Arrgh! Finding my way in society was challenging sometimes, and then Covid-19 entered the South Australian community. Yes of course the borders had to reopen but it felt like society let me down, and oh that feeling stayed with me. I turned it around recently with more realistic thinking: society did not intend to let me down. Most people are well-intentioned.
Then there’s that hard question of will I or won’t I go to the UK and France in May 2023, with international borders having been open for months and me being vaccinated and boostered against the virus. Rehearsing in my mind crowded transport and possibly isolating with the illness in a hotel room on the other side of the world. Could I muster the courage to do it? I don’t know.
‘I saw one of those big flightless birds!’ announced Dan, returning from his Musgravea Track bike ride.
‘You saw a cassowary, how exciting!’
Just the thing to bring me back to what I wanted to write about. We were in Mission Beach on the Cassowary Coast, Far North Queensland 😊
Yes, we caught a Jetstar flight to Cairns in the time of Covid, which was OK and on time.
I’m happy to let you know I went on the Turtle Hospital tour at the Cairns Aquarium and Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre. Our guide, I think her name was Bec, held nothing back in expressing her emotions and love for the turtles and how attached to them their team had become over the many months of rehab. Our little group met Libby the green sea turtle; beautiful and healthy but emaciated when she first arrived. Many turtles have suffered ‘floating syndrome’ when they are rescued. This is because of a build-up of gas in the turtle’s body, relating to ingested marine debris that blocks its gastrointestinal tract1. Libby was adorable and we even fed her lettuce. When talking about the problems with marine debris ingested by turtles and the amazing things their organisation has done to re-release them with their data tracking devices, Bec was emotional all over again. Relatable for me! Libby was due for release in a few weeks. I loved this tour and feel fortunate to have experienced it, considering that our Mission Beach snorkelling tour was cancelled due to high winds.
Beautiful Libby the green sea turtle, almost ready to be released. Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, Cairns Aquarium.
The Aquarium was lovely too; colourful fish in coral reefs, with sharks and rays flying magically overhead in the Oceanarium. After watching countless Great Barrier Reef stories on telly, I figure we’ll be back this way in the future for snorkelling.
Dan and I settled in at Eco Village Mission Beach, surrounded by rainforest. This day marked the start of chill times involving some easy hiking; nothing too hard. There were moments when a breeze came from somewhere, making one leaf quiver or wave vigorously while others around it remained still. Or, if it was a fern, maybe a few leaves waved. A bit of foliage gets the spotlight of sunshine with shade all around it, while climbers head up giant tree trunks in search of light. New leaves emerge in red-pink and look so tender against the green. This is just what was clearly visible. I could go on about the creatures on the forest floor or epiphytes and animals high in the canopy.
On the way to Mission Beach, we stopped at the delightful Josephine Falls in Wooroonooran National Park. Putting the Adelaide winter behind us for a while, I paddled my feet in this beautiful setting, surrounded by granite boulders. I read the signage for Mount Bartle Frere, quietly glad not to have summit fever for this epic mountain, the highest in Queensland at 1622 metres elevation. Anyway, the waters of Josephine Creek were soothing, with lush rainforest all around.
Kylie at Josephine Falls, Noongyanbudda Ngadjon Country
Lovely Dan was happy enough to join me for the hikes and had time for mountain biking in the afternoons. On Wednesday, we hiked up Bicton Hill in Clump Mountain National Park. Then, while he rode, I wandered along the Cutten Brothers Walking Track, which is along the coast. On Thursday, we hiked inland on the Dreaming trail and Lacey Creek walk in Djiru National Park, on Djiru Country.
Back to the wildlife! I saw an emerald dove, some turtles and fish at Djiru, and a lace monitor out the side of our cabin. As soon as I first saw brush turkeys in picnic areas, I nicknamed them ‘chookies’. Dan must have got sick of me calling that out repeatedly. Orange-footed scrub fowl also frequented the Cutten Brothers Track.
Cutten Brothers walking track & Perry Harvey Jetty
Dan took the prize for wildlife spotting. A cassowary, with its blue head, black feathers and dinosaur feet! I don’t have photographic evidence, but Dan suggested mountain bikers could approach a cassowary faster than hikers, so it hadn’t slunk back into the forest yet. There was something on the Musgravea trail this big bird enjoyed. Dan waited for it to go bush, where cassowaries are very well camouflaged. Get this, the cassowary was back on the trail when Dan returned the same way. It did a 360 degree spin avoiding the drop-away side of the trail. What a magnificent bird, icon of Far North Queensland.
More chill times saw me contemplating the sand crab ball patterns on Mission Beach, and swimming in the pool before sunset, or just reading out front of the cabin. We took in the ambience at Buko, Castaways Resort, in the open night air with delicious meals (Jamaican goat curry) and friendly chatty staff.
When Friday came it was time to move on. Dan and I drove to Paronella Park, location of The Dream Continues. A castle on a park at Mena Creek Falls built by Jose Paronella in the 1930s. Walking among Spanish-inspired cement structures and an avenue of kauri trees was dreamy and I highly recommend it, including the guided tour, full of history. The Grand Staircase was quite something. And everything smelt so good there in the tropics. We saw lots of sociable fish, tturtles and even eels in the water. Full disclosure: visitors are given packets of fish food upon entering Paronella Park.
Dan and I arrived at Atherton via the waterfall circuit, Ellinjaa Falls, Zillie Falls and Millaa Millaa Falls. The last one I visited with my parents when I was eleven. Millaa Millaa is pretty, with volcanic basalt rock (and brush turkeys). These rock columns brought back memories of seventeen-year-old me, and two days of white water rafting on the North Johnstone River nearby. I know right? How exciting. Coupled with caving, staying overnight at Chillagoe, and the bumps and scrapes I experienced, what a cracker of a blog entry that would have been.
Back to eleven. Mum, Dad and I went hiking around Lake Barrine, in the Atherton Tablelands. Along with Parra Wirra with Girl Guides, this hike was part of my early memories of really quite enjoying hiking. I love it. When my heart feels heavy from the Covid-19 pandemic and I wonder how to live, how to relate to other people, well, I go for a hike in nature and feel better.
The Lake Barrine in 2022 hike was mighty fine – 5 km in length. It was ironic that I found the forest hike so soothing, only to be upset about the busy teahouse and people standing or sitting too close together. But I recovered quickly enough. It was cooler in the Tablelands, leaves shiny from the on-and-off drizzly weather. Vines framed views of the massive crater lake and tourist boat. We saw pairs of chowchilla birds scratching industriously in the leaf litter, then a moment with what appeared to be a musky rat-kangaroo, pausing on the floor near us. I had a nice chat with fellow hikers from New South Wales. It was great to hike around Lake Barrine in Crater Lakes National Park, reconnecting with a rainforest place that appealed to me as a kid, on the land of the Traditional Owners, the Tablelands Yidinji.
Lake Barrine with tearooms
Rainforest at Lake Barrine
Later in the day, Dan and I hiked around nearby Lake Eacham and called in on the tangly Curtain Fig Tree, on Ngadjon-Jii Country. A special mention for rainforest vines braiding around each other on their quest for some light, and how intricate they look.
I searched the treetops in case I was lucky enough to spot a mabi / Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo. There it was near the Curtain Fig Tree. Quite high up, maybe 18 metres, we paused for a while to see it eventually move an arm then have a good scratch, its distinctive tail hanging down. This was very special – I can say we were blessed with wildlife spotting on this trip.
Mabi / Lumholtz's tree kangaroo
Sunday in Atherton. The cool rain was persistent that day, but it didn’t stop me from swimming in the Holiday Park pool (it was heated 😊), loving the movement. After an excellent brunch at The Station Café, we drove out to experience Mount Hypipamee National Park with its deep volcanic pipe crater and cascading waterfall. The six national parks we visited were all in the Wet Tropics World Heritage area.
Back in Cairns we had a delicious meal at Villa Romana on the Esplanade with my friend Peter. It was lovely to catch up with him and talk all things library work, Covid, and living in Far North Queensland.
Dan enjoyed riding in Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park on the generous hillside above the town. He said he covered only a fraction of it. We timed things well, just seeing it re-open after controlled burns. A log was still burning! ‘I’ll warm myself by that fire if I get completely lost’, he said. Sometimes I feel uneasy when he’s out riding alone into the twilight. We should set up the alert app soon, telling me where he is on the trail just in case. All things considered, bike on plane logistics too, this seems to work. Dan and I can holiday together, boots and bike tyres on the earth.
Holidays are so important for wellbeing, worth the risks, inconveniences, and leaving the comfort zone. Having said that, this holiday was cruisy! Big thank you to Dan for being such a patient, silly, fun travelling companion.
1 Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, 2021, ‘Turtle hospital: Case study’ https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/great-barrier-reef/case-studies/turtle-hospital
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