Cairns, Mosman Gorge, Atherton Tablelands

The next almost 6 hours, we spent on the bus to Cairns. When we arrived in the evening, we took an Uber to the hostel. The hostel called "Globetrotters International" was the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in. We had a double room, which was small but looked like a hotel room in terms of ambiance. The whole hostel is very modern. Whether it's the dining room or the kitchen, you feel like you're in a fancy private home. The free breakfast and free BBQ were also a bonus. The next morning, we rented a car and drove to Mosman Gorge, which is 80 km away. There you can find the Daintree Rainforest. A shuttle takes you from the information center directly to the rainforest. Just when we got off, it started raining. But we didn't mind and walked in the rain until we found shelter under a big tree. By then, we were already completely soaked. But since it was warm, it wasn't that bad. Shortly after, the rain stopped and we hiked through this beautiful rainforest. I had told Dani that we should be careful not to get leeches because of the wetness. During a hike in Lamington National Park in Gold Coast, two of my companions had leeches on their legs, but they hadn't attached themselves yet.

When we finished our hike at Mosman Gorge and waited for the shuttle, Dani wanted to clean her feet of mud. We were wearing flip-flops instead of proper shoes. But the "mud clot" on Dani's toe turned out to be a leech. Startled, she simply tore it off and her toe started bleeding. We weren't sure if these leeches are dangerous and if they transmit diseases. The internet research was also not reassuring. If you don't carefully remove the leeches and just tear them off, they regurgitate. That means the blood they had already sucked comes back out, and diseases can be transmitted. So we decided to ask for advice at the information center. Dani received a disinfectant and a band-aid from a staff member and was able to take care of her toe. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a salad with kangaroo meat, pumpkin, and beetroot.

The next day, we took the "Waterfall Wanderers" tour with Petra. We were picked up early in the morning and drove to Atherton Tablelands. Our first stop was Babinda Boulders River. Then we continued to Josephine Falls, where we climbed up the slippery rocks (despite the cold water) to slide down into the water from above. After getting wet from swimming, we drove to Malanda Pub for lunch. Then we went to Mount Hypipamee, where Dinner Falls and a crater are located. The next stop was my absolute highlight. Millaa Millaa Falls is the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. Even the music video for Peter Andre's "Mysterious Girl" from the 90s was filmed at this waterfall, as well as the TV commercial for Herbal Essences shampoo. That's why the most popular photo motif for tourists is to do a hair flip in the water, just like the model in the advertisement. The water here was also very cold, so I only briefly went into the water. After the waterfall, we were able to admire the Curtain Fig Tree, an absolutely gigantic tree. From a distance, we even saw a tree kangaroo. Yes, there are actually kangaroos that live in trees and can jump from tree to tree. I didn't know that until now. Finally, we went to a river where we unfortunately couldn't spot any platypuses. They are native to Australia, but are rarely seen. The last stop was Lake Eacham, a volcanic crater lake where there are many turtles and supposedly a crocodile. However, there haven't been any sightings for some time, so some people went into the water. During our tour, the tour guide showed us a river where a few months ago, a young backpacker was attacked by a crocodile. He wanted to impress a girl and show courage by getting into the river. But the boy was lucky and survived the attack. In Cairns and the surrounding area, it is not allowed to go into the ocean or rivers because of the crocodiles.

We ended the day relaxing at the Night Market in Cairns. Dani and I went to a fish spa and Petra got a massage. Afterwards, we went to Giligans for a girls' night and enjoyed a few free glasses of Prosecco. So the day came to an end, as did Dani's last evening in Australia.

Fortunately, Dani still had some luggage space, so I could give her some things in a travel bag to take back to Germany. My suitcase was bursting at the seams, so Dani had to put some of my things in her suitcase during our trip. After half a year, things really add up. And that's despite already giving some things to my parents and Nico.

I also visited the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Cairns with Petra. Unfortunately, the expensive admission price (around $50) did not justify what we got to see. There were a total of five Aboriginal people who performed and guided us. Besides a strange performance trying to tell the history of the Aboriginal people, there were typical dance performances by the indigenous people, as well as joint exercises for throwing spears and boomerangs, and a small interactive lecture on bush food. At the end of the tour, you could get your face painted. Petra and I found this tour to be quite inauthentic. One of the Aboriginal people had blue eyes and fair skin. In the end, I also asked him about it. It turned out that one of his parents is Scottish and that there are different appearances within tribes. In one tribe, for example, the Aboriginal people are almost black, while in others they are only slightly tanned. Everything at the Aboriginal Cultural Center seemed very artificial and staged. It was interesting to learn more about the culture of the indigenous people, but the information we received there could have been obtained for free from the internet.

On the way back to our hostels, we had a very eccentric Uber driver. He was from Vienna but had been living in Australia for a long time. He had a resemblance to Hitler in terms of appearance. I was glad to be sitting in the back seat, so Petra had to talk to him during the ride ;-).

One day later, it was time to say goodbye to Petra, and the day after her, on my birthday, I set off to Brisbane.