Waterfall Wanderers Tour – Blog 2

I was up at 5am to start my birthday celebrations & drive 55mins to Waterfall Wanderers at 36 O’Keefe St North Cairns for the tour bus @ 7.20am .. full bus of 24 people to pick up. Orion is our driver & guide. A young Greek but in Australia for quite some time. I was the first & only onboard & was privileged to have a great conversation learning about Orion’s young history & as a travelling person. After picking everyone up at various hostels, resorts, etc we headed west towards Mt Walsh monolith (one rock pyramid) along the highway. Annual foot races are held to the top. 1hr 35mins is the record from a European male. What a run!!!

Travelling Gillies Range Rd, Orion gives a full commentary of the upcoming range road where we will be experiencing Australia’s windiest roadway .. most bends/ corners in 20klm length towards Atherton (270 bends in all) going up the range. Motion sickness can happen. Beware.

1st Stop is .. Lake Eacham .. a 65m volcanic lake (Calderas). This will be the warmest water we encounter today so I braved it & had a quick dip after my first platform dive in decades. Still brrrr!!!!I Rated the dive as 3. Haha. This lake has 2 known small freshwater crocodiles, but they are timid & not a threat to humans. Yeah .. right .. Hope so. Sadly, we didn’t all swim together & share in the banter. Some chose to walk further around the lake & swim there. I must say, the swim was quite rewarding. With all that was around me I totally forgot to take photos. Argh!!!

Orion was very strict with the return to bus time & repeated how important it was to now keep to the timeframe to fit everything in & respect the lunch preparation. He wasn’t kidding either, so it was quite a shock to venture back & not see the bus. Some panic was starting to show on a few when right on time (within 2mins of the Orion deadline) the bus storms up the hill & parks at our stop. A full bus of people exit & Orion confirms the other Wanderer’s bus following us caught on fire some klms back. Therefore, Orion leapt at picking them up to keep to their timeline & for a lake swim while another bus would be sent out. One young passenger alighting was miffed & I wanted to remind him how good this company is in handling problems like this with hardly any impact on the passengers, but I guess you can never get through to ignorant self-serving people.

Orion was quick to get us onboard & off we went to the next rainforest stop keeping to our timeframe. My fellow, much younger passenger, James (ex-England, living in Sydney), was so relieved sitting next to me when he found all his wallet, phone, etc still intact in the seat pocket where we were told the bus would be locked while we swam. Lesson learnt I thought & so lucky having the other bus passengers onboard.

Not far away from the lake we stopped at Yungaburra, a rainforest where Orion showed us the ‘Wait a While’ plant vine with very fine strands hanging down. The Aboriginals used this fine vine for a fishing line & hook. Very strong too. With all the greenery surrounding us we even saw a set of car keys hanging down for hopefully the driver to see them.

Across the road (too dangerous to cross the road), Orion showed us the Red Berry- stinging tree with large heart shaped leaves & red Berry clumps. Orion said it would be less painful if a truck hit you, for this plant is very dangerous & painful .. commonly called the ‘suicide plant’ with its microscopic stinger fibres which can last for months or even years, hence people take their own lives to escape the ongoing pain. One story Orion told was an army soldier in a jungle training for Vietnam War used the large leaves for toilet paper. Some months later he committed suicide to escape the ongoing relentless pain.

The rainforest walk was amazing & you are led right up to the famous Curtain Fig Tree which had taken over 2 host trees & this formed the unusual curtain. A movie Director/ Producer, James Crawford saw this tree & another one at another near location, called The Cathedral Tree where he used both of them in his huge film, Avatar. This Curtain Fig Tree is estimated to be around 6-800years old.

This Daintree & Cairns region rainforests are the oldest rainforests in the World … dinosaur era old in fact. We are also on the lookout for the dinosaur bird (Orion’s name), the super impressive Cassowary (2nd largest flightless bird in the world behind the Ostrich). Unfortunately, no sightings eventuated today but Orion has seen a few cross the road while driving. Orion had lots of funny nicknames of favourite animals & birds. Sorry, far too many to remember.

From Yungaburra, we stayed a little while in the village of Eacham for a quick view of shops & then lunch .. a beautiful lasagne meal for me with a great chat with some travellers & some from other parts of the world. Anouk, a young lady was from Netherlands & she had a great personality & interaction with most on the tour. We just started a great conversation after eating when Orion rushed us to board the bus. Bummer!!! Two young ladies ate a few tables away, secluded from the rest of us & they sat behind James & I on the bus. One was an ‘exact’ match for one of my Netherlands friend of many years. Surely, she must be a relative or even the slightly younger sister. Very uncanny & I have learnt sometimes the world can be quite small.

Next was the Millaa Millaa falls from the Johnstone River located in the Wooroonooran National Park. A beautiful waterfall used in several tv adds, etc. Orion even did the ad performance by untying his long black hair & dipping it in the water & then throwing his hair in a backing stand up motion (hair flick). It went off like a treat & he really did it well. The TV ad used a blonde woman in a bikini though. In these falls you can swim here but not directly under the waterfall as there is a large tree stump lodged up & peering over the top edge.

After Orion’s show I cautiously went up to the young ladies to introduce myself & ask if one of them was from the Netherlands but to my surprise they were both Germans. I started with stating the uncanny similarity of my friend Ayla to one of them. She seemed awkward until I showed her Ayla’s photo & she was quite shocked to the accuracy of both their faces. The other German lady seemed quite shy & withdrawn, possibly my age was off putting. It is hard for me to learn that young people find it hard to interact with older people. I understand it .. but it’s hard to accept. Helen was my Ayla, while Dana was the cautious & slightly withdrawn one. Helen spoke fluent English & we hit it off quite quickly, then she told me she wanted to do this tour on her birthday. I was blown away, as I told Helen it was my birthday also, with the same tour date idea. We were both thrilled to be sharing our birthdays together, (28/04) but she is 20 & I’m so much older. LOL!! She was a blessing to me today, such a lovely young lady. Made my day. They were both keen to enter the water of Millaa Millaa Falls, so I dared not deter them from that. Upon returning to the bus, I managed a smile from Helen again to further make my day. Thank you Helen.

A few minutes up the road at Crawfords Lookout we stopped for a clearer view of the river back towards the Millaa Millaa Falls & further upstream. A very impressive outlook. With further driving we climb slightly, then towards Mt Bartle Frere, Queensland’s highest mountain at 1622m high, some 75Klms south of Cairns. This is the direct area for Josephine Falls, the most violent of waterfalls for public access.

At Josephine Falls you can walk down to a platform & enter through a gate to walk the boulders to a natural water slide down the rock face. Access to the top section of the falls is prohibited. Serious injuries and deaths have occurred here. Please observe the well signposted warning signs. Flash flooding (rapidly rising water) is common during wetter months. Rapid and unpredictable water level rises have isolated people on the far bank requiring their rescue. The rocks are also exceptionally slippery, the water cold and submerged objects may be in the creek.

Based on the above, Orion was clear in his safety directions and for those keen to slide down the rock formation which basically enticed the younger passengers. I think my maturity kicked in where I cannot afford an injury with what is ahead of me these coming months (building projects & a Europe trip). Some of the girls yelled out for me to take videos of their slides so I ventured out on the slippery boulders & found a safe perch to stand. I had trouble at times when a lady, not on our bus kept getting into my video space & she knew it too. Arghh!!!

All the sliders had so much fun & even Orion too despite probably doing this almost weekly or more often. He was brilliant!! Finally, back on the bus & keeping to the timeframe we head to the Babinda Boulders. Once the bus is parked you head along The Devil’s Pool Walk, a 1.3 kilometre return walk along the Babinda Creek downstream from the Babinda Boulders picnic area. Slightly undulating along a rough bitumen track, the walk leads through the rainforest to two viewing platforms where the creek cascades down a series of spectacular waterfalls, granite boulders and washpools. This is a most dangerous area & with the water churning into washpools cascading around these huge granite boulders it is quite easy to see how a body can be totally trapped underwater, never to escape. For more info & to read about the local aboriginal legend of these boulders please use this link Cairns Attractions | Babinda Boulders – Cairns Attractions  There has been some 25 deaths since 1959 when records started, so don’t take this area lightly. The signposts definitely don’t miss informing you of this. The council rangers regularly screen these falls for stupid people as rescues are so demanding & risky. We came across a plaque some time later recognising the search & discovery of a lost USAAF – Mitchell Bomber, noting my birthday date in 1942. Back then, this search would have been beyond belief with the resources they had.

James (ex-England, living in Sydney) sat next to me the entire tour which proves young people can interact & accept us older folk. LOL!!! He showed me his proposed renovation plans for his unit in Sydney, knowing my construction & building background. From the Babinda Boulders it was the usual drive back to Cairns along the flat Bruce Highway but of course Orion remained full on with music & his DJ allowed song skip enforced & lots of commentary of fun. He really made the day for all but he forgot Helen’s name for her birthday song we all sang to.

It was sad to see my fav travellers be dropped off at their respective stays & not being able to catch up later on. Helen & Dana leaving for Fiji the next day & Anouk, Japan 2 days later, James back to Sydney. I used my bus time to write down all my contact details to Helen & Anouk so I can send them the waterslide videos, to which they were thrilled but there was no time to discuss further. I only hope they will contact me.

I was the last drop off seeing I was 1st on. Orion couldn’t believe I had kept my birthday secret all day denying him of further comedy. Haha. Saved. I told Orion I had been on many bus tours & he was by far the best I had ever experienced. He was most thankful, but I again reaffirmed it to ensure it was just not a throw away comment. I even did a full on praise review for Orion on the Viator platform & company website.

By the time I arrived back at my resort it was 7.15pm & with enough time to get down to the restaurant by the pool to get a great cooked meal with a scotch .. remember, it’s my birthday. One gentleman arrived at the counter the same second I did, so it was a bit of ‘who goes first’. He insisted I go first with my order & after my payment he asked how my day went. I told him I did the full day Waterfall Tour & what a great day to celebrate my birthday with great people I met. He congratulated me & then I found a table out to the rear with the footy on the TV. I had this whole area to myself.

As soon as my dinner & scotch was gone, some staff, the gentleman & his family (wife & 2 sons) sung from behind me with Happy Birthday!!!  What a great surprise & they even bought me the x-large muffin with a candle lit. I was totally blown away & thanked everyone wholeheartedly. I was so blown away I forgot to get a group photo. Bummer!!! I saw the family the next day at brekky when walking through (I had brekky in my room prior), but only for 2mins when my tour bus arrived to pick me up. I thanked them again rushing off, sadly they were leaving the region after brekky. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get their contact details.

I returned to my room to upload my Polarsteps journal & photos of today & reminisced my wonderful day, albeit without my family with me. Yes, it is not the first birthday on my own & possibly more to come. My family (children) are so busy & independent and quite some hours away from my home. My daughter is planning a post birthday get together later in May.

Post Blog: After about a week or so Dana contacted me with sincere apologies for delays in contacting me. I uploaded the waterslide videos to her & she was thrilled. We exchanged a few messages & I hope to see her in my upcoming Europe tour. She is safely back in Germany & Helen went to Bali after their Fiji trip. Quite a few weeks later Helen contacted me too, now she is still in Bali. We had a great catchup & she will advise me of her travels ongoing.

Tomorrow, I have another big tour day so I’ll end my Blog #2 here & many thanks for reading them. I’ll be able to give you an update on Anouk as well .. it will surprise you.