Epicentre of the Queensland tropics

Carins

There’s so much more to see further north (mostly rainforest) but if I go up that way further I want to do it properly and try to reach Cape York, which is the northern most point of mainland Australia and lays another 1000km further north from Cairns.

Anyway, after a weeks worth of chasing waterfalls and hiking rainforests I reached Cairns and thus civilisation again. I had a day to explore the city before I was off onto the reef for my full day snorkel tour. So I wandered about, had pancakes, went window shopping, got a smoothie, checked out the esplanade and the lagoon. Thanks to the wonderful box jellyfish, swimming in coastal waters along the northern east coast is highly discouraged if you do not wish to die very painfully lol. (Yes there’s a whole lotta shit that wants to kill you in aus) If you’re looking for a way to escape the sweltering humidity and heat the lagoon is you best bet. I quite liked Cairns in general actually. It’s very touristy, don’t get me wrong, it’s very clear that the entire city is built on the foundation of being “the gateway to the great barrier reef” but somehow I felt like it managed to keep a bit of a big town vibe going on. 

By late afternoon I found a cheap hostel with free parking, brekkie and a morning shuttle to the marina for my day trip. I got my stuff organised for tomorrow, had a welcoming hot shower and a change of clothes before I headed back out for dinner. Someone had told be there’s a night market going on just about every night on Abbott street, so obviously that’s where I headed for. Again very touristy but quite a fun place for a wander around. Almost reminded me of the night markets in Phuket, minus the funny smells and all the dirtiness haha of course. 

Here I bought a waterproof pouch for my phone and I must say, absolutely best firkin’ thing EVER. So pretty stoked for the following day I headed back home for an early rise. 

Beating heart of the east coast:

The great barrier reef

I did my day tour with Ocean freedom and had an absolute blast. (Also, notice the ‘advanced eco certificate’ these guys have? This is soooo important guys, climate change has been causing massive coral bleaching since 1998!)

It’s a big ass boat with quite some people on but the staff take very good care of you all day long. By 8am we were off speeding out of the harbour, barely an hour and a half later we were all in the water on the Upolo cay reef. Eventhough it wasn’t stinger season we still all got a stinger suit along with fins, a mask and of course, a snorkel. With the choice between drift tour or self exploring I opted to do a bit of both. Tapping in with the guides every now and then to hear about all the cool corals and fishies we were looking at I drifted off to find Nemo among many other cool kids of the underwater world.

Lunch was a buffet of beautiful Queensland prawns, taste salmon, mutiple salads, meat platter and breads. The perfect break before heading to the next destination which was the outer Upolo reef. This reef was much swallower and close to a sandbank which meant we were able to get closer views of the corals but that we also had to be more careful not to touch anything. 

So throughout the day I’m pretty sure I saw Nemo’s entire family as well as the whole crew including Dory,  bubbles, peach, Gill, about 4 sea turtles, some sharks, a couple little rays and millions of other beautiful fishies.

The Whitsundays

Airlie Beach lagoon

The very very last stop of my awesome tropics adventures was Airlie Beach, the jump off point for the Whitsundays.

Sunsets to remember 

Happy kiddo on a morning dip in the ocean

I’m sure I wouldn’t be lieing if I told you there’s over a hundred (if not couple hundred) tours to chose from, from loads of companies. I went with Wings on a 2 night 2day tour and again, had an absolute blast.

Day one 1pm departure from the marina

We started our adventure with clouds, winds and some rain. Not the best weather in other words. ANYWAY,  we headed strait to our first snorkel site which was near Hook island. With the weather not being optimal, visibility wasn’t very good but obviously still had an awesome snorkel on the edge of the islands reef. After an hour or so we all got back to the boat for some sunset snacks, beers and chats before heading off again to our nightly anchorage point on Whitehaven south. 

George the Wrasse

South Whitehaven beach

Six thirty rise was well worth it to watch the sunrise and go for an early morning swim across to the beach before heading off around Whitsunday Island toward the ever so famous Whitehaven beach.

A short bush (flipflop) hike later we were exploring Whitehaven beach and later Hill inlet which we reached at the perfect tide when you see the widely pictured swirling river.

We spent the afternoon snorkelling again forever in awe of the beauty of the Great barrier reef and the oceans by extent.

Hill Inlet

Beach'n

And just like that my east coast trip had come to an end. A full month of wonderfull wandering over +2 000 km of coast and hinter-land.

How great full I am to be able to live this kind of life. So ready for the next chapter which was to be completely and utterly devoted to horses. Well, after an excruciating drive 17+ hour drive straight from Airlie Beach to Scone. My new hometown.

xoxo Liz

Welcome to the tropics (finally!)

National park-kinda week in the wet tropics of northern Queensland, Australia

After crossing over to the tropics I had a very long 700km drive up to Townsville, which would be my starting point for my tropical adventure.

Townsville

Magnetic island on the right, just in Townsville bay

Townsville is quite a big city and my last stop before my tropical wanderings. As I didn’t need to stock up majorly I merely drove into the city to head straight for Castle Hill which promised me stunning views all around the city and coastline (obviously I had Castle Hill by Ed Sheeran booming away from the stereo all the way up). It sure was stunning up there, the drive was one to squeeze your bum in every sharp turn trying to avoid all the people bravely hiking up, but so worth it.
I had thought to sleep up there, but as there were huge signs stating penalties I wasn’t in the mood to receive nor pay I made my way back down after a walk around to soak in more of that glorious sunshine and the views.

Google maps
= best friend

I ended up staying the night about 30k out of town at Bluewater park, with about two dozen other campers/backpackers and grey nomads haha. 

You know you’re well and truly in the tropics when you have to lave the back door open (with a mozzie net ofc) to sleep. So here I finally took the time to sort out some kind of plan as to how the following week would look like.
Obviously Australia being Australia, nothing’s just 10min away from each other lol. But I'm quite happy to announce right now that I managed to see and do everything I wanted to (and more!). Just another friendly reminder that if you want something you've just got to get out and get it done. 

Anyway, waking up to a soft sunrise followed by the dazzling sun the next day I was on the road by 9 again. Off to my first stop, the Wallaman falls. Not before doing a quick pitstop at the big mango in Bowen, obviously couldn't miss that !

Bluewater park

Big mango at Bowen

Girringun National Park

Wallaman

Stay casso-wary folks 🤣
God I crack myself up sometimes 

About an hour off the highway you’ll find this absolutely stunner of a waterfall. I couldn’t have asked for more to start the day. The 50k drive to the waterfall from Ingham is beautiful. Driving up to the mountain, passing a few tiny towns, a couple cattle grids and consequently having to slow down/stop for the cattle chilling on the road, testing the emergency breaks and getting a heart attack from a wallaby that decided to cross the road right when I approached, some more hairpin bends and stunning views up the range and then of course the last leg through the cassowary infested national park leads to the well worth it viewing platform and start of some hiking trails around the falls and the national park.

Wallaman falls

Cardwell pools

Next stop was a bit of a spontaneous decision, I’d found this name during a random browse of the “Australia” instagram page. As it was just a quick 10min from the highway I decided to say 'hey ho, let’s go!' to it. And thank god I did!

Cardwell pools

How extraordinary is the colour of that water ???! Thank you ground-minerals 😍
A quick change into my swimmers, down the steps and into the gloriously blue water! It was pretty cold, don’t get me wrong (as it’s steadily flowing spring water) but very nice once you got in properly as usual (and because it was hot and sweaty outside, as usual too).
The pools are just outside the charming little town of Cardwell which is the perfect place to stop for a stretch of the legs along Victoria street, which is also the highway but has a seaside promenade, a beautiful rest area and an abundance of cafes and bakeries and restaurants for all kinds of cravings. 

I had a picnic lunch at the pools which has a grassy bit and a picnic table or two.

(Remember to leave no trace in national parks!)

With a tummy full of roasted chicken with aioli on ciabata (a perfect "on the road" lunch, incidentally which I (we) discovered road tripping Portugal two years previously), I headed off to my next destination of the day.

Which was to be Tully Gorge national park.

Tully Gorge National park

Tully Gorge

Nr°14 or 11 ?  either way it's along that road

Tully gorge national park is pretty easy accessible with the one road leading into (and out again) from Tully. So 39km down the (conveniently named) Tully gorge road you’ll find yourself surrounded with national park after kilometres of banana plantations with stunning backdrops.

Driving through Tully gorge you might notice some big numbers painted on the road, and if you’re really observant (unlike me lol) you’ll notice pretty quickly the numbers add up and are always conveniently placed at entrances to places to see such as a waterfall, a lookout, a camping ground or one of the many jump-off points to get in the river.

The Tully river provides some of the country's best Wilde water rafting opportunities, as well as kayaking.

 
Side note: the water is croc infested as well as having a very strong current
(hence the great rafting duhuh),

 so don’t go paddling/swimming about (on your own).

Anyway, I pulled up at the campsite thinking about spending the night in this beautiful place and went for a walk around. Walking toward the water I met a man who was kayaking the river with (I think) his son and about 5 kids who were learning.
He suggested I should definitely camp there to be able to fully enjoy the national park and then went on to tell me about this beautiful little waterfall at number 14.

I ended up not camping there because it was high season and I didn’t have a camping permit nor did I have cell reception to buy one, but I did head up the road and explored the nr 14 turn off as told by locals.

Needless to say I had the best afternoon stopping every- and anywhere up and back down the road letting my eyes feast on the beauty before me around every bend.

By half past 5 the sun was setting and I had set up camp at Feluga, another free camp I found thanks to Wikicamps.

I spend the evening talking to my neighbours, an Israeli couple who met in the army and were now road tripping and exploring life, just like me.  Great full for such a great day and the new friends I had made I went to bed just before the heavens opened up on us and we were treated to a tropical rainstorm throughout most of the night. Well not quite a storm as it wasn't rain season, but it rained enough for the grassy field we were camped on to go swamp-y in the morning. Always fun to start your day with the thrill of 'shall I get stuck or not' 😄

Waking up to the fresh, cool morning air I swampt around to have brekkie and try to get everything as dry and clean as possible before packing up and heading northwards again toward the very famous Millaa Millaa falls.

Feluga hotel free campground

Instead of just finding the Millaa Millaa falls, as I drove up the Palmerston hwy from just past Innisfail, I got treated by a sign stating “tourist drive waterfall circuit”. Naturally I slammed on the breaks and followed the sign heading down Theresa creek rd. 

Ellinjaa

Ellinjaa falls

This country simply does not cease to disappoint nor amaze as I drove up and down again through hill-y country to not just find the famous Millaa Millaa falls at the very end of the drive, but found myself visiting the Ellinjaa falls as well as the Zillie falls before topping it off with the Millaa Millaa falls.

So Ellinjaa falls has a short walking track to the bottom of the falls where you could easily take a dip (given the weather's warm enough because the water is quite freezing haha). When walking down I crossed a party of 3 but otherwise had the whole thing all to myself. 

Right so apparently there's a viewing platform at the bottom of the Zillie falls too, so if you get out there and find it, let me know because I didn't and a couple who came back from the little path leading from the top platform said there wasn't anything down that track. 

Another beautiful waterfall nonetheless !

Zillie falls

Millaa Millaa falls

IG (<) vs. reality (^)