Exploring the Tropical North

The day started with a tour to Undara Volcanic Nationalpark. It was very interesting to see the lava stones and tunnels. We even walked into one tunnel where we had to take off our shoes and walk through the water on the boardwalk. Afterwards we went on to Atherton Tablelands, where we enjoyed the beautiful highlands – the look like Austrian farmland just with palm trees.

The next day we continued to explore the tablelands and stopped at the Curtain Fig Tree which really looks like a curtain made of roots hanging from a big tree. It was created when a seed managed to grow on a tree, the new tree then developed aerial roots which encircled and eventually strangled the host tree. Later on the host tree fell down. Afterwards we spotted some platypus (Schnabeltier) on a riverside. We even saw two snakes and two freshwater turtles. We then left the tablelands and moved on to Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Nationalpark where we took a swim in the croc-free river. In the afternoon we took the ferry to Cape Tribulation. From a lookout we had a first spectacular view over the sea. After seeing a cassowary, an endangered species, we stopped at a nice campground, just a few metres away from the sea.

We started the next day with a walk along the picturesque sea shore. We were not allowed to swim there due to the saltwater crocodiles. We also spotted part of the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. We enjoyed the palm trees, nearly white sand and clear water during some hours at the beach. In the sand we also saw small holes surrounded by perfectly formed balls out of sand which turned out to be created by little cancers. Just before it got dark we travelled south again and stayed in Ellis Beach for the night. Again we fell asleep while listening to the ocean.

In the morning we enjoyed the beautiful beach next to us and then headed to Kuranda. This small lovely town is situated just 14 km north of Cairns and consists mainly of markets. When we returned to our car after shopping and lunch we noticed that we left the lights on (no beeping due to old car). Thanks to two nice ladies at the tourist office who called the local service station we were able to jump start the engine.

Happily, we moved on to Cairns and checked out downtown. We confirmed the diving course for the next day and had dinner at the famous Cairns nightmarkets. We also visited the beautiful lagoon which is a pool filled with saltwater and free for the public.