Day 195
Tuesday
11 July 2017 – Began my next novel – Since We Fell by Dennis
Lehane – This novel caught my eye when I was browsing at Big W; I was intrigued
by the cover and the reviews given by other authors I have read. I am looking
forward to seeing how this one pans out.
Ingham – Wallaman Falls
We were awake at 7am, the fresh air encouraging us to wake
and enjoy the day. We read for a short while before finally rising and getting
into breakfast. At 8.30am we were ready to head out across the road to the Tyto
Wetlands. This wetland was encouraged by the local conservation group, with a
deliberate plan to revegetate and sculpt the area to encourage bird and other
wildlife. Now it boasts the diversity of bird species to rival Kakadu even
though it is 18 000 times smaller.
We had been given a walking map and bird spotting card to
make life easier and it helped greatly. We followed the easy trail amongst the
green wetland spotting our first birds, crimson finches and red-backed
fairy-wrens as we first entered the pandanus trail. We then began the main 2km
circuit that follows the circumference of the wetland. There were many lotus
plants clogging the water, as well as some smaller purple water lilies.
Amongst the water plants, jacana jumped about from pad to
pad, ducks swam and forest kingfisher fluttered from tree to tree, their bright
blue wings giving their positions away.
We were so intensely watching the crimson finch that we were
startled when a very large sea eagle took off from a tree just in front of us.
I wished I had noticed it earlier as it would have made for a great photo.
We rounded around the circuit, stopping at some bird hides,
but not seeing anything of note. One spot was meant to be good for owls, but we
didn’t see any. We completed the
circuit, happy to be out in the cool of the morning, as the sun was just
starting to heat things up.
We returned to the info centre for a quick browse of the
pamphlets and the story behind the wetlands before walking back to the van for
morning tea and a brief rest.
I dragged Paul out again to complete the far end of the Tyto
walk. This end wasn’t about wetlands as much, it was all about art and culture.
The buildings housed the library, an art gallery, café and an elevated viewing
platform and were connected to the info centre by a lengthy boardwalk that took
in part of the wetlands.
We completed this section, enjoying being out in the sun and
then once again returned to the van where we packed up our lunch before jumping
in the car and making our way to Wallaman Falls, about 50km inland.
The drive sent us through can fields along the coastal flats
and farms of unfenced brahman that quite obviously loved walking on the road as
the number of cow pats they left behind was just ridiculous. Paul did his best
to avoid the beasts and the pats, the car is a right mess already. The
landscape then began to reach upward again.
We wound around and around the side of the escarpment,
stopping at a lookout to admire the view, which on a clear day would probably
reach to the reef. We then continued on into the wet tropics again, eyes ever
peeled for cassowary and finally pulled into the car park of the falls.
The tourist mags boast that Wallaman Falls is Australia’s
longest single drop falls and 285m and it certainly was impressive when we
reached the platform to admire it across the gorge. The water that cascaded
over the top edge fanned out as it fell giving the impression of smoke or dust
before it finally reached the pool below. It is certainly a site well worth
coming to check out.
There is a 4km return walk you can complete that takes you
to the bottom, but not under the falls, some people were returning from it as
we ventured out to the gorge lookout, which takes in the first 400m, they
looked absolutely stuffed and these were very fit looking people.
We checked out the gorge lookout which was obscured by the
tree growth and had a chuckle at the sign warning people had died doing the
walk, that was enough for us to not bother heading down, which would have been
the easy bit.
We returned to the falls lookout and sat at a picnic table
to enjoy our lunch, it was very peaceful at this spot and a nice way to spend
the early afternoon.
We then made our way back towards home trailing once again
down the windy road with Paul putting the car in neutral for most of the
journey.
Once back at the van, Paul set up the generator to boost the
power and run the fridges while I sorted the photos and blog for the next
couple of hours. At 4pm it was time to get moving again and we made for Tyto wetlands
again for another lap. There was still an abundance of bird life, but this time
we saw so many more forest kingfishers who like to sit up on the stalks of old
lotus plants. Unfortunately though they are quite skittish and take off when
you stop nearby so any photos are taken with them miles away. We did stop in a
different bird hide on the way back and this gave me the opportunity to get
some closer photos of the crimson finches and a red-backed fairy-wren. The hide
also provided a haven for mozzies who were feasting on Paul mostly and he was
desperate to get moving.
Once back at home we started dinner, as we were both
famished from our walking. Jaden rang to let us know the car was dead again! We
gave him our RAC details and told him to ring the mechanic who fixed it last
time and get it sorted properly this time at his expense.
With the Ipod playing, we spent the evening enjoying our
books.
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