WATERFALLS AND RAINFALLS

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We had planned to visit a Chinese temple in Atherton this morning but on our way we decided to take a road signposted the scenic tourist road. It was also signposted unsuitable for caravans. We were unsure if this meant us as well but Andy decided to go for the ‘try it and see’ method and we soon found ourselves on a single track road with nowhere to turn round. This was starting to remind me of the time we got stuck on a single track road in Molly the caravan back in the UK because Andy decided to ignore the road signs and the navigator (me). Thankfully this time it all worked out fine. The views were of rolling hills with sheep grazing in the distance. Had we driven into the Cotswolds we wondered??

We were unable to get to the waterfalls on this particular route due to last nights heavy rainfall so we made our way to the 16km waterfall circuit near Millaa Millaa. We stopped first at Ellinjaa falls, then Zillie falls, saving Millaa Millaa falls (the best) till last. It is the largest of the falls and has a beautiful swimming hole. You can swim right behind the falls and there are even changing rooms provided. We thought that Gemma and Kieran would like to come here so we didn’t bother digging our swimming costumes out. We would save it so we could all experience it together.

Noticing the sign on our way past we made an unplanned stop at Hypipamee National Park. There we found a fair sized lizard blocking the road as he sunbathed. He really did not want to move and seemed more than happy to pose for some pictures.

Hypipamee Park is home to a crater which Andy had read about. On our walk to the crater I said “ is this going to be a just a big hole in the ground? As soon as the words left my mouth we walked past a massive information board with “NOT JUST A HOLE IN THE GROUND” written in massive letters with a description underneath - well that told me! To be fair they were right and this was not just a normal hole. This was a deep crater with a spooky looking lake 138m below. After throwing in some twigs - I’m informed this is something that boys must do - we had a paddle in Dinner falls on the way back before carrying on toward Atherton.

Arriving in Atheron we were disappointed to find that almost everything was closed including the temple. We have been loosing track if what day it is and had not realised it was Sunday - the day when Australia seems to close. Frank and Manon had recommended a campsite in Mareeba which boasts 300 sunny days a year on its sign. There were Rock Wallabies living on the site and you could walk down in the evening and feed them. We planned to get set up, go and feed the Wallabies and then go for a dip in one of the swimming holes. Things did not go to plan. Half way through setting up I saw the wallabies coming out to be fed. I left the setting up to Andy and wandered down to get some photos. They were very cute and quite tame letting you get quite close. After just a few photos it started to rain. Normally you get some warning with gentle spots of rain giving you time to dash back to the van. But today there was no such warning. Each spot of rain seemed to be the size of a bucket and it was coming down quick. We went from dry to drenched in a matter of seconds. The wallabies had the right idea taking cover under the picnic tables. Normally we are able to sit outside under the awning when it rains but tonight we had not finished setting up before I left to see the wallabies. We had the awning up but we had not done a very good job of it. The wind blew the rain right through the awning and the poles started to wobble. We struggled in the wind to make the awning as secure as we could and climbed into Hilda to shut the door on the storm. We were looking out of the window making sure the awning was OK when we saw our neighbours make a dash from the covered kitchen area to their trailer tent. The wind was blowing the kitchen furniture away and the rain was coming in so I suppose their tent looked like the dryer option. The storm was getting worse by the minute but we felt safe and cosy in Hilda. Suddenly we were plunged into darkness as the power was cut across the whole site. Luckily we are well prepared and had our battery operated lantern with us. Normally we would find a power cut annoying as power is an extra cost. But luckily for us, the young lad who booked us in had been in a rush to finish for the night and gave us too much change. It worked out that we had been paid $6 to stay the night. Our neighbours had not been so lucky. Hours later when the power came on and the rain started to ease we heard the sound of large amounts of water spilling onto the ground. We peaked out of the window and saw our neighbours escaping down the ladder and running across the site to find shelter. All the rain had been collecting on their tent, making it collapse in on them!

We were lucky to wake up to sunshine. We packed up early and left before the owner arrived and cashed up last nights takings and came looking for us. As we turned out of the campsite onto the main road we saw the owner. As she lifted her hand we were sure she was going to stop us but she was just waving us goodbye. We put on our best “thanks for a lovely stay” smiles and waved back as we drove away at a speed which said “not guilty“.

We drove into Cairns and found the apartment we had booked for Christmas. The lady was nice enough to show us around and we liked it so much that we booked an extra day for the night of Gemma and Kieran’s arrival. We had a quick drive around the town so that we were not completely clueless about where to go at Christmas then drove north on the coast road to Palm Cove. It has a really pretty beach and plenty of little shops and restaurants but no suitable campsite so we carried on up the coast. We stopped at Ellis beach campsite. It was a little more pricey than we had been used to at £25 a night but our pitch had its own access to the beach. That night as we sat and watched the lightning on the horizon four Dolphins swam past no more than 50 metres from us so it was worth every penny!

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Photos

Millstreem Falls
Said to be the widest in Australia.