Australia - Waterfall Circuit

On the Atherton Tablelands there is a circuit of waterfalls, all very close to each other. 

Millstream Falls is reportedly the widest in Australia

Which Paul was thrilled at

Pepina Falls

Souita Falls

Silver Falls was a bit of a walk to get to.  Needless to say we didn't see anyone else

Millaa Millaa Falls was next to the road and this made it a popular place for locals to come to for a swim when it's hot

And hot it was, 38 degrees

Some you could swim in, but you needed climbing equipment to get to the bottom of Zillie Falls

Ellinjaa Falls was swimable, if you didn't mind freezing water...

And this is the very top of Nandroya Falls

Which was stunning

And deserted..

I was feeling brave

After a 45 min hard climb down, the North Johnstone River's roar was very loud as it cascaded through the valley

Australia - Undara & Lava Tubes

Undara, in the Queensland outback, gained National Park status only recently

This was because of the 'Lava Tubes' which are here, and are the world's best example

Formed when lava producing volcanos have their lava run down a gulley, downhill.  The top part cools quickly forming Basalt Rock and this insulates the lava underneath, which keeps flowing.  In this case, it flowed for 61 miles.  Like a straw, the liquid inside completely exits the tube, leaving a tunnel

There were 3 that ran side by side, some of the entrances are a bit of a tight squeeze

Only discovered as when it collapses, it reveals itself to the world above

Iron and calcium deposits leach out of the rock after a few hundred thousand years, giving a marble affect which is not seen other examples around the world as they're not old enough, or have already fully disintegrated

Although the local Indigeneous people knew of it's existence, they generally don't like dark places and so didn't go into them much

These were only discovered officially mid last century, as such they've not been properly looked at by scientists yet and only limited visitor numbers are allowed

There was light at the end of the tunnel.......I was hoping it wasn't the headlamp of the oncoming train.....

There were plently of bats and some of the tubes are not accessible without oxygen tanks due to all the bats breathing and leaving a very high carbon dioxide level in the air

The area in which it lies is flat, other than volcanoes, that look like bumps on the landscape.  It's the volcanoes in density in the world and there are 164 in the locality

These big crow like birds are everywhere, bullying some smaller birds and getting bullied by the parrots and lorikeets

We went to watch sunset across the desert scrub

And could see our campsite, white car, blue tent, a mile or so away

The first gecko of this colour we'd seen

The sun again going a deep red, not that you'd know from this picture, lol

Australia - Dinner Falls, Windy Hill & Mt Surprise

We do like our waterfalls - here's another just to prove it

We were on our way to see Lava Tubes and stopped off at a few viewpoints

This is a huge crater formed in Hypipamee, where superheated water exploded out of the ground.  This is very deep

The aptley named, 'Windy Hill' - they sure don't like to complicate things in Australia

There's a few of these, to give yourself something to think about on dangerous stretches of road

Which isn't surprising when some of the lorries, or 'Road Trains', are 53m long!

It was another cloudy day in Mount Surprise

But the birds didn't let it bother them.  These came right up to my feet as I was watching the sun go down

Which was something in itself

It was sooo red, but this doesn't really show it

Australia - Malanda, Tinaroo, Eacham & Curtain Fig

The dam of the river Barron that makes Lake Tinaroo

Completed in 1958 for irrigation purposes, the lake is also a popular watersport activity retreat

Dinner Falls, looks good enough to drink

Loads of the trees are still under the water so the speedboats have to be careful in some parts

It has camping grounds all around and walks through the forests

This is Lake Eacham, strange as it has no water inlets or outlets and rises or falls according to the groundwater.  It's so clear and swimming is encouraged here

As well as lizards, there are pythons and other snakes, platypus', frogs and allsorts

Another fig tree taking over.

....I hope..

This is a Fig Tree that is on an angle, as the tree it was strangling fell down and leant against another tree.  The fig then grew downwards and made this 'curtain' fig, which is famous around Yungaburra

The buildings in Yungaburra are very old school and quaint

The buildings aren't that old, but anything new is built in the style

In 30 mins, we saw this snake, platypus and soft shelled turtles on one spot of the river!