Wallaman Falls and Little Crystal Creek (Paluma)

So New Year's Day had come and gone and I had 4 more days off. Normally these days would be full of preplanned, time intensive, intense adventures. Not this time. We had just been to Tassie and Fraser Island and frankly we were tired. Plus, Lindsay hadn't done a lick of work in about a month (just kidding). Not to mention my schedule hadn't come out soon enough to plan for anything. This left us in a very unusual (and for me uncomfortable) position. Several days off in a row and nothing planned. What could I do? For those of you that know me well, you know that taking it easy and relaxing was clearly out of the question. That being said, the next four days were great...and kind of restful.

Jan 2nd: Lindsay worked, I played a lot of guitar and computer games.

Jan 3rd: We contacted our friends (including the Americans Chris and Sara and the Aussie Andrea) set off at 9:30AM, heading north to Wallaman Falls (see photo above and below). On our few trips north of Townsville we have stopped at at least a dozen waterfalls and none of them have been impressive. This is because we have only visited them during the dry season. We specifically had waited to see Wallaman after the beginning of The Wet. The five of us drove a couple hours north and at Innisfail took a left. About 45 minutes later we were there. Wallaman is the highest waterfall in all of Australia standing at 268m (880 ft). For a land with many impressive waterfalls, this is the daddy of them all. We had picked up Subway sandwiches for a picnic lunch and scarfed them down upon arrival. After we were finished, we took the 1 hour hike to the bottom of the falls through grasslands, into temperate forests, and finally transitioning into rain forest at the bottom. It was a great but HOT and humid hike. We spent some time at the bottom taking a swim while attempting to avoid the numerous crayfish that loved to nibble at our toes.

Jan 4: The next day Chris and Sara picked us up and we drove to Paluma National Park, an hour or so up the road. Prior to our departure, we stopped at the Greek restaurant down the road to pick up a couple of gyros, Greek salads and spanikopita. Ten minutes after turning off the Bruce Highway we were presented with a choice: Little Crystal Creek or Big Crystal Creek. On a whim we headed up the mountains to Little Crystal Creek. Good decision. We parked near a 100 year old rock bridge and walked down to the stream. There, only 70 minutes from our home in Townsville was a tropical, waterfall paradise. We had a nice picnic on a rock outcropping and I slurped down a couple XXXX golds, the bogan beer of choice. After lunch Lindsay retreated to the shelter of the bridge to do a little work (yes she brought her computer!) and the rest of us began exploring, swimming and cliff jumping. We all had a blast, and after an hour or so Lindsay joined in the fun. Peer pressure is a force to be reckoned with. Despite her fear and the icy nature of the water, we coaxed her into jumping off a large boulder into the water below...see the video.

As the afternoon wore on, we packed up, made a quick stop to the famous roadside ice cream venue, The Frosty Mango, and made our way back to Townsville.