Epic Round The World Trip Adventures! Stunning Photos & Articles - A fascinating gap year travel journal covering every stop of their journey.

Atherton Tablelands - East Australia
Round The World Trip Journal

(12th - 13th April) Atherton Tablelands
Heading south of Cairns towards Innisfail we turned off on the Gillies Highway leading up a very steep twisty turny road into the Gillies Mountain Range behind Cairns (Reminded us of north Wales). Fantastic views across the hills and valleys but the cloud was really closing in on us and it rained virtually non-stop for our two days up here! We did manage to see the Cathredral Fig (the two photos with Mike climbing it and the one of Jo stood in amongst it) – a huge 500 year old strangler fig. Those are all aerial roots coming down to the ground. We also saw the Curtain Fig Tree – which is another example of a giant strangler fig (photo of Jo plus umbrella stood in front of it). We stopped off at the village of Yungaburra and tried to see Duckbilled Platypus in the creek but we were too early – they mostly come out at dusk apparently. We overnighted at Millaa Millaa which was a weird experience. We opted for a cabin since it was raining so heavily by now and it was actually cold! As soon as we saw it we realised why it was so cheap! It was like stepping back into the 1950's. We felt like Ma and Pa Clampett in our wild west hicksville cabin. Gingham everywhere - no hot water – no bathroom – no hob. We had to go outside to the campsite toilet block! Ah well – it was dry(ish) and we had TV for the night to distract us from the weather. The next morning we did the waterfall circuit which made it worthwhile coming up here (highest point we reached at 1000M above sea level). The photos here show Millaa Milla Falls – 100ft high - which were the most picturesque of the three we saw. We had a fleeting moment of sun to enjoy them by. There was loads of spray especially stood right down where we are in the photos.