“Water always talking and never repeats.” Octavio Paz

Tuesday 8 the morning of May, the rain did not stop and she follows us to the town of Mission Beach, where in 2015 we were lucky to see a cassowary. This time the nature around is quiet and soggy, we drive up to Garners Beach, where the rainforest meets the reef, a corner of paradise even in the rain !

Unable to eat - yes I remind you that we camp, then you must leave the table, the stove, etc., wets ! – we decided to continue the road to Innisfail where we find some sun. After some shopping and hoping to sow rain, we decide to leave the coast to inland, Atherton Tablelands and to commit ourselves on the Palmerston Highway.

We are Mamu earth as we announced three by four a panel in the first corner almost. It is advertising for a walk on an aerial walkway in the canopy in exchange for a few dollars. Our Bear tourist desires and we accompany him to the entrance where we expect it to return from his ride.
Without paying we have seen a new phenomenon for us : an ant nest in trees, specifically in the leaves of the tree, which appear to have been properly stitched or glued together. And this is the case, while a part of the Green Tree Ants - weaver ants, Oecophylla smaragdina - into position leaves, another brings their larvae produce the silk weave sets sheets. Their architectural talent does not stop there as they sometimes build their own body temporary bridges or ladders to reach some branches. It made me think of that excellent webcomic and six episodes I read there are few.

Nest of weaver ants

Early Mungali Falls

When the bear comes back satisfied with his ride, we're taking this time in free ride, d’abord au Mungali Falls où si nous étions passé de très bonne heure le matin ou au coucher du soleil nous aurions peut-être pu voir des ornithorynques. Mais nous sommes en pleine journée et malgré la couche nuageuse, les platypus – le nom anglais est tout de même plus facile à prononcer ! 😛 – restent cachés.

Ellinjaa Falls

Zillie Falls

Never mind, nous nous engageons sur la boucle d’une quinzaine de kilomètres qui passe près de trois autres chutes d’eau : Ellinjaa Falls, Zillie Falls où nous commençons à être suivis ou précédés par quelques touristes, puis Milla Milla Falls, Perhaps the biggest but also the most populated since one can swim as some do without worrying about the rain found us.

The Bear, that does not seem to want too wet his coat, propose that we stop for the night at a campsite. And when we pass near a, in the city of Milla Milla just after the waterfall, we stopped to ask the price of a bungalow. Ninety-five dollars for the night, which is about twenty euros per person, we allow ourselves to try. Without Bear we probably would have slept in the car or tent, defying rain ; this is a first for us, but we must admit that we appreciate the hot shower, the kitchen where we can prepare a more elaborate meal and comfortable mattress !

Milla Milla Falls

Curtain roots

The next day the sun is back and we drive to the national park Curtain Fig Tree on the land of Ngadjon-Jii. Yes a tree that has its national park there for him, I must say it is worth the look ! Belonging to the family of Ficus, its common name is the strangler fig : it starts from a seed deposited on the branch of another tree that will become its host and more. The seed germinates and a first root down to the ground. Enriched by the latter, the fig tree growing aerial roots that encircle the host tree and eventually… by strangling. The story could have ended there, but in this case the host tree fell on a nearby tree that the fig tree was also quick to invade. The diagonal arrangement of the first shaft caused that the roots of the fig tree are lowered to the vertical forming a curtain where the name of the park and fig !

Curtain Fig Tree

Roots of the fig tree

After a stop at Eacham clear lake nestled in an old volcano crater, the road descends in a variety of laces to the plain and the city of Cairns. We were content to cross the last time, this time we give us a ride downtown and we inform the information center to cast our sights on the company Down Under Cruise & Dive offering for $345 the day boat, several hours of swimming and snorkeling, a diving tower and a ten minute helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef, ah and meals, this is probably one of the best deals in 2018. Bookings made for the next day, while we seek the most affordable camp – $46 – and the best position because we must bring our port Bear tomorrow morning at seven.

Cairns Lagoon

Thursday 10 nous confions l’Ours aux bons soins de l’équipage de l’Evolution, vérifiant une dernière fois que nous n’avons pas d’autres informations cruciales à lui traduire – oui notre Ours se contente de grogner de l’anglais – et retournons petit-déjeuner au camping avant de passer notre journée entre balade au lagon artificiel – et non il n’y a pas de plage à Cairns et même s’il y en avait, il y a toujours les crocodiles 😀 – traversée du marché de nuit en plein jour, un petit tour au Rusty’s Market, fruits et légumes locaux et une séance de cinéma.

Nous récupérons l’Ours heureux, qui après avoir flotté dans l’eau semble maintenant flotter sur un nuage, faisons quelques dernières courses, mangeons un burrito à Zambrero – qui, en partenariat avec Rise against Hunger ou avec les banques alimentaires locales, font en sorte qu’à chaque repas acheté, un repas soit donné à quelqu’un dans le besoin, et ils ont des repas végétaliens 😉 – et filons vers le Barron Gorge National Park où nous avons réservé pour la nuit – généralement $6,35 par personne pour passer une nuit dans n’importe quel parc national du Queensland, ce n’est pas cher donné considérant les emplacements naturels souvent superbes. 🙂

22, v’là les flics ! Je ne sais pas d’où vient cette fameuse expression (there are almost twenty-two explanation Wiki), but I know where they came ! From behind.

 

Modern bear not knowing sin salmon in the river, swinging the leg, we were looking for a seafood restaurant in Innisfail, the subliminal application of it (a bit of drool flowed to view the billboard of the restaurant in question).

 

Our eyes and minds in the air, seeking a sign, I failed to put my blinker two roundabouts in a row… It has not escaped the Queenslanders police officers, that made our hearts pound with just a phone beacon.

Follows a series of more invasive issues as each other about my private life (Où allez-vous ? D’où venez-vous ? Vous fumez ? Et des cigarettes ? Vous buvez ? Avez-vous bu hier ? Beaucoup ou la normale ?) Sur cette dernière j’ai eu du mal à répondre 😉

Innisfail rimant avec jail, on a sagement répondu à toutes leurs questions et c’était avec un soulagement évident que l’on a vu s’éloigner ces hommes sur-équipés (yes, même les alcootests étaient à leurs ceintures).

 

Nous nous sommes empiffrés dans un fastfood, autant pour les fruit de mer ! 🙂