townsville - day 8 - ROAD TRIP!

DAY 8 - 29 Aug

Today we hired (rented) a Mitsubishi Colt from Thrifty and hit the road! We drove North on Australia Hwy 1 - the Bruce Hwy - passing tons of sugarcane fields. We turned off onto a windy road up the mountain towards the rainforest, stopping only for photos with a Termite mound (almost as tall as me!) and for cattle. They were everywhere - in the road, off the road - and very skinny. Almost malnourished looking!

As we drove on, we entered the Wet Tropics area of North Queensland. Our main stop today was Girringun National Park, just South of Ingham, to see Wallaman Falls (an 800 ft waterfall!). Upon arrival we set up the tent and went for a bushwalk (hike) down Bangurru Trail (I think that was the name). It was then that I saw my first wild wallaby!!! And she had a joey! It was even sticking its head out to say "Hi Sarah, welcome to Australia!" :) It's all so exciting...

After the bushwalk we set up the camp stove, the Whisperlite Internationale, and cooked up some Continental Thai Lime Chili Rice. Yum. By now it was getting dark and we heard a ruffle in the grass below the picnic table. It was a Bettong! A big mousey, opossum-like creature who was trying to get a free snack! haha So cute. Now after dinner is where we got lucky... We cleaned up the dishes and ourselves for bed. As soon as we got in the tent to settle in - yep, it POURED! It rained for hours... and hours...

I woke up to what I thought was morning light, but in fact it was the full moon shining bright! I visited the toilet and got freaked out when I heard the door creak on my way in - haha - just that old fear of the dark sneaking back in from childhood :) I walked around and stared at the moon for a bit before getting back in the tent, just in case it rained again. It had sure cooled off a lot, brrr. I wasn't ready to go back to sleep so I did some crossword puzzles... and then eventually turned in like Snoozin' Susan.

Wildlife seen:
- Strangler Figs
- Birds' nest ferns
- Basket ferns
- trees with large Buttress roots
- Lawyer vines aka Wait-a-whiles (a spindly, sharp vine that will 'catch' you if you get too close)
- Wallaby!!!! and her Joey!!!
- Bettong