On our third day in Cairns we drove around in the Atherton Tablelands. It is an area of farmland and rainforest just east of Cairns. After we had breakfast in a little cafe in Mareeba we drove through Atherton and to Mt. Hypipamee National park. It was there that we saw signs to be on the lookout for the infamous cassowary birds. A cassowary is a very large bird (third largest on the planet). Bryan was dying to see one in its natural habitat; I however, was terrified to come across one. If they are disturbed they will kick you and their kick can easily break bones or even be fatal. We never ended up seeing one on the trail, or even driving through the rainforest in the car. A friend told us that they are very rare and they are hardly ever seen. Thank goodness!!! At Mt. Hypipamee we saw a large crater that had been formed by a volcano and we also saw beautiful Dinner Falls.
After we left the park we stopped at the Millaa Millaa lookout. It was a high point overlooking the beautiful tablelands. Bryan took a bunch of pictures and stitched them together to make one long panoramic picture of the view we enjoyed. The view was absolutely incredible.
Next we drove around the waterfall circuit where we saw Millaa Millaa Falls, Zillie Falls, and Ellinjaa falls. Around the circuit we saw many bush turkeys.
Then we drove to Yungaburra where we ate lunch and saw the famous curtain fig tree. At the fig tree we learned how a seed is deposited in the host tree’s crown. Once the seed germinates it starts to grow roots to the ground and roots that encircle the host tree. The roots eventually strangle the host tree and cause it to die. In the case of the fig tree we saw the host tree actually fell over onto another tree and the fig tree then grew vertical roots down to the ground forming a curtain like affect with the roots. It was such an amazing site to see. Also in Yungaburra we walked along the Peterson Creek walking circuit. At the beginning of the path we walked along a very shaky bridge. On one side of the bridge there was even a sign saying that no more than 10 people should be on the bridge at one time because it wouldn’t hold the weight. On the other side of the bridge Bryan found a huge spider. Then we walked down the path and saw many lizards, butterflies, dragonflies, and birds. At the end of the path there was a platypus viewing platform; however, there were no platypuses to be found there. On the way back along the trail I spotted a baby platypus playing in the water. I called Bryan over to see it and within 30 seconds the platypus spotted us and swam away. Apparently it is very rare to spot a platypus in the wild because we talked to people who had lived in Australia their whole live and have never seen one in the wild. So, we felt very lucky to have seen one. Unfortunately, we only saw it for a short time so we weren’t able to capture a picture of it.
In the late afternoon we went to Lake Barrine and walked along a rainforest trail. We really enjoyed seeing all the flora and fauna that was native to the area. The trees in that area were so unique and grew in strange ways. By chance Bryan spotted a lizard hiding in a log. I couldn’t believe the way it just sat there and let us come close to take pictures. After we finished the trail we were exhaustd and went back to Palm Cove.
