Waterfalls and stars, a tropical paradise

Josaphine Falls
Phil and Anne enjoy the scenery at the peaceful Jaruma Falls


Driving along to the music sent to us by my friend in Wale Iestyn Lloyd, we were idly talking about how good it would be to tear open a carton and get stuck into it. Because, after all the activity of the past few weeks, from Upperstone, Ingham, to Walkamin, Yungaburra, then Cairns and down to Deeral, working, raising money, finding reporters, fuel, food moving from one place to the next, we were feeling the need of a good sit, a relax and ah, do nothing for a few days.
A guy makes the brave jump at devils point, Babinda
So we took advantage of the benefits to travelling in the Tropics. Coming up soon: the hot, arid, dry and relentless endlessness of the Australian interior. So, we took the urgency out of things for a few days and decided to take it easy.
Babinda
The Tropics is teeming with life. The area south towards which we were driving having left Deeral covers the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, an ecologically important area, with a complex history of ownership and management. It is outstandingly beautiful. Covering a mere 0.1% of Australia’s total land area, the diversity and number of species living there is incredible, many plants and animals live there and nowhere else. 50% of Australian bird species are to be found in the Tropics, as are 36% of all mammal species, 25% of all frog species, 60% of butterfly species, 30% of all orchids and 65% of all ferns. It is incredibly dense and fertile.

This is an area that adapts according to two factors – the Wet and the Dry. Forget the seasons as traditionally viewed. The Aboriginals have six seasons – not wet, wet, very wet and not dry, dry, very dry. Usually, when it’s dry it’s drought. When it’s wet it’s floods. There are only extremes to be concerned about, the very dry or very wet, like a 9 metre rainfall from December to march, or prolonged aridity during the dry. As a rule, when it rains, it rains.

This, though it sounds extreme, and harsh, as to live and work, earn a living and prosper in such conditions is very difficult, and exacting, it is nevertheless spectacular. Everything flourishes, the soil is rich and fruitful, the rainforest advances more and more, even to the sea, the creatures within it abound and life spills over everywhere. It isn’t easy, but people have adapted too, and slowly got to grips with what it takes to conform to life here.

Sugar cane grows easily and well, and has been the primary industry here since it was introduced in the 1860’s, making Australia one of the world’s foremost producers of sugar. The area is also rich in fruit – bananas, oranges, mangoes, pineapples, coconuts, as germination is oftentimes as easy as throwing a discarded pip onto the soil. It is Australia’s garden, its salad bowl, and doing a little exploring was more than an excuse to idle for a couple of days – it was an opportunity too good to miss.
Phil and Gareth gaze at Josaphine Falls
We headed to Josephine Falls, down the road from Babinda, the town closest to Deeral along the Bruce Highway, through a town called Miriwinni. We arrived soon enough. Nestles at the base of Queensland’s highest mountain, Mt Bartle Frere (or, as the Aboriginals call it, Chooreechillum) which stands at 1622m. Almost perpetually ringed with cloud, this produces a steady stream, into Josephine Creek, which runs over massive granite boulders to form the beautiful falls. Wooroonooran National Park, the lush, mountainous area covering 79500 hectares of the Bellenden Ker Range is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, and is the traditional land of the Noongyonbudda Ngadjon-jii Aboriginal people. Josaphine Falls
It is easy to understand why this particular area is held in such high esteem by the native people. A real sense of timelessness nestles between the mesophyll vine forest veiling the falls. The pools formed by the ceaselessness of the tumbling water are deep enough to dive into even during the dry season. With boulders strewn around and large slabs of polished bedrock to sit on, it is a stunning and tranquil place.
We stayed all day at Josephine Falls. Josaphine Falls
We explored, rock hopped up and down stream, swam, floated, snorkelled, sunbaked and sat in silence. We needed this day of doing nothing, someplace where doing just that is a necessary act, where it’s enough to be there and let your imagination and thoughts flow away with the water. That night we camped at Babinda, by The Boulders, at the free campsite there, made a little fire and enjoyed the feeling of being out amongst it all. Next day we stopped by Josephine again, and had a swim for breakfast, a cup of tea, then headed towards Jarouma Falls, part of the Paluma Range National Park, just south of Ingham, passing through Innisfail and Tully as we went done the Bruce Highway some more. Jarouma was another beauty spot we lingered at. Cascading down from the hills above, the waterfalls and granite rockpools, were crystal clear. On a sweltering day the fresh, clear water was cooling and refreshing, and the only thing missing was a cold beer to make perfection possible.

But that was to come later.

After drying off and having lunch, we headed down the old Bruce Highway towards another waterhole, Big Crystal Creek at the Paradise Waterhole. At the base of the Paluma Range it offered an opportunity to relax some more. On the way there, we saw a sign about 10ks from the Creek, at Mutarnee, offering work. This wouls give us the opportunity to linger for a couple of days, earn some money for the charity and maybe, just maybe, a cold beer too.

We went onto the property and spoke to Michael, the owner of Crystal Oasis Palmetum, and as it happened he had just hired two people, Germans, only yesterday, so work was scarce. Give us some work for a couple of days, and we’ll do it for a donation to Book Aid and a carton of beer. Hmm, he thought, scratching his chin, do you like XXXX? he asked, we do, we answered. You’re on then, he replied.