the spectacular North Johnstone River Gorge. We visited recently on a drizzly, intensely humid summer’s day, determined to make the most of the little time we had left before an approaching cyclone would send us scuttling for home.To be honest I was a little sceptical as we turned onto the Palmerston Highway just west of Innisfail and headed for the cloud-shrouded mountains that edge the Atherton Tableland. The walkway project had been in the pipeline for at least 10 years and was often touted by politicians and tourism gurus as a major drawcard to the region and an “iconic tourist attraction” for NorthQld, but it seemed to take forever to plan and build.
As we followed the snaking road along the crests of rolling pastures towards the misty mountains, I expected nothing more than a short walkway through the tree tops and a crowded observation platform overlooking the North Johnstone River Gorge.
How wrong I was! It turned out to be nothing short of stunning.
FEATURES
When Qld Premier Anna Bligh opened the $10million walkway, she described it as a “world-class educational and interpretative facility”. It was built for the Qld Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the Ma:Mu Aboriginal people, who are the traditional owners of the area, and was designed to cater for 250,000 visitors a year.
Getting there is easy. The walkway is just off the Palmerston Highway about 30km from Innisfail and is well signposted. The car park has ample room for vehicles with caravans in tow. From the entrance a wide, well-maintained track plunges into the towering rainforest on a 2.5km return walk atop the Johnstone River Gorge escarpment. Around 1km of ground-level tracks connect three separate features of the walkway, with information signs, seats and shelter sheds along the way.
The first of the features is a 40m long and 2m wide structure that juts from the mountainside through the rainforest canopy, with the last 10m section cantilevered into space above the gorge. Needless to say the views are spectacular, with the rain-swollen North JohnstoneRiver thundering silently through the jumbled valley far below.
The cantilevered section does move slightly as people walk on it, and those unhappy at heights may find this a little disconcerting. However, rest assured it is quite safe, having been designed to support 6.6 tonnes which, according to the brochure, is equivalent to an adult African elephant. (I’m not sure how many African elephants they are expecting through the gates.)
From the cantilever, the track leads to the beginning of the 350m-long elevated walkway, which meanders from the forest floor near the track out into the canopy of trees growing from the steep mountainside as much as 15m below. This affords scenic views of the surrounding countryside as well as an unusual, close-up experience of the rainforest canopy and its birds and wildlife. The walkway has four entrance/exit points allowing those who may become uncomfortable at heights to easily make their way back to solid ground.
The final feature is the 37m-high observation tower, with a lower and upper viewing deck. The top deck is accessed by an external stairway which may be a struggle for some visitors. However, the views over the North JohnstoneRiver and the surrounding landscapes make the effort well worthwhile.
GREEN CREDENTIALS
Not surprisingly, the walkway was designed to have minimal impact on the rainforest, and construction was carried out to stringent environmental standards. To minimise damage to the rainforest, many of the 30 support towers were built along an old forestry track or in natural clearings left after Cyclone Larry devastated the area in March 2006. Cyclone debris and vegetation that had to be cleared was used as mulch when the construction site was rehabilitated.
Construction materials were also chosen for their environmental sustainability. Open, unpainted, galvanised steel (which requires minimal maintenance) forms most of the structure, while 100 per cent recycled plastic was used for the walkway decking, wall cladding of buildings and the seats scattered along the track. The decking (made from plastic milk bottles) is not only more rot-resistant than timber, but doesn’t become slippery with fungal growth like timber and eliminates the need for cleaning with chemicals and high pressure hoses. It is also claimed that the plastic decking is much quieter than timber when trampled by hundreds of excited tourists, further enhancing the walkway experience.
Solar panels have been installed to provide some of the attraction’s electricity needs.
ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair-accessible tracks and facilities and tactile directional signs and markers ensure that the walkway experience is accessible to mobility or vision-impaired visitors. Only the upper level of the observation tower is inaccessible to wheelchairs. An electric buggy is kept at the ticket office for emergency evacuations and can also be used to assist the elderly or disabled. Parents with strollers or prams can also easily enjoy most of the walkway.
Drinking water is not available along the walk so take a water bottle with you. There is a water cooler at the walkway entrance.
WOOROONOORAN NP
If you would like to see more of the national park and the wet tropics rainforests in the area, you could camp at Henrietta Creek about 5km further up the PalmerstonHighway. Facilities include shelter sheds, picnic tables and toilets.
Activities at Henrietta include birdwatching and platypus-spotting along the creek by day and spotlighting possums at night. There are a number of walking tracks to waterfalls and swimming holes.
The Goolagan picnic area is just up the highway from the walkway and is an ideal spot for lunch or morning tea or a refreshing swim in the chilly mountain waters.
MAMU WALKWAY
The walkway is along the Palmerston Highway 30km south-west of Innisfail and 115km (about 1.5 hours’ drive) south of Cairns. Admission costs $20 for adults, $16 concession and $10 for children aged 4 to 14. A family (two adults and two children) pays $50.
For more information, call the Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway on (07) 4064 5294 or the EPA Information Centre on (07) 40466600, or visit www.epa.qld.gov.au/mamu or www.innisfailtourism.com.au
INTERESTING FACTS
More than 900,000 plastic 2L milk bottles went into the walkway’s recycled plastic decking.
563 cubic metres of concrete were used for the 30 tower footings.
156 tonnes of galvanised steel were used to construct the elevated walkway.
More than 3.5m of rain fell during the 14 months it took to build.
By Steve Farmer, as featured in Caravan World issue 464, April 2009.