Joel & De’s Big Loop – 5. Mackay to Cairns

On leaving Mackay we headed out to Eungella NP. We 1st went to Finch Hatton Gorge. It’s about a 3km return walk to Araluen falls and swimming hole. We went for a swim in the freezing water and tried to swim under the falls but the force of the water was to strong and we couldn’t get close enough. It was here we saw a couple of Ulysses Butterflies (huge with electric blue wings). Our 2nd stop was at Eungella Sky Window. To get to Eungella you have to drive up this steep and windy road which was a little scary at times as a lot of big trucks use the road. The Sky Window is a short 200m walk on the edge of a mountain and the view was great. Our 3rd and final stop was at Broken River Picnic Area. We had lunch here and took the short walk to the platypus viewing platform. We were lucky enough to see one. A great day was had at Eungella NP.


Later that afternoon we drove to Peter Faust Dam at Proserpine for a fish but again we wished we had a boat! We continued on to Airlie Beach.

We stayed in Airlie for 4 nights. On our 1st day I took Joel to a few lookouts and showed him the houses I use to live in (for those who don’t know me, I lived here a few years back for a couple of years). That afternoon we drove out to Cedar Creek Falls. They were just flowing. We went for a walk to the top of the falls and had a nice swim. The water wasn’t as cold as Finch Hatton Gorge and we seen a turtle. Later on we went to the Sailing Club (where I use to work) for a drink, we weren’t going to stay long but lucky/unlucky (still not sure yet) for us it was there weekly twilight races and 1 drink turned into us getting home at 3am! It was good to catch up with a few friends. The next day we didn’t do much at all!

The day after we did a day tour, Ocean Rafting (kind of like jet boating but heavier boats). Had a great day, the winds were blowing 35 knots and some of the waves were bigger than the boat. We got completely soaked! The tour consisted of snorkelling at Dumbell Island, lunch and relax time on Whitehaven Beach and a walk up to the Hill Inlet Lookout.



Leaving Airlie we headed to Bowen. We have some time on our hands as we have Groovin’ The Moo (music festival) tickets in Townsville on the 6th May (3 weeks away). We are going to see if we can get some temporary fruit picking work. We didn’t have any luck in Bowen. So we continued on to Ayr, then Townsville. We keep getting told call back in a month as that is when the season beings, oh well we have a Plan B.

On the drive to Ayr we did see a big Wedge-tailed Eagle fly down and land in a just harvested cane field. In Townsville we drove to the top of Castle Hill and did a few of the lookout walks. Spent some time down near the beach, had a swim in The Rock Pool and saw 3 Red-tailed Black Cockatoos eating the seeds from the trees that line the foreshore.

From Townsville we head to Saunders Beach which is free camping near the beach and river mouth. We stayed here a few nights and spent all our time fishing. We ended up catching about 20 mud crabs but they were all too small or females except 1. We nearly caught one from the rod as Joel was reeling in we saw it attached to the bait 2m out. I was yelling, ‘It’s a crab, it’s a crab.’ and Joel’s yelling, ‘Get it, get it.’ I half run in the water, drink in hand and no shoes on, before realising there is no way I can get this thing. It got away. We also caught a 57am flathead, our 1st catch and eat fish! We also saw more Red-tailed Black Cockatoos, a big flock.















From Saunders we headed to Girringun NP, just west of Ingham. We visited Wallaman Falls, the highest single drop falls in Australia. It was amazing, a picture we saw of it in our tour book just didn’t do it justice. There is a walk here that goes to the bottom of the falls but it closed at the moment so we couldn’t do it. We stayed a night here in the camping area. We were hoping to see a cassowary, but no luck.


In the morning we went back and had another look at the falls before heading to the coast. 1st stop was Murray Falls, west of the highway. The falls are really nice but no swimmming. Continued on, went for a drive around South Mission Beach, Wongaling Beach, Mission Beach & Bingil Bay. We also hoped to see a cassowary here too with all the signs we saw but still no luck.

We kept heading north and stopped at Babinda Boulders Scenic Reserve. We stayed here for the maximum 2 nights allowed as it is another free camp site. Just a short walk from the camp area is the picnic area and swimming hole. This was just stunning. The water was crystal clear and lovely to swim in. There is a short walk you can take which leads you down the river to view the massive boulders. We also saw a few more Ulysses Butterflies and the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly (another huge and colourful one).


From here we head to Cairns for 8 nights, which is Plan B. After the 8 nights we will have 6 days to head back to Townsville via the Atherton Tablelands.