Walkamin is a town and a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. In the , Walkamin recorded a population of 474 people.

Geography

Walkamin is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North

between

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

and Tolga. The

Kennedy Highway The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vicinity of Forty Mile S ...

traverses the locality from the south-east to the north-east passing through the town.

Climate

The town has a

tropical savannah climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(''Aw'').

History

The name ''Walkamin'' was taken from its railway station, which in turn was named by the

Queensland Railways Department Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

on 8 November 1943, based on a suggestion by organist Sydney Lionel May who proposed it because it was the name of an Aboriginal language associated with the area, probably the Wakaman language documented by

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. Life Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...

. Walkamin State School opened on 19 May 1958. In 1982 the school celebrated its 25th anniversary. The Walkamin Research Station was established by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

in late 1959 to investigate the economic use of irrigation water from the

Tinaroo Dam The Tinaroo Dam, officially the Tinaroo Falls Dam, is a major ungated concrete gravity dam with a central ogee spillway across the Barron River located on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. The dam's purpose include ...

. At the , Walkamin and the surrounding area had a population of 630. In the , Walkamin recorded a population of 474 people.

Education and research

Walkamin State School is a government co-educational primary (P-6) school at 40 Wattle Street. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 51 students with 3 teachers and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent). In 2017, Walkamin Research Station was involved in research involving local crops such as mangoes, peanuts, coffee, hardwoods, legumes, maize and lucerne. Although the research station is equipped for aquaculture research, there were no aquaculture projects in 2017. The research station has an experimental farm in Kairi beside the shores of Lake Tinarooo.

Attractions

The Mount Uncle Distillery makes a range of liqueurs from local fruits. In 2015, the distillery were successful at the

International Wine and Spirit Competition The International Wine & Spirit Competition is an annual wine and spirit competition founded in 1969 by the German/British oenologist Anton Massel. Each year the competition receives entries from over 90 countries worldwide. The awards given by ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, winning a gold medal for their Iridium rum, silver medals for their gin, vodka and whiskey, and a bronze medal for another rum. The distillery owner, Mark Watkins, believes the climate in Walkamin contributes to faster maturation of the liqueurs. The FNQ Country Music Festival and Talent Search is held annually at Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds in Mareeba. The event is hosted by the Walkamin Country Music Club.

References

External links

Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Tablelands Region Localities in Queensland {{FarNorthQueensland-geo-stub