After 5 days in the tropical, backpacker haven of Cairns, we picked up our silver Toyota Yaris from Hertz. We got a great rate (even the Hertz agent was surprised) through some random website online and found the car to be great, even though one backpack and messenger bag took up the whole trunk. And so began our journey south along the East Coast of Australia on the wrong side of the road. It took a little getting used to, mainly where to look and making sure to take wide right turns, and those traffic circles are tricky enough on their own.
Toyota Yaris, the little hatchback that could!
We decided to take a loop that took us first north, than inland, before heading back south and out to the coast again. One of Vince’s goals of the visit to Australia was to hold a Koala.
Mission accomplished! In a town called Kuranda, there is a great local market and a Koala Park. This furry creature of the eucalyptus is Princess, a 5 years old sweetheart. Found out that koalas are heavier than they look, their fur is thick but fairly soft, they have sharp claws, and they are as docile as advertised. It was fun to interact with Princess, especially because they usually look like this:
The Koala Park also had other animals including alligators, wombats, long-necked turtles, lizards (including the furl-neck lizard), and a snake house where you walk on an open platform with snakes right below it and above you in trees; not so safe according to us.
There was also a pen where you could get up close and personal with grey kangaroos, wallabies, and pademelons. They had a bucket you could reach into and hand feed the animals. We discovered that their favorite is carrots and wallabies have sharp little claws that they grab your hand with to get a better angle at the food.
From there we journeyed into the Atherton Tablelands, which is a large area of rolling green hills, pastures, and forests.
Within the Atherton Tablelands is the Waterfall Circuit that is a series of falls a short distance away from each other. We saw the three main ones along a connecting road off the main highway.
Millaa Millaa Falls. This is the most famous of the falls that is the namesake of the Millaa Millaa area. In front of the falls is a swimming hole that was too cold for our taste.
Zillie Falls. The viewing platform for the falls is from above, so it’s hard to tell from the picture that this waterfall is actually quite tall.
Ellinjaa Falls. The water cascades down over a series of lava columns, creating this awesome visual.
This area is also the largest sugar cane growing region of Australia. This is a sugar cane train and throughout the drive you have to be on the lookout for them as you’re constantly crossing their narrow train tracks.
The view from our room in Lucinda made the trek out there well worth it. Our directions were a little off and there were some narrow and curvy roads out there. Lucinda is the essence of a tiny town: a few scattered houses, 1 hotel, 2 restaurants, 1 bar, and 1 convenience store. In the distance to the right is Hinchinbrook Island, a huge Island that hugs the coastline.
The nearby ‘big’ town is Ingham where there is this small wetlands preserve with a nice boardwalk and viewing tower. There were lots of birds, none of which we could identify.
5 minutes from where we stayed is the Lucinda Jetty, which is a 3.5 mile long, covered conveyor that transports raw sugar out to a loading platform for large shipping vessels. We didn't stay long because there were signs warning us of crocs on the beach.
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