Friday, November 23 Wallaran Campground - Best falls swim yet

     After breakfast we took a short hike to see the rock pools nearby. We never get tired of seeing rainforest plants.

Stalking the wild pineapple

We love strangler figs

Fern baskets, epiphytes that grow quite large on their hosts

     We packed up, then drove the short distance to the Wallaran Falls overlook. The falls have the longest single straight drop in Oz, 284 meters, or 935 feet. Looking at it from across the gorge it's hard to grasp how high that is. After eating roast beef sandwiches for lunch we got drinking water and cameras and swim suits and headed down the trail to the bottom. Because the overlook actually is above the top of the falls we had a steep descent of over 1000 feet. The trail zig zags down through jungle, with the only sunlight getting through spots where big trees had been blown down in the 2006 cyclone.

Wallaran Falls from above

Rainforest plants on the left, savannah plants on right, an interesting
example of the effect microclimates

     The river bottom is strewn with boulders, some the size of small houses. We picked our way over and through them until we found a spot to enter the water. Changing into our bathing suits we got into the cool water. Swimming out into the twenty meter deep pool and near the falls was thrilling, the rush of the wind and spray from the cascade creating small waves. Floating on our backs, we could look up to the top, the falling water arcing out and creating a long thin veil ending in a constant splashing hiss just meters away from us. What a great way to cool off in the jungle! We stayed in the water for nearly half an hour, then climbed out.

The falls from the bottom

Kevin in the pool

   It was a long hike back to the top, but since it was mostly in the shade of the rainforest trees, not too hot. We went back to the same campground, and had 'tasty' risotto with a salad of cucumber, onion, and sun-dried tomato in a sour cream sauce. While we prepared dinner we chatted with two young Dutch guys who had just finished a semester studying in Oz, both fourth year students, one in architecture, the other industrial design. They remarked that the whole of the Netherlands with its 17 million people would fit in just the northern tip of Queensland, and we all agreed that Australia is a big, big country.