Driving through Ingham to Forrest Beach, there are miles of cane fields, cane tracks, and two sugar mills.  The towns are sleepy and there is no fighting for parking to be sure.

Forrest Beach

Sleeping a stone’s throw from the beach was special.  Part of what made it special was our awesome hosts.  They grew mango, avocado, banana, and papaya trees.  They had lush garden with fresh vegetables.  Their own apiary with native bees.  They even grew their own vanilla which they have to hand pollinate.  The kids enjoyed the pool.  The beach was wide, long, and largely vacant.  It was calm and nice to rest a bit on the beach. Kylie enjoyed playing with the dog, who was most likely a cousin of Molly.  They certainly had similar interests.

Wallaman Falls

Wallaman falls lies in Girrigun National Park.  This is the southern tip of the wet tropics rain forest.  The road to the falls shrinks to a 1.5 lane road and zig zags up the slops of the mountains.  At the top, the forest changes from Eucalyptus savanna to lush rain forest.  Signs are everywhere warning of Cassowary crossings.  At 258 meters, it is the largest continuous drop in all Australia (and about 100 meters taller than Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite).  The thunderous pounding can be hear as you approach with your car window open.

We descended down the Djyinda trail.  It started as a paved trail, then changed to dirt trail with rocks making the steps to go down.  At the top of the decent, an encouraging multi-lingual placard saying the hike is strenuous and people have died on this trail.  Two kilometers of down with a 250 meter elevation change makes for a steep route.  Late in the trail due the mist, the path becomes muddy and slippery.  After heading down the switchbacks, the trail opened to the phenomenal base of Wallaman falls.  The bottom slick, and the trek upwards took us a bit.

However the rainbows at the bottom made it all worthwhile.

Holding up the Rainbow	Touch the rainbow