Atherton Tablelands day 2

---

Our second day of our 2 day trip ‘On The Walllaby’ started with breakfast at the lodge before an 18km bike ride throughout the surrounding country side - first stop The Curtain Fig Tree. Whilst admiring this 2 thousand year old tree Barbara (our guide for today) spotted a tree kangaroo clinging on to one of the trees, it was amazing, but no sooner had it been spotted, it was climbing down to hide from us - so no photograph unfortunately, but take it from us, it was the cutest thing you have ever seen and they are really rare to spot in the wild.

Carrying on our bike ride up and down undulating hills in now 30+ degrees of heat was actually not too bad as there was a lovely breeze, so feeling quite comfortable, the group all decided that we fancied something a little more adventurous, Barbara was more then happy to oblige and so we downed bikes and headed for a ‘little trek.’

Dodging killer plants, massive spiders, pulling off leaches (we joke not!) we found our way to a very secluded beautiful waterfall. This particular area was severely damaged by the cyclones last year (which has devastated most of the area in fact) so most people do not visit this area anymore. Literally climbing our way out of what could almost be described as a ravine, we returned to our bikes to resume the ‘actual tour’!

Finishing our cycle ride at about 12.00 hot and tired we dived straight in to Lake Eacham (the same one as yesterday), which was certainly well deserved and appreciated, before heading off to lunch.

The afternoon was spent canoeing down lake Tinaroo - after killing our legs in the morning, it was now the same treatment for our arms! We rowed up stream just being very quiet, looking out for wildlife and listening to the sounds of the Rainforest (Clare has fallen in love with the sound of the whipbird, it makes a very unusual ‘whip sound’ more often heard and not seen, it sounds like your in Walking with Dinosaurs- apparently!). We spotted sea lizards, kingfishers and other small birds such as wag tails, before stopping pulling the canoes on the banks for a rest.

At this stop we were introduced to a stone called ‘Ochre’ which is something the Aboriginals use to paint their skins, so off we went painting each other! Great Fun!

Then it was off for a race back to the end… We won’t tell you where we came in the race!!

Then it was back to the lodge before catching the minibus back to the hostel, dinner and bed.

It was a great 2 days trip and one we would certainly recommend to anyone in the area.

www.onthewallaby.com

---