Cairns: Waterfalls and Rainforests

7am, 27th June 2022.

Bags packed and stored, key dropped in the safe box after early check, backpack on my back… time to get on the Uncle Brian’s Tour Bus and go exploring waterfalls and rainforests.

We did the 2 day Best of Both Worlds tour which was brand new when we did it in June 2022. The tour includes pick up and drop off from your accommodation, accommodation while on tour, all meals and snacks, and various activities. When everyone was on board the tour bus, we set off on our adventure.

Day 1 – Atherton Tablelands

Our first stop was to Babinda Boulders. We had a tea and snack break here before walking through forest to view the waterfall. Our guide, Charlie, told us about various plants and their significance to the Indigenous People of Australia. The falls, named the Devil’s Pool, has an interesting legend. The tale is of a young woman who despite being promised to a tribe elder, fell in love with a warrior. They tried to escape but were found and he was taken away and, in her despair, she threw herself in the Devil’s Pool. It is said her cries turned into the pool’s torrents and she still haunts the falls today, luring men to an untimely death trying to find her love. All a bit Romeo and Juliet really. We also had the option to swim in the creek. After those that wanted to swam, we got back into the bus to go off to our next spot.

We arrived at Josephine Falls and due to the wet weather, the waterfall was roaring. The falls are located in Wooroonooran National Park. We walked through the forest to the swimming spot where we were able to climb the rocks and slide down the natural slide created by the flowing waters. It was exhilarating swimming through the cold water to the rocks to climb halfway up the waterfall and slide back down the smooth rocks to the swirling waters below. I think almost everyone had several goes. After all the fun and laughs had at Josephine Falls, we went for lunch.

After lunch, we set off for Milla Milla Falls. The waterfall is 18m high with a pool that is suitable for swimming. The falls are very popular with tourists due to Herbal Essences filming adverts here. We all got in for a swim (it was freezing!) and we even swam under the waterfall which was insane and amazing! We also had a little photo shoot with Charlie (our guide) capturing our best hair flicks like in the shampoo adverts. We had so much fun but couldn’t wait to get back into the warm bus.

Our next stop was Lake Eacham. This freshwater lake is around 60m deep and was formed by volcanic eruptions over 9000 years ago. The lake actually sits in the crater of the volcano so pretty cool to say I’ve swam in the crater of a volcano. The water was warmer than the waterfalls but still colder than I would have liked. Before we swam, we walked around, found out there was a freshwater crocodile in the lake, saw some freshwater turtles and fish and had hot chocolate, marshmallows and cake. We swam for a bit before drying off and getting changed. There were shouts from down by the lake and a couple of lads from our group came running to say they had seen the crocodile and we all went running to try to catch a glimpse. We saw her. The lone freshie, who resides in the lake for the sole purpose of controlling the fish populations. My first wild croc.

Our final stop before going to our accommodation for the night was going Platypus Spotting. We wandered quietly (probably not that quiet actually…) through the forest along the meandering river looking for platypus. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any but the thought they were there was cool.

Check in time! We were staying at On the Wallaby Eco Lodge for the night. When we arrive, Charlie checked us all in and we were given a little tour of the hostel by its owner. She then showed us all to our rooms. She then cooked us and the other guests a delicious dinner of Spaghetti Bolognese. We sat around chatting before washing up and getting ready for our final activity of the day.

We donned our lifejackets and grabbed a paddle each, off we went on our night canoeing adventure. We canoed 5km with just torches to guide us as we looked for various wildlife. We saw tree kangaroos, wallabies, and various birds. It took us around 2 hours to canoe around the reserve. Exhausted and caked in mud, we went back to the hostel to climb into bed ready (after we’d washed most of the mud off obviously) for the next day.

Day 2 – Rainforest and Tribulation

We started the day with going to a nearby campsite to see and feed the wild rock wallabies. We spent around an hour with them. They were super cute! You could just sit on the rocks, and they would come straight up and take the food right out your hand. We then head off through Port Douglas to our next activity.

We joined a Crocodile Cruise to go searching for Saltwater Crocodiles. Our captain told us there were several in the area, the largest being a single male. He also said to keep an eye out for the juveniles, some of which had hatched only a month or so before. We didn’t have to wait long before spotting our first juvenile salty which was around 1.5 metres long and estimated to be around a 1.5-2 years old. Not long after, we spotted a second juvenile, this one was around 1 year old and 1 metre long. The next sighting was a hatchling, only around 30cm long and spotted first by me! It was perching on a low branch and was perfectly camouflaged against the tree. Our last sighting was of a 3 metre long female, who was sitting on the bank of the river.

After lunch, we attempted to swim in the river but the water levels were too high due to the horrendous amount of rain and our guide determined it was too dangerous to swim. We decided instead to head off to our next stop, Cape Tribulation. We stopped to have a little talk about the history of Cape Tribulation. Cape Tribulation was named in 1770 by James Cook (before he was captain, and just a lieutenant) after the HMS Endeavour hit a reef (Endeavour Reef) and was badly damaged. We also walked through to a viewpoint that looks over the beach before getting back in the bus.

Our last stop before heading back to Cairns was the Daintree Rainforest and National Park. The national park was established in 1981 and became a World Heritage Site in 1988. The Daintree Rainforest is part of the Wet Tropics Rainforest which is the oldest continually surviving rainforest in the world. It is thought to be around 120 million years old! Charlie guided us along the many boardwalks, telling us about the history of the rainforest and the various plants and animals found here. We kept an eye out for the “dinosaur bird”, the Cassowary. We didn’t see any until we were in the bus leaving, when three large chicks came out of the forest. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the parents of the chicks but it was cool to tick another Australia animal off my list (p.s. they actually run like little velociraptors so I can see why they get called dinosaur birds). Tired and soaked because of the torrential rain, we set off back to Cairns.

Unfortunately, the weather had not been in our favour. Although relatively warm (despite it being winter in Australia), it poured with rain the whole time and we were repeatedly told “it’s not even wet season”. I was glad to have a hot shower and be clean after 2 days jumping in and out of waterfalls and getting muddy. We had so much fun on this whirlwind tour.

Thank you Charlie for being our guide, your enthusiasm and energy was amazing the whole time. If you would like to check out and book Uncle Brian’s various tours, go to https://unclebrians.com.au. They run various tour throughout the year and I cannot recommend them enough.

Thanks for reading!