Waterfall w****s

We left a day earlier than planned from Cairns and didn't go too far but got to the beautiful Atherton Tablelands. We stayed for the night by Lake Tinaroo and became waterfall junkies. We saw five waterfalls in the space of two days and went for what can only be described as a refreshing dip in Millaa Millaa Falls, one of the coldest ones. James also swam in Lake Eacham, I paddled and took photos. It is a stunning lake and the water was quite warm, with fish and turtles swimming alongside James! The small towns around Atherton were quaint and friendly and felt a world away from Cairns. This is our favourite spot in Australia so far and we are pleased we chose to spend extra time here. We could have stayed here a lot longer, just soaking up the views and swimming in the falls but we needed to press on to ensure we met up with Danni in Brisbane. We stopped at the tourist information in Ravenshoe where we met quite possibly the nicest information guy ever, he was lovely and told us where we could sleep for free near Undara national park. We drove for a few hours, getting closer to the outback with every kilometre. We found the picnic spot and although it was very close to the road and the huge road trains thundering past it was free so we were happy! We settled down for the evening and then the cycads woke up. We have heard these noisy creatures on our travels before but this was deafening. They were so high pitch and I thought my ears were going to bleed. Despite the heat we had to close all the doors so we could hear ourselves think! The fun didn't stop here, James was sure he heard a Wallaby/Roo in the night come right up to the van. We survived the night and were up early to visit Undara National Park. We did a few of the free walks into the bush and saw some more wild Roo's. We were able to use the swimming pool and showers for free so we took full advantage and made the morning of it. The guy from Ravenshoe had advised us to take the long road towards Einasleigh. We got to a junction that would cut off about 100km but after asking a policewoman's wife if Monica would make she suggested we take the longer route, with actual roads. It was a serious detour and we were definitely in the outback! The road was a longer one and it still wasn't paved in the slightest! After lots of bumps and dust Monica was looking a right state when we eventually arrived in Einasleigh.