The best tour in Cairn area - It's amazing. The 3 beautiful waterfalls are breathtaking. The Paronella Park is magnificent and the tourist guider Scott is very knowledgeable about the area and fun to have.

An enjoyable day tour to the beautiful Atherton Tableland. It was varied with plenty of generous stops along the way. - During a short visit to Cairns in October 2025, I had a spare day to do some local touring and so I booked up on the “Paronella Park and Millaa Millaa Falls Full-day Tour from Cairns “ -a small group bus tour, organised by Northern Experience Eco Tours (Discover Tours Australia). A bonus on this tour was that I could be the picked up and returned to my accommodation at Cairns Queenslander in Lake Street, North Cairns – beats having to walk to a set pick up/return point in the tropical heat. We had a very manageable mini ‘United Nations” group on the tour – three from Brisbane, Australia; a married couple from Florida, USA; a couple from Canada; two youth hostellers from Spain and a man from Taiwan with a passion for taking photos, who carried with him some very elaborate and bulky photographic equipment. Our driver Steve was very friendly and knowledgeable and drove the bus really well. As I was the first passenger picked up, I had the “pick of the stalls” so I sat with him in the driver passenger seat where great windscreen views could be appreciated. The tour started with a drive out of Cairns passing though the town of Gordonvale. There was lots of sugar cane growing and the Sugar Mill there was smoking away with great gusto. Big highlight is the local little mountain “The Pyramid” standing out like a beacon in the rural countryside. We then negotiated the winding Gillies Highway carving its way through the Gillies Range with 263 bends in its uphill section. There are several places to stop to take in the mountain views and Steve did stop at one where the bus could be safely parked on the side of the highway. Steve had a great hint to avoid travel sickness here – look up and don’t look down – wise counsel indeed! The Gillies Highway is a local engineering marvel having been built in the 1920s and officially opened on 10 July 1926. On to our first main stop – the beautiful volcanic Lake Barrine where we had a lovely morning tea of scones and cream and special local plum jam on the verandah of the Tea House overlooking the Lake. We took a short walk through the adjacent rainforest to see the mighty twin Kauri trees. There are several walks that can be done around the Lake but time was not on our side for such sport. We did however, get a good glimpse of the beautiful lake and its clear crystal water from the tea house verandah. Lake Barrine was formed over 17,000 years ago by massive volcanic explosions that created a large crater, which then filled with rainwater to become the lake. From Lake Barrine we enjoyed a nice drive through the Atherton Tablelands passing through the charming town of Yungaburra (it was a Saturday and the markets were in full swing ). Time constraints meant we could not make a stop here. The next long stop was to view a magnificent local phenomenon – the famous Curtain Fig Tree. This well known landmark is reached by parking on the roadside at the entrance to the Curtain Fig Tree National Park, enjoying a short walk along a well maintained boardwalk and hey presto – there it is in all its splendid glory. The Curtain Fig Tree is unique because the extensive aerial roots, that drop 15 metres to the forest floor, have formed a ‘curtain’ and over hundreds of years these roots have strangled the host. The boardwalk goes right around the tree so that one can get a 360 degree glimpse of this marvel from all angles. I last saw this tree in 1967 – it was still as good to see 58 years later. More driving followed as we travelled through the dairy town of Malanda before we made an impromptu stop, not included in the original itinerary (because time was on our side) to the Millaa Millaa Lookout (also known as McHugh Lookout). Well what can I say? This lookout is absolutely fabulous with panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, an impressive rustic timber fence around the car park area, lovely strategically placed trees dotted here and there where impressive photos of the distant views, framed by these trees, could be achieved and picnic tables and benches dotted here and there. Seriously, this attraction is so good that it should be included in this tour’s itinerary as a given in my view. This has to be one of the best lookouts I have visited anywhere. I was so thrilled that Steve chose to make the detour to this lookout as a sensational added extra. And so on to the beautiful Millaa Millaa Falls where locals and tourists were enjoying a dip in the pool surrounded by rainforest, 20 metres below the Falls when we arrived. Some of our group changed into swim gear and joined them in this cool pastime. Although Steve said the water pouring out of the Falls was not as intense as usual, there was still plenty of water gushing out over the Fall’s edge down to the pool 20 metres below to make the visit more than worthwhile. By now we were looking forward to lunch which we had pre-ordered at the start of the tour. So, it was on to the tiny town of Mena Creek via South Johnstone and to the Mena Creek Hotel where I enjoyed nicely cooked fish and chips and salad. We were given very generous time here at the hotel and the lunch was not rushed which was appreciated. The original hotel was opened in 1929 but was destroyed by fire in 1956 resulting in the hotel being rebuilt as the structure used today. Adjacent to the Mena Creek Hotel is the world renowned Paronella Park celebrating José Paronella’s dream to built something unique with a Spanish flavour in tropical North Queensland. José built his castle, picnic area by the falls, tennis courts, bridges, a tunnel, and wrapped it up in an amazing range of 7,500 tropical plants and trees (now a lush rainforest!) and he opened it to the general public in 1935. The present owners, locals Mark and Judy Evans, purchased the Park in 1993 and formulated a plan to put the Park back on the map. I did enjoy the stories that guide Bill told us about life at the Park in José’s day. There were lots of ruins of what were once proud buildings in an earlier time. However, one could still get a sense of life in these buildings so long ago. I have to say that while I enjoyed the experience, the weather suddenly got quite hot and wandering the grounds was quite oppressive for me. Perhaps if the weather had been kinder I could have given the place more attention and a higher mark. We did have lots of time to roam around by ourselves in the Park after Bill’s spiel. All up we had a 2 hour stop here. From here it was a non stop trip back home to Cairns. That then is a summary of what was overall a very enjoyable trip out for the day touring the beautiful Atherton Tableland. It was varied and the stops were plenty and generous in the time given at each. By the way this was the first trip that I booked up via TripAdvisor and the process was outstanding. The trip was reserved for me and the payment was not effected until two days before. Tripadvisor regularly communicated with me at all stages of this booking. On that score I could not fault them. Well done Tripadvisor.

Awesome experience. Take... - Awesome experience. Take a towel and swimmers as there are opportunities for a quick dip. We felt relaxed and safe. Our guide was informative and enthusiastic.

Highlight of our trip to Cairns - We had an exceptional guide (Steve) who gave a wonderful guided trip all day. Wonderful scenery, great food, great areas to visit and Steve was even able to switch the rain off while we were out of the bus and he let it rain while we were driving. Not too many guides would go to this level of commitment. Extremely enjoyable day, definitely a highlight of our trip to Cairns

Paronella Park, Miliaa Falls, Lake Berrine - We went on a tour with our tour guide Troy and guests from Australia, UK, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Troy is an excellent tour guide. The pacing of the trip was wonderful. Our group were lucky enough to see 3 platypus-a baby and 2 adults. The drive to Lake Berrine is gorgeous and Troy does an excellent job of giving the history and information about the area. The 2 standing red cedar trees are amazing. The entire day, Troy provided pertinent information about the area along with personal information as he is from the area. Having a tour guide who grew up in the area just adds to the experience. The Miliaa Falls was beautiful and many of the guests joined Troy for a dip. The Paronella Park was our final stop and was an excellent place to end our adventure. We would highly recommend this tour and especially our tour guide, Troy. Thank you for a fun and wonderful day exploring Australia.

Fantastic great day on 9... - Fantastic great day on 9 August 2025 visiting Paranella Park and its many sights of interesting architecture, waterfalls and many exotic gardens with a Park Guide to explain its history. The Milla Milla falls was also beautiful and a swim tempting. Lunch at Meena Creek Pub was delicious and wholesome and well organised. Our Tour Driver was Steve who is well versed on all the sites and kept us all well entertained with his gereat sense of humour. He took us to some extra lookout sights too. A great day and good value for money.

Excellent - It was a great trip. Lovely country. The driver/guide was a wealth of knowledge. Loved every minute. Millaa Millaa Falls was a beautiful spot. Lake Barrine was a stunning spot and morning tea at the tea house was so yummy. Paranella was great, the story is the highlight though.

Historical dream - Excellent day trip with a very experienced friendly driver with good knowledge of sites, customs and history . Morning tea and lunch were both tasty and enjoyable , The stop at the fig Tree was enhanced by watching tree kangaroo. The Paronella park was extremely interesting- what a monument to one man's dream! The park tour guide was very theatrical in his presentation which made the tour even more interesting. To finish of the day our driver detoured to the "Boulders", an unexpected site tour that was not on itinerary but very interesting and worthy of a visit

Brilliant day out - A brilliant day out to see sights with very well informed and friendly tour guide . A most enjoyable day touring and seeing a Platypus in its natural environment was the true highlight for me.

Great day - A big enjoyable day with a great host driver who was authentic and down to earth.It itinerary was varied and interesting.