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 (^)

An island, more beaches and a borderline city

Rainbow beach

The 120km drive from Noosa to Rainbow beach was a pretty uneventful one, other than the usual me belting out tunes in the privacy (and soundproof-ness) of my car of course. And the last 53km are even less eventful and will make the 2hour drive feel like 5 if you ask me. Mind you I always love and will never pass up on the chance to drive through a national park, but the part through the Toolara State Forest is just mainly straight and quite frankly will make just about anyone’s eyes droop if you ask me. The Great Sandy National Park is pretty cool, but as you’re driving about 100km/h you don’t have much chance of seeing shit. So the drive is a long ass one but the reward is great because at the end you’ll find yourself in the charming town of Rainbow beach. It’s not big but it’s got all the comforts you need, especially to head off to K’gari, more commonly known as Fraser Island. 

Fraser Island

From 1992 this 123km long island has been listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site and rightly so. 

I won’t forgot soon how this biggest sand island in the world was featured on some kind of documentary my dad happened to stumble upon on a school night over 6 years ago. I remember how he called me down from my room to come see this extraordinary natural phenomenon that had formed on the other side of the world. 

So when I finally had (and took) the chance to go and actually visit this awe-inspiring place I was more than grateful for life. 

Major tip to get the most out of your east coast trip is to make friends with someone working at a travel agency to get the best deals and inside information on the best tours! 

I was lucky enough to have a friend who works at Peterpans adventure travel agency in Byron Bay so I was absolutely sure that I got the best deals which brings me to the tour I did for Fraser Island.

Initially, me being me, I didn’t want to do the silly tourist tours and experience the north east coast by my self but I’m actually really glad I did do the tours I did. Some things are just best explored with a professional and good people around you. Which is exactly what I got with Dingo’s and Rainbow beach adventure company.

The 3 day 3 night tour was everything and more you could want or expect! It certainly was for me anyway.

Day 1 asphalt to sand

A(nother) safety and general information briefing done, cars assigned, stuff sorted and packed in before folding ourselves in the cars later we were on the road !

With 8 of us to a car and 4 cars in total per group things got snug and friendly pretty quickly. When you put 3 Irish lads, a French, Swedish, North Korean, English and Belgian chick in a 4WD things are bound to get fun.

Ten minutes of asphalt, a couple 100meters through soft sand and a ferry ride later I managed to get us safely onto Fraser Island. Woooooo!

It was low tide that morning which makes driving on the beach just about the same as driving on a hard packed dirt road (minus the dust lol). Quite easy in other words, still super exciting as I had never driven on a beach before but not the more difficult thing to do. 

So AUX cable plugged in, stereo on full volume, a car full of strangers, a big ass sand island and the sun shining bright we were off to a great start already.

Two hours driving along the eastern highway beach later we reached Eurong, one of the three settlements on Fraser Island where we took a short break to switch drivers before we headed land inward toward lake McKenzie. 

Lake McKenzie is yet another one of those stunning natural phenomenons found in Australia. Being one of the over 100 freshwater lakes on the island, Lake McKenzie is quite famous for it’s clear water. It is, in fact one of the clearest lakes in the world. We spent a great afternoon swimming in the warm clear water, making new friends and using the silica sand as a natural body scrub. 

After a long drive to camp in the rain (including rain leaking into the car) we all gladly cooked dinner together and get to know each other and the rest of the group (all 32 of us) better over drinks, games and music. 

Day 2 headlands, pools, creeks, shipwrecks and sunsets

Indian Head to the south

That pretty much sums up day two for ya haha. With the sun out all day it was the perfect day to take a hike up Indian Head for some panoramic views of the island. After that morning stroll up the hill we drove across the beach to relax at the champagne pools for the rest of the morning. 

Champagne pools

highway cruising

Another beach lunch later we headed back down the highway to visit the SS Maheno shipwreck.

This once 120m long dream liner (cruise) ship got washed ashore with a cyclone in July 1935 while being towed from Sydney to shipwrecks in Osaka, Japan. As all the attempts to reflect her had failed, for the past 84 years the wreck has been slowly corroding away on the eastern beach of Fraser Island. Right on the highway.

We got there in the early afternoon as the tide was coming in so the waves were quite spectacularly crashing into and going through the ships remains.

Fraser crew

Happy (floating) days

Our last stop of the day would be Eli Creek. This fresh water creek has a year round temperature of about 18degrees thanks to the constant flow of about 80 minion litres of fresh spring water flowing through everyday. 

Jenny and I floating
around
(RIP that bikini :( )

With the black tubes we brought with us from camp we spent the rest of the afternoon floating down the stream, playing volleyball and chilling on the beach.

Once back at camp we all headed down to the beach for some sunset drinks. Meeting a couple locals on the way. The dingoes that live on Fraser Island are quite unique as they are the last remaining ‘pure’ dingoes in Eastern Australia. Though these guys may look very like ordinary (domestic) dogs, they are quite the opposite, they are, in fact, just as wild as the shark swimming just off shore or the kangaroo’s hopping cross the mainland. My point being that they are dangerous and not to be taken lightly. There have been plenty of cases where people get attacked by these wild dingoes and people have even died at their “hands”. Dingo fences have been placed around the townships on the island and when camping outside fines apply concerning leaving food and rubbish out as they may (and will) attract dingoes which can have potential dreadful consequences. 

Common sense rules are widely spread as well, like don’t go wandering about at night, don’t go wandering about alone (at any time of day), don’t approach wildlife, don’t make eye contact ect.

Anyway, we had a banging sunset on the beach with the entire group before heading back to camp for dinner and more (drinking)games that went well into the night :p

Day 3 Green, blue, sandy and asphalt again

Lake Wabby

Admittedly waking up early the next morning was pretty painful but was well worth it once we were back to cruising on the beach again. This time we were heading for Lake Wabby! Which is, incidentally, again one of those extraordinary features of Fraser Island. It so happens that this lake is actually slowly disappearing, it’s quite literally being swallowed by a massive sand dune to the east. The two kilometre walk through bush is easy enough though the last couple hundred meters across the sand dune may provide magnificent views it also slows you down by 300% lol. 

So after the famously blue lake (McKenzie) we were all pretty stoked for this green lake. No idea why it’s so green but it’s the deepest (12m) and least acidic lake on the island thus permitting several fish-types to inhabit the lake. One of those are the tiny ones that munch away on your dead skin.  Anyway, once it began to rain we all skidded back up the dune to the walking track back to the trucks for lunch.

waving Fraser Island goodbye!

Luckily, by the time we all got off the track the sun had come back out and was drying us all up nicely so we had lunch before packing everything back up again to head all the way back down the island toward the ferry that would put us back on solid (asphalted) ground. 

Once back at the hostel, everyone got all their stuff back, got their rooms allocated, clothes washed and had a shower we headed out with a big bunch of our group for dinner. It was a great ending to another great adventure as the following day we would (almost) all split up again and go our own ways on our travels.

Agnes water

Friday the 19th of April I headed out of Rainbow beach with Helena, one of the girls I met on Fraser Island. It was so good to have a travel mate even for the day. We drove the 322km (+about a 100km of wrong turns and not the shortest route ideas lol) up to Agnes Water in one go. Agnes Water is known (among backpackers mostly) for it’s cheap surf lessons and chilled small town vibes. It’s the last stop on the east coast heading north where you can swim in the ocean (without risking dying/getting hurt from jell fish and other marine life), as well as being the last stop you can actually surf because of the great barrier reef that limits waves forming to the north. This also makes it the most southern access point to the Great Barrier Reef.

I had set myself a good week between my Fraser Island tour and my snorkel day out on the Reef in Cairns (approx 1,500km straight up the highway). In the past couple weeks though, I had made up a decent little map of all the things I wanted too see in-between, which was about 98% rainforest and waterfalls. Anyhow, as I only had a week to see all that beauty I wanted to (and because it was pissing down rain the following morning in Agnes Water) I only stayed the night and headed off further north on Saturday morning.

Although I still made a slight detour to Seventeen Seventy. Which simply intrigued me. There was absolutely nothing there really but it was one of those weird sights in Australia that you get drawn too. The town of Seventeen Seventy (1770) has simply been named so because James Cook had his second landing on Aussie land in May of 1770. Other than the Marker commemorating the landing there really isn’t much else to do. So it wasn’t a very lengthy detour but the rain had stoped and the sun was doing it’s best to come through too.

Rockhampton

roo garden

Off to Rocky. A good 3hours later I was wandering through the free zoo right next to the Rockhampton botanical gardens. I was very pleasantly surprised by this little zoo. It had all the great Aussie animals all as well as some very ‘typical’ zoo animals. Needless to say I was extremely happy with this unexpected find (as I was originally heading for the botanical gardens which I always love doing). I fuelled up on scones after a lovely walk through the botanical gardens too before heading back into to to officially cross the Tropic of Capricorn. 

Rocky's beautiful botanical gardens

Koala chills

made some friends 

WELCOME TO THE TROPICS