townsville - day 17 - HINCHINBROOK ISLAND

Day 17 – 7 Sept

Woke up around 6:30am today, had some tea and a roll with PB for brekky. P and I packed up our things and moved on towards Mulligan Falls (MF). We traveled most of the way with four older Australian blokes, adventuring types who have shared many expeditions over the years: caving, abseiling (rappelling), canyoning, kayaking and other extreme outings – they were great fun and had the best stories! We walked with them part of the way and rested with them part of the way – along beautiful creek beds and rocky creek-sides, seeing the ever-so-beautiful Ulysses butterfly and crawling green ants. At one point we had to climb up a 15 foot rock face using a knotted rope that was provided for us, it was so cool! After that we hiked through a saddle in the mountains overlooking Sunken Reef Bay, 260m above sea level, where we could see the shallow reefs just under the water’s surface along the coastline. We could also see the distant Palm Islands and Magnetic Island and the entire watery horizon…perhaps Columbus was right about the world being flat, because I couldn’t see California! :) We stopped at Diamantina Creek, the biggest creek crossing so far. There were lots of warnings on the shore to only cross at the marked location so that injury or death would not occur. So we followed our instructions, rock-hopping the whole way over.

We arrived at MF about 2pm, after a hike of 7.5km (4.5 hrs). Upon arrival, we put on our swimmers and jumped in the pool below the waterfall, along with a bunch of others: the four adventuring blokes, two Swiss brothers, a couple from Brizzy (Brisbane), and three others who we didn’t meet. Peter and I debated over whether or not to keep moving towards George’s Point, the southernmost point of the island where we would be picked up the following morning to go back to the mainland. We decided that we would stay as it was so beautiful at MF, the campsite was virtually bug-free and there was a fresh water source. So up went the tent, out came the sleeping bags and mats and up went the rope to hang our bags overnight.

It was still early and we weren’t hungry so we went back to the ‘pool’ and hung out on a 20 foot rock, soaking up the remaining afternoon sun – me writing in my journal and Peter gazing into the waterfall, thinking about who knows what…. Dinner tonight was rehydrated spaghetti Bolognese, yum! We also made a bottle of son-to-be-iced tea for the following morning, since we didn’t want to spend time using the stove in the a.m. After dinner we went for a short walk through the woods, along the trail we would be hiking in the morning. The cicadas were out – and SO LOUD – so we tried to find them, but no success. When we got close enough they would go silent and then we were stumped! So off to bed as it was getting dark anyway. Before bed, the older Swiss brother stopped by on his way to the dunny (toilet) and we all chatted for about a half hour – where were we from, work, families, how long were each of our vacations, etc.

After all that chatting it was time to hit the hay! Peter and I switched mats tonight – I got his comfy, cozy Thermarest and he got my four year old not-so-comfy mat.

Wildlife seen from ZB to MF:
- Zoe falls (we stopped at the top of the falls for some fresh water and to look down the flowing creek)
- South Zoe Creek, narrow rocky tributaries, Diamantina Creek (very wide and rocky!)
- Ulysses butterfly (again…and still so beautiful!)
- the rare Blue Banksia (Banksia plagiocarpa)
- Lasiandra (Melastoma malabathricum)
- Coral Fern (Lycopodiella cernua)
- Sundew (Drosera adelae and Drosera spatulata) – insectivorous plants
- She-oak (Casuarina equisetifolia)
- Grasstree (Xanthorrhoea johnsonii)
- Cicadas (heard but sadly not seen – couldn’t find them in the dark!)