The freedom of having our own transport allowed us to travel at a much faster pace than we had been used to. In just four days we managed to see and do a whole lot in the northern part of the state of Queensland. The first day we did the "waterfall circuit" and checked out a few nice waterfalls. One of them had a nice pool at the bottom that you could swim in, but Steph wouldn't have any of it, so I swam by myself.
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| Millaa Millaa Falls |
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| Ellinjaa Falls |
Along the way we stopped at a little stream that is home to a few duckbill platypus (or should I say platypi?). We spotted one from a distance behind a little blind they had set up and thought we were pretty lucky, but when we took a short walk down a path along the stream we got really lucky and saw a few more from really close. What a strange animal. Apparently when the discovery of the platypus was first reported back to England around 1900 they thought it was a practical joke. A furry little mammal that swims in rivers, lays eggs, has webbed feet and a bill like a duck. Can't really blame them.
As I may have mentioned earlier, Australia is expensive! Easily the most expensive place we've been. Anyways, with the cost of a rental car we couldn't really afford to stay in a hostel every night, so we camped. Australia may be known for it's wildlife, but I didn't realize that this also included crazy amounts of bugs and other creepy-crawlies. Despite the constant buzzing of the insect life, our campsite at Granite Gorge was awesome! Literally on the side of a granite gorge, it's home to a huge colony of rock wallabies. Sort of like mini-kangaroos that love to eat food out of your hand. We had an awesome time feeding and photographing the little guys and seeing their little joeys hanging out of their mama's pouch.
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| gimme some |
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| cute lil' guys |
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| see the little joey? with his head and one leg hanging out |
Day two was a trip to the "Outback," or as close to the Outback as we were gonna get. There's some cool caves a couple hours drive inland from where we are staying, so we made a day of it, stopping along the way to spot kangaroos, kookaburras, parakeets, cockatoos, and other stuff you've only ever seen in a zoo or pet shop. A quick side note on kookaburras: I don't think we ever saw one in a gum tree, mostly they were sitting on telephone wires, but that didn't stop us from singing that song over and over. And I can verify that those things really do laugh...and laugh and laugh... at 5:30 in the morning at an amazing loud volume. Anyways, it was a gorgeous day for a drive though the caves weren't super exciting. Still, we got to see some amazing wildlife, scenery, and even some aboriginal paintings on a rock wall.
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| kookaburra sitting on a telephone wire, laugh kookaburra laugh... |
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| this could pass as the Outback, right? |
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| a roo having a look at us |
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| Steph in one of the caves near Chillagoe |
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| big rock |
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| aboriginal rock paintings |
We liked Granite Gorge so much that we decided to stay two nights. Who wouldn't want some more time hanging out with our little wallaby buddies? Part two will (hopefully) follow soon...
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| come back soon! |
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