Wandering in Queensland

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Another lovely Australian day! We woke up early again. This is our norm now. It gets dark so much earlier here than we are used to in our Northern Hemisphere summer that by the time 9pm rolls around we are wiped out! May also have something to do with us being so active in our daytime hours. :-) We didn't have to check out until 10am, so we enjoyed the amazing included breakfast buffet, then lounged around the resort before catching the ferry back to Townsville, grabbing our car, and heading north again. We didn't have a plan other than to land in Mission Beach tonight, so we took our time on the route. We stopped in a town called Ingham where we consulted Trip Advisor to recommend a good lunch place. Wow, did we hit the jackpot! Ingham is a town settled by Italians after WWII, and the town still retains its Italian-Australian heritage. That means you get to combine the delicious food of Italy with the hospitality of Australia, making you one lucky traveler! We ate at a place called, "Casa Pasta", where they make all their own pasta and sauces. We got to see the kitchen and the pasta making room. It was a compact but very clean operation with the nicest owners you will ever meet. And, the food was delicious! We both had homemade ravioli with tomato, basil, garlic sauce and homemade garlic bread. It was amazing!!! The owner recommended that we drive out to Wallaman Falls in Girringun National Park for the afternoon. I had read about Wallaman Falls, but had decided against going because it is the dry season here and I didn't want to make the 40k one way drive in the opposite direction to see a dried up plunge pool. She encouraged us to go, though, because apparently Ingham is where the dry tropics lead into the wet tropics and the falls are running year round. So we took her advice and drove out to the falls. I am so incredibly glad we made the trip! The dusty, dry landscape turned into flat open range, and soon after into lush, mountainous, tropical surrounds. It was absolutely beautiful! We drove up the mountain to the turn off for the falls where a handful of cars were parked at the overlook. When we walked onto the pathway we could hear the sound of falling water and rounded the bend to see the longest single drop waterfall in all of Australia at 879 feet. It was spectacular! And, since there were so few people around, we were able to spend all the time we wanted enjoying the view of the falls and the gorge. I am so glad we made the trip. It was certainly something I'm glad we did not miss! We drove back down the mountain, dodged cows on the open range road, and continued on our way to Mission Beach. We made it just before dark to our hut on the beach. It is so nice sitting here now listening to the waves of the Coral Sea crash into the shore. We cooked dinner and ate on the patio tonight. We bought enough food to do the same tomorrow night. It is beautiful here. Tomorrow we will hike in the rainforest nearby, staying away from the creeks and lagoons to avoid the local crocodile population. Crazy to have to think of these things here! We saw many signs as we were driving over creeks and rivers today warning us to stay a safe distance away from the water to avoid the crocs. We also saw road signs warning us about the possibility of crossing cassowaries...large, flightless birds similar to ostriches that roam the rainforests here. I just love all this unusual (to me) wildlife! Our time in Queensland is going by too quickly!!!

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