Now that I’ve checked the Great Barrier Reef off my bucket list, it was time to go inland towards the rainforest. I signed up with Uncle Brian’s Rainforest Tour and Cousin Brad was our guide. So far this happens to be one of the best tours yet. Cousin Brad was this long-haired, potbellied hillbilly who didn’t shut up the ENTIRE time. He was HILARIOUS! He also had a perfect playlist for the day and kept us busy the entire trip.
The first place we stopped at was Babinda Boulders. We had a lite hike through the rainforest where he pointed out some spiders and other creepies and then he took us to this natural anti-crocodile pool. It was a nice refreshing way to start the day. There were trees hanging out over the water for you to climb and jump from and rock outcroppings for you to jump off of. The water was a bit nip but it was perfect to wake you up. We finished off this chilly swim with some rock jumping into absolutely clear beautiful water!
Next we headed off to Josephine Falls. Again, we hiked our way into the river area and had a quick look at the rushing falls before heading back down the river to a spot with a natural rockslide.
We spent the next hour shimmying our way onto the rock face, walking up the rock, and sliding back down it. It was awesome as the water from the waterfall upstream was just enough to propel you quickly and easily down the rockslide. If I had a place like this back home, I’d be here every weekend.
We ate a late lunch at the cute little café on a farm overlooking the Tabletop Mountains and rolling farmland. Absolutely beautiful!
Then we headed off to Millaa Millaa Falls. This is an 18 m waterfall in the middle of the rainforest that is just gorgeous! It just comes out of nowhere into this natural pool. We sent about 30 minutes swimming around to the backside of the falls, jumping from the rocks through the waterfall into the pool on the other side. Then we would swim from the pool underneath the waterfall back onto the rocks. We were like little kids!
Finally it was time to head up the mountain to an extinct volcano that had become a fresh water lake, Eacham Lake! The lake was crystal clear, extremely deep and fairly warm, about 80 deg F. So far, Cousin Brad had told us that there would be no crocodiles on this trip. We had believed him until we walked past a sign at Eacham Lake that said beware of a freshwater crocodile that resides around the lake. There were other people in the lake besides us when we arrived which made me feel better but I still couldn’t shake the thought that Crocky was just waiting underneath my feet to come up and eat me! Thanks Cousin Brad!
On the way back down the mountain, Cousin Brad counted almost every single one to the 212 turns back down the mountain. Drive this route much Brad? He also had us racing other tour buses, singing songs, and dancing the entire trip.
It was a great time, a great crew, and a wonderful trip to the rainforest and we got an amazing sunset over the Tabletop Mountains on the way back!
