First trip to the waterfalls.

Everything is ready. The car is bought, registered and converted, we bought some provisions, refueled and recovered from the stress of the conversion.

In the end, we even had so much space in the camper that Caro even smiled at us with a Travelmate. Her name is Ivy. Actually a pleasant companion. She doesn't need much space, practically has no luggage, doesn't eat much and is generally quite quiet.

Actually, over time, she turned out to be a real bore. At most of the destinations, she prefers to stay in the car and so far she hasn't even helped with shopping or cooking. She hasn't even contributed to the petrol money yet. When you ask her about it, she usually doesn't say anything.

Time for a first proper test drive: The Windin Falls

In our immediate vicinity, there are mainly a whole series of waterfalls to explore. As a first step, we have chosen a real 'secret tip': the Windin Falls, located in the Atherthon Tablelands. On the way, we have to go a bit inland and especially uphill. The landscape looks completely different: numerous hills, green to autumn brown meadows and lots of cattle.

After a while, driving on increasingly narrow tar roads, we have to continue on a gravel road. According to the internet, you can drive here even without four-wheel drive. We're not so sure, but we'll continue for now. There's no mobile reception out here either, so fingers crossed that everything works out.

When we arrived at the parking lot, we saw some like-minded people. A young woman had been to the waterfalls before and gave us a short description of the hike that still lay ahead of us: we had to walk for another 1.5 hours through the rainforest.

The special thing about the Windin Falls is that you don't come out at the bottom of the waterfall but at the top. Before the little river plunges over the cliff, it forms a natural pool where you can also swim.

When we had walked back along the long hiking trail to the parking lot, it was already evening and we wouldn't have made it back home before sunset. (You're not supposed to drive in the dark because of the wildlife crossings). So we decided to camp on site. So much for the idea of making just a trip and then coming back to Cairns.
A group of 4 girls from Germany and a Swiss couple were in the same situation. We spent a fun evening with them and got some tips for further travel.

The next morning we decided to just keep driving and 'work through' our newly established list of sights.

Platypus lookout

In the small town of Yungaburra, we saw platypuses. They are not only incredibly cute but also much smaller than you always imagine.

Millaa Millaa falls

Of all the waterfalls we have seen, the Millaa Millaa falls look the most like they come straight from a travel brochure or a shampoo advertisement. That's why, and because the waterfall is very easily accessible, it attracts a bunch of tourists and tour groups every day.

We took the opportunity to go swimming here. The water was ice-cold, so we didn't stay in for long. But at least we swam all the way through once and let the falling water massage our backs.

Wallaman falls

This is the biggest waterfall in Australia without any intermediate stages. In other words, no other waterfall drops water as far in one go (268m) as this one. A viewing platform is right at the parking lot and offers a great view from above. Half an hour's descent along a steep path through the rainforest brings you to the foot of the waterfall. Here, you have to overcome a large field of boulders before reaching the basin into which the waterfall flows. This basin is said to be 20m deep. Based on the many driftwood logs washed up in the boulders, we could only imagine the amount of water that must pass through here during the wet season.

Josephine Falls

We were here late in the day, so it was already too late to go swimming, although these rather small waterfalls with their many pools would have been perfect

Babinda Boulders

Not far from Josephine falls are the Babinda Boulders. There was even a nice, free campsite for the night.

And very cheap bananas: a kilo for one dollar which is 60 eurocents. Otherwise, they're 5 dollars/kilo in the supermarket.

Babinda Boulders