East Coast Adventure Day 2 ..... Cairns Uncle Brian's Atherton Tablelands and Waterfalls Tour - Saturday 5th October 2013

After a very good sleep last night I was up at 7 ready and raring for another exciting and adventurous day! At 8am Cousin Rohan (our tour guide for the day) welcomed us aboard Gus the Bus, promising us a day of fun on Uncle Brian's fun, falls and forests trip in the Atherton Tablelands. It was safe to say he did not break that promise either! From the moment we left and began our journey the fun and games started. Cuz cranked up Gus FM and was singing and dancing away to the tunes, staying true to the slogan "driving on the bright side of the road with Gus FM"! Cuz was constantly interacting with the mix of backpackers, couples and families on board, getting them involved with the fun and Gus even had a regular voice in the form of the horn!

Our first stop of the day was at the Boulders, Flora and Fauna Reserve where we went to Babinda Boulders (Boulders Gorge lookout) and Devils Pool lookout. To get there we had to make a little trek through the rainforest whilst being swamped and eaten by marsh flies (the most annoying and pain in the arse flies you could come across). Both Boulders Gorge and Devils Pool lookouts looked really beautiful and it was so peaceful being in the middle of the rainforest admiring the view with the relaxing sound of the water running down the rocks. As with most things in Australia there is a story behind how Babinda Boulders and Devils Pool lookout got its name. Babinda, an aboriginal woman was married to a respectable tribal elder however ran away with a young man. When they were caught she threw herself into the pool calling her young love affair to follow and now her spirit guards the boulders waiting for her lover to return. Many people, especially young men, had died at Devils Pool lookout and we were told one of the reasons for this is that Babinda takes the young men that pass, pulls them under water to see if it's her lover, by which the time she realises it isn't and releases them to the surface they are dead! So as this suggests, this was a dangerous swimming spot so we just had to admire the view, but we enjoyed a swim further down the stream in the safe part of the pool. It was so nice, the water was so refreshing and I loved that I was just chilling in a pool in the middle of the rainforest - so cool!

After our swim we had a quick refreshment stop of squash and biscuits before climbing aboard Gus to head to our second stop of the day - Josephine Falls. This was probably one of the funnest swimming spots of the day because not only was there a rock jump to get into the water, but in the waterfall there was a natural rock slide. I certainly made the difficult, slippery and probably dangerous climb thinking about it now, several times up the rocks to enjoy the slide, but it was so much fun, really cool and I had to make the most of it - I mean when will I ever get to go down a natural water slide in the middle of a rainforest again?!?! After experiencing the fun and games of this little swimming spot we went further upstream to actually see the beautiful 3 tier Josephine Falls and capture a few shots of the picturesque and peaceful falls.

Following this we headed further inland and into the countryside and hills for lunch. Running a little ahead of schedule, it meant we could make a stop to capture the surrounding countryside in what I can only describe as the middle of nowhere. It looked pretty though!

After lunch we headed to the famous and beautiful Millaa Millaa Falls. You might not know it by name (I didn't) but it is more famously known for the Herbal Essence hair flick advert and the falls where Peter André filmed his mysterious girl video. Of course being famous for the hair flick it is only natural and a requirement that you recreate the picture - and that is exactly what I did, along with a nice little swim under the waterfall too!

Following a lot of hair flicking, it was time to jump back on board Gus the Bus to head to our final and warmest swimming spot of the day - Lake Eacham. You're probably wondering why it was the warmest spot of the day and that was because we were swimming in a Volcanic Crater Lake. It really was beautiful and probably the most picturesque swimming spot of the day, especially as it was really chilled out and relaxing. After a lovely swim, hot chocolate and marshmallows were waiting for us which we enjoyed whilst standing on turtle viewing platform and admiring the many turtles and cute little baby turtles.

Once again it was time to get back on Gus the Bus for a short ride to the place where we were going duck billed platypus spotting. We had good conditions for a chance to spot them - dark and quiet, however after about 15 minutes of seeing nothing our chances were looking pretty slim and people had given up on the idea of seeing one. We moved further down the stream however and we were fortunate enough to see one keep popping its head up before disappearing at the sound of movement from the banks - animals to see in Australia - platypus ..... tick!

So all that was left on this day of fun was to make the fairly long trip (about an hour or so) back to Cairns. But the fun and games didn't stop there and after a quick alcohol stop we had a bus sing-song, dance and interaction the whole way back. I think I can say every single person on the bus thoroughly enjoyed the trip, even with the wide range of people we had on board and it was definitely a trip I will not forget, not just because of the beautiful and magical sights and swimming spots we went to, but because of the amount of fun I had throughout the whole day, even when we were driving from one spot to the next. I could not recommend this trip enough to anyone reading this and planning on going to Cairns!!!

On the trip today I met two girls staying at my hostel Gilligan's - Sarah and Claire and we decided because it was our last night and after the fun we had today, we would continue the fun and go to the Gilligan's club (I guess I can't stay at the "party" hostel and not go out at all!). It was a fairly good night however I didn't stay out too long because I still had an early start tomorrow for my Great Barrier Reef trip and am planning on doing a scuba dive, so cannot be hungover!!!

For more pictures of this trip: Click Here - 5th October Cairns Day 2