Tuesday September 22
The Atherton Tablelands (no comments about MA Atherton, especially none about slipping over in sight of a milestone.)
Today was spent in the company of Captain Kiwi Matty, a friendly and informative tour guide on a day that took us to three rainforest swims, the site of a famous Aboriginal folk tale, a town - if it could be called that - straight from the 1970s, and a chocolate and cheese factory. The clue of what the guide was called and where he was from came in his name. The Captain comes from being Coach Captain as opposed to bus driver, as he was far more than that.
The day started with a 0730 pick up outside the hostel, and once everyone was on board Captain Kiwi soon developed a rapport with the group and slang for everyone - the three from Kazakhs were 'Kazakhstan', a hairdresser from Shrewsbury 'Porn Star', his friend 'Blondie' and his Mum 'Mum.' I think you can see where he was coming from. He also said that he had recently called a German girl Blondie, a name to which she objected as it was the name of Hitler's dog!
The first stop was at Barribinda Falls, an amazing collection of giant boulders with water flowing through them. The legend has it that they were formed by a girl who cried for a month after her lover was banished by his tribe. After she commited suicide by jumping off the cliff the legend came into being that her spirit haunts the waters. 25 males betwenn 18 and 22 have drowned there, all receiving the same marks to their body. Her spirit is said to drag them underwater to kiss them, believing them to be her lover, before realising that they are not. By this time, of course, the human has drowned.
Next stop Josephine Falls - a large pool of water surrounded by rocks of various sizes, and a naturally occuring slide to slide down into the pool where we all, bar one, went for a swim. At this point I should admit to a fairly major error on my part - no towel. However, given the heat drying out wasn't much of a problem. More of a problem was the lack of swimming costume so, after not much thought I went in with my underpants on. Very chilly it is fair to say, but once in it was a great experience. After clambering up one large rock and slipping and sliding across it, I found myself at the top of the cascade of water, about 15feet in length, ready to hurl you back down to the calm pool. In the middle of a rainforest, could you experience anyhting better? Well, as it turned out, you could.
The second swim was at Millaa Millaa falls, up in the heart of the Tablelands, 720m above sea level, in a volcanic area - the falls are 10,000 years old. However, its claim to fame is that it was herethat the video for Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' was shot. With this in mind, in we went. This time it was freezing cold but so incredibly refreshing that I felt like I was as good as new. A short swim to the falls themselves - the splash of the falls hitting the pool was quite fearsome. Stop short, brace yourself, shut your eyes and clamber through, thousands of tiny sharp shocks against the skin. Then, clear again, and pull up onto the rocks and sit on the reverse side of the falls, the sun streaming through. Warming, beautiful. Then the return journey, and stand in the sun to dry off, discussing Rugby Union with the Captain. (I forgot to mention that the whole experience was watched by a coachful of Japanese tourists.)
The third and final swim was at Lake Eacham, a huge circular lake enclosed completely by the ageing rainforest. This time there was a jetty to throw yourself from - the water was lovely and cool again, but not as cold as before, with pockets of beautifully warm water. It was a little bit like swimming in a dream. After this we plunged 6 1/2 km down through the Gillies Range, with 250 turns along the way. On a couple of occasions we see the forest burning, but this was not wildfire but friendly fire - fires started deliberately, not as hot as wildfire, so as to turn some of the trees to charcoal which will trap nutrients in the ground for the plants. It also causes some seeds to open and distribute, which only happens at a great heat.
This was an excellent day's trip, great value at $50, and an excellent way to end a six day stay in Cairns. Next stop Airlie Beach.
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