Mission Beach, Skywalk, Tableland, 19.10.18

Gorgeous sunrise at 6:00 am under palm trees and mango trees. The only drawback of the place was that we got bitten for the first time since we've been here. It started last night. They are very tiny (smaller than fruit flies) but very mean.

On the drive, we see banana plantations for the first time, alternating with sugarcane. The city of Tully advertises having the highest annual rainfall in Australia. Both are grown here, with a few kiwi plantations as well. The area is crisscrossed with narrow-gauge railway tracks for harvesting. Occasionally, cassowaries (a subspecies of emus) cross the road, which is why warning signs are always posted, as are tree kangaroos. Although they live in trees, they search for food on the ground - mostly in the morning and evening.

First stop is Mission Beach. The rainforest there practically extends to the coast. Three beaches one after the other, each more beautiful than the other and deserted. Soft fine sand, the crystal-clear sea gently sloping into it, wonderful to look at.

Then it's away from the coast, inland towards Atherton on the Tablelands. Now the landscape also changes, we are almost amazed by the lush green everywhere on the high plateau, compared to the partially dry monotonous outback. Occasionally, fields with red soil can be seen, which looks really vibrant. (The rock and the resulting sand grains contain iron, which rusts to brownish-red iron oxide in the air). The hills are almost cone-shaped, probably from extinct volcanoes. We walk on a skywalk, over 2 km long and about 30m high, through the rainforest. Wonderful observation points and countless different bird and insect voices can be heard. The drive continues - and now there are waterfalls, where water finally flows, not as much as during the rainy season, but still. We drive the Waterfall Circuit, a 24 km long circular route that leads to three waterfalls. They are very beautiful places, also suitable for bathing. We walked to all of them from the respective parking lots.
In Malanda (center of dairy farming and home to the largest dairy in Queensland) we find a campsite with small animal husbandry. Inland, there are not as many places as near the coast. Small but cozy, there is also free WiFi here, so I can't send the blog yet today. In the evening, when it was dark, there was an insane shrill, almost unbearable screaming from some insects. It was frightening and hurt our ears. It wasn't until about half an hour later that it was over and now we still hear the normal chirping crickets. We hope the night stays quiet.