One place that was a MUST for revisiting was a place called Tully. It's one of my favourite places in Australia. As you pass the banana plantations and fields of cane, the green mountains reach out to pull you into their magical arms, calling to your soul. There's a real special feeling about this gorge.
When we visited this place two years ago, it was a must for us to see again. The moss covered boulders and rainforests, along with sound of the river running brings you to a place of serenity. It was about 5 deg. (C) cooler than Townsville and VERY humid. Threat of rain was imminent, but then it's also known to be the WETTEST place in Australia too, receiving nearly 4 metres of rain per year. And once we set up camp, we headed straight for the river to cool our bodies down. Our first thoughts on cooling ourselves became intermingled with fear. Fear of crocodiles, fear of the river rising at any sudden moment, fear of bugs, snakes, and any other creepy crawlies that might be in the vacinity. But once my feet hit the water, all fears subsided as my body relaxed. This is the coolest I've felt since we left Springbrook. And I slept like a baby. That was, until about 3am when the rains came and I was scrambling to close window vents. But apart from that, it was extremely peaceful there.
The following day we headed out to Mission beach, which was sadly lacking due to the weather conditions. For some reason, without blue sky, you lose the whole effect of the blue sea and the islands offshore don't have that appeal. And as we found out, the Mission beach area is a conservation are for Cassowaries which abound, even though we didn't see any on this trip. Only in signposts and business signs. So we headed back inland and ended up at a place called Paronella Park.
This place was built by a spaniard named Jose Paronella in 1931 to 1935. He loved castles and wanted to build one for himself and his family. He built it all by hand, piece by piece. And while it's not on the grand scale that the Hearst castle was built, it has it's own charm and magical quality.
This once was the patio where those in the ballroom could come and relax in the cool night air.
And this is the waterfall that caught the eye of Jose so that he could build his dream. It's a natural causeway that not only has helped him to create his dream, but also nearly destroyed his dream. In 1946, this place was devastated by a torrential flood nearly wiping out everything he had created. The turret you seen on the right side was completely covered with water gushing over the top. But today, this place still stands in loving memory for those who had the courage to build their dream and those who are still inspired by that dream.
And as we head further north into Cairns, we now need to sort out all those things we missed on our last trip and to explore uncharted territory. So a trip to Green Island is on the cards for a bit of snorkelling and walking.
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