Paluma National Park and Wallaman Falls
Hugh and Claire spent the whole morning hanging out with their golden oldie friends at the farmstay while we breakfasted and packed up. We pushed up the coast to Paluma National Park, stopping on the way to meet our next house sit hosts just outside of Townsville. The sit is locked in for our south bound return at the end of June.
Now addicted to coconut, and with a collection of them travelling with us from Bowen, I kept the kids entertained dehusking a couple while Matthias set up our next camp at Big Crystal Creek. I could have seen the accident from a mile off, so I don't know why I let it happen. Claire, intent on helping pull the husk off, lost her balance as the husk came lose. She fell back and landed with her head on a rock. There was blood, tears, momentary parental panic and angst. But luckily it was all put to right with paracetamol and a raid on the first aid kit.
We enjoyed a very relaxed pace the next day with no hiking. In the morning we hung out at Paradise Pool, right by our camp. There was a warning sign for Bullrout, something Google told me were a fresh water stone fish, so we opted more for floating in the water rather than wading. The water was cold but a swim with the goggles and snorkel was very rewarding. There were lots of fish to see, including an eel and surprisingly, I did actually spot what looked just like the Bullrout that had been warned about.
In the afternoon we visited the Big Crystal Creek Water Slide. This was a natural rock waterslide, carved out by the clear cascading stream. It was a stunning spot and daringly fun.
The kids enjoyed more slipping and sliding the following day at the rockpools under Jourama Falls. Hugh and I first walked up to the lookout then while Matthias went up we took the side spur off to the swimming rockpools. My kids romped naked with the four clothed kids of an American Mum I learned was travelling solo with her brood down the east coast. Hats off to her!
We passed through a lot more cane country to arrive at Ingham, where we stopped for lunch. My "quick look in" at the TYTO Wetlands turned into 1.5 hours of winding my way through a maze of paths spotting for birds. The kids were happily occupied at the park, pond, skywalk, art gallery and library. The little cane town of Ingham left me very impressed.
We took the winding road up to Wallaman Falls Campground in Girringun National Park where we had a booking for two nights. Oddly, camper trailers are permitted in the campground but big signs on the road in warn that the road to the campground is not suitable for trailers or caravans. With little other choice we took the chance and made it safely in. No-one else came in with a trailer while we were there.
It was very soggy under foot when we arrived and it rained on and off the whole following day. It made for an atmospheric and steamy walk to and from the base of the very impressive Wallaman Falls - Australia's highest single-drop permanent waterfall. Matthias ventured beyond the railing over the slippery boulders to wager a swim in the pool at the bottom.
Back at camp we did the shorter Banggurru walk to the river which was very beautiful but too soggy to enjoy for any length of time.
