March 3 - Australia: Cairns, Queensland
Poor Jon is still very, very sick. In between sneezing and sniffling, he usually mumbles to me, "This is all your fault!". Poor boy. He just needs a day of rest.
But not today!
We took Mike to the Atherton Tablelands today to see some waterfalls and some rainforests. Unfortunately, I thought I'd forgotten my camera so there aren't any pictures. Ironically, my camera was in the bottom of the day pack the whole time but that's just my luck.
So we packed up lunch in the cooler and hit the road around 10:00. This time, we took a different route going north west instead of south west. This took us up a mountain and one some very windy road with gorgeous views.
Cathedral Fig Tree
We stopped by a site called the "Cathedral Fig Tree" off Gillies Highway, where a 500-year old fig tree was growing. It was absolutely huge, and because of the vines it looked something like a pipe organ. There are all sorts of wildlife that live in the tree such as snakes and possums, but we didn't actually see anything.
Cathedral Fig Tree (not my picture)
Gillies Lookout
Then we went to a place called Gillies Lookout, which is accessible only by dirt road. As we passed the sign for it, you could actually see the light bulb go off over Jon's head. The boy just can't pass up an opportunity to go four-wheeling. It was a 15-20 minute bumpy drive before we got to the lookout, but it was worth it. There was a stunning view across the Tablelands with fields, trees, mountains, farmlands - you name it. Just gorgeous.
Yungaburra
When we finally arrived in Yungaburra, we followed the directions from Mike's "Let's Go" book to a platypus viewing platform. Unfortunately, the platypus (platypii?) had been relocated. So we then followed the new directions to the new platform. There was a picnic table there, so we set up the cooler and had our lunch of turkey wraps and hummus.
Still, no platypus.
After lunch, we walked around the little stream to see if we could spot any, but they just didn't want to come out. We could see the occasional bubbles in the water, telling us they were there but were ignoring us.
Did you know that a platypus is a venomous animal? I had no idea.
After our unsuccessful platypus safari, we went to a cute Wood Shop that we'd passed by called "The Chalet Rainforest Gallery". We spent some time admiring the craftsmanship and the local wood. (http://www.gna.com.au/) Mike bought a few souvenirs, and I bought a pair of Hematite (Iron Ore) earrings.
Malanda Falls
By the time we left Yungaburra, it was after 2:00 and we still hadn't seen a waterfall. So we headed south to a place called Malanda Falls. This was right off the main road and was a big disappointment. There was a swimming hole, but it was more of a swimming square because of the concrete pool that had been made beneath the little falls. Not very exciting.
The Crater and Dinner Falls
So we continued further south an looked for an unnamed road that would take us to The Crater and Dinner Falls. The map wasn't very informative, and neither were the road signs. But we finally found "Kenny Rd" which would take us west. Kenny Road turned from bitumen to dirt after about five minutes, and so the guys were in heaven. The road went on for about 15 minutes, and all the while Jon and Mike made "Deliverance" jokes.
Finally, we made it to the other side and followed the signs to The Crater and Dinner Falls.
We walked to the Crater first, which is a massive hole in the ground made by volcanic activity thousands of years ago. Mike and Jon hopped the fence and positioned themselves in precarious positions to get good pictures. My stomach rolled just watching them. Strange. I jumped 14,000 feet two days ago, why would this make me nervous?
Then we followed the path to Dinner Falls, which are some lovely falls from the Barron River. We walked around them for a while, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery.
Dinner Falls (again, not my picture)
By this time, it was 4:30 and Jon was miserably ill but in good spirits. We decided to call it a day and headed home. The road we took back at first gave us some gorgeous views of the Tablelands.
Bromfield Swamp (still not my picture)
Dinner at Blue Oyster
For dinner, we decided to try a restaurant that we'd seen a few times in town. It had some cool decor, and we had a 30% off coupon. Well, you get what you pay for. Our waitress was suffering from first-day jitters, and had to leave every few minutes to get someone else to answer our questions. Our appetizer of fried camembert was more like cheese sticks. The wine was so-so. And the steaks were fried, not grilled - despite being listed under the "Grilled Menu".
Hmmm... looks like you can take the girl out of New York, but you can't take the New Yorker out of the girl. I'm just as picky about my dining experiences as I've ever been. Good to know that some things just don't change.
We went Cold Rock for ice cream for Mike's last night in town. I had Double Chocolate with Snickers.