Thursday, March 10, 2016

queensland: wooroonooran national park, babinda, the boulders

The drive from Cairns to Babinda is gorgeous - through the sugar cane fields with lush greenery. We had an overnight stop at the Babinda Rotary Park so we could get in to The Boulders early. 

Babinda holds the record for the highest rainfall in the country which is not surprising given its lushness!


The Boulders has about ten campsites and we were lucky that a couple were leaving their shady spot as we arrived. It's just a couple of hundred metres from the freecamp to the Boulders picnic area and swimming hole. The camp has a shower/toilet block (cold showers) and it's a really magic place but I can't imagine it staying a free camp forever. 

Legend has it that an aboriginal couple fell in love but the woman was betrothed to another man. She threw herself in to the waters where she lures young men in to their deaths.

It's easy to see how a young man could meet a grizzly end when the water is streaming through the Boulders. It's a visually captivating place but the council warning signs suggest that the currents and slippery rocks can be deadly. 

I was lucky enough to tack on to the back of an informal botanic tour of the area where I was introduced to some endemic species of the area. And we had a swim in the clear, crisp waters. 


The world's largest moth, the Hercules moth. This moth was on the grass before it awkwardly fluttered about. It looked on its last legs - they only live for two days. 


Our tree nymph 


We caught up with our friend Richard who camped overnight with us. 


My morning walk was 4km along the Goldfield Walking Trail with creek crossings, a few bridges across flowing waters and lush rainforest. We both would have loved to do this whole walk. 


This was as close as I got to a cassowary on my morning run. 



More roadside stalls with honesty boxes just outside of Babinda. These ones sold quail eggs and bananas. The quail eggs topped our Gado Gado dinner. The kids were fascinated by the tiny eggs. 


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