Sunday June 17 - Any Questions about Butterflies?

We decided that we wanted to do something fun on Sunday because we didn't have any other plans. We went to a few travel agencies on the Friday before and tried to find the cheapest, yet most convenient one for us (we don't have transportation, so we wanted to find a tour that could pick us up. That's not uncommon here, lots of tour agencies provide transportation, which I find incredibly handy).

We booked a tour, called, "Captain Matty's Barefoot Tours". Were we in for a surprise or what? It was $80, so when I tell you everything we saw, I'd consider it one of the best deals ever. Our ride for the day included fleece blankets for warmth, Bob Marley and some Reggae-techno mixes. This was mega relaxing to ride in.

We started to Josephine Falls when Capt. Matty wanted us to introduce ourselves. Most of the questions were normal, except, "Scrunch or Fold when it comes to toilet paper?" That should give you an idea of how the day went. Arriving to Josephine falls, we had to walk a little ways to reach the falls. The walk was gorgeous and so worth it (I've come to find that walking to places makes it so much more magical). 

 At the end of the path:

 This was the first stop of the trip...and little did we know that the water was FREEZING. It makes sense now when I think about it, but at the time it didn't matter. There was a natural water slide that Capt. Matty took photos of people sliding down, however he didn't get mine. No, really, it's fine. I almost hit a rock on the way down head first, so I probably didn't look my best. Needless to say, after sliding down, I was finished with the water for the day. It just wasn't worth freezing. Besides, I can swim at home.

The water, however, was freakishly clear...it's clear everywhere here. I can't stand to go back home and look at the solid color of the Ohio River. C'mon America!

 One thing that may explain the title of this blog would be the fact that Capt. Matty had been researching butterflies for quite sometime now. He kept asking us if we had any questions about butterflies at random. We were all laughing because no one ever had a question. I figured that I would record some of his knowledge, just so that I had something learned.

We were passing many banana farms (we visited one, a cool experience to post later) and scenes such as this:

To the left is a picture of an animal bridge. The trees that were cut down to make this roadway served as animal homes, so the least they could do was build a bridge to cross from tree to tree. 

We came to this breathtaking lookout. Unfortunately, I don't think that the picture captures what this looked like, but here it is anyway:

This is the North Johnstone River. There was a walkway that took us closer, but we didn't get a chance to walk there. This was so neat because you could hear the water from all the way up. It would've been a long walk down this steep hill. 

Millaa Millaa Falls was the next stop. This is a waterfall that, according to Captain Matty, is used for modeling. Jeff swam at this one and walked behind the falls. We got in too, but we didn't put our heads under....with the exception of Rachel who had no choice. Capt. Matty picked her up and dunked her. Here are some pictures...

We had lunch at a Millaa Millaa Pub, Fish and Chips :) Then we were off to the Atherton Tablelands lookout.

 We then headed to the Crater and Dinner Falls. This Crater was HUGE. It was formed from a volcanic explosion. This crater was a place where the gasses escaped from underground. The farthest record of depth is 93km or about 57 miles. A picture wouldn't suffice, so below there is a video. These are some pictures from dinner falls as well.

 The last stop was Lake Eacham, which has the same story as the crater. It was supposed to be the 'warmest' swim of the day, but it was still cold. The lake was gorgeous on this overcast day. We also stopped at "The Cathedral Tree", which was a large fig tree. I put a picture up showing the scale of human to tree. It was pretty dark when we visited, so pictures aren't perfect.

I should include that Captain Matty had food for morning tea and afternoon tea. So, fruit, milk, coffee tea, biscuits and bread. The fruit here is amazing, especially the passionfruit. Our professor gave us some of her home-grown passionfruit, which I haven't tried yet.

On the way home, we were presented with Jeff Dunham comedy, since we had a long drive. It was relaxing to sit on the bus and just rest after touring the Tablelands. Well spent 80 bucks, I'd say.