The Boulders, Bramston Beach and Birds on a roof
Still raining here but we've had a delightful day. First we drove to The Boulders, a camp and picnic site 5.3 kms from the pretty town of Babinda, north of Innisfail. This is a beautiful spot, with a creek flowing fast through huge boulders- it must be awe-inspiring in the wet!  There are whirlpools created in the rocks, and little waterfalls.  


I may have mentioned  dense rainforests previously, but this one's a proper jungle, although with an easy, tarred walking track.  Really wonderful to see huge examples of plants we grow in a pot such as umbrella plants many metres tall.


Then to Bramston Beach, a nice enough beach with Joyce Creek entering at the end.  But you start to wonder why people bother building houses in these places, with nary a shop for miles, and although the beach is nice enough, you still can't swim there because of crocs and stingers.  (We still haven't seen a croc, but we've seen a photo of a monster, 4.5 metres long and very fat, photographed at Tully Head the week prior to our visit- he might very well still be there under the water.)


The big surprise at Bramston Beach was a pair of jabiru sitting on a roof!  These are very big birds, actually the correct name is Australasian stork- you don't expect to see them on a roof (having said that, storks in Europe nest on chimneys by preference).

                         Jabiru on a roof


Then to Innisfail for lunch, and a leisurely stroll around the town admiring the art deco buildings.  Innisfail had a bad cyclone in 2006 (Larry) and many buildings were damaged so the paintwork in most cases has been freshly done.

                                                  Innisfail Courthouse

 Innisfail Water Tower, the first thing you see coming into town

                                                    Catholic Church

                                    Innisfail Shire Chambers


On the way back to Mission Beach, we stopped at Lacey Creek for another rainforest walk.  This is the prime spot for cassowaries, but we didn't see one, not surprising because the gravel path is very noisy and there's no chance of sneaking up on wildlife.  No doubt the birds were well aware of us.  We did see some nice fish in a very deep but clear pool. 


PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM CHANGING TO ANOTHER BLOG AFTER FRIDAY AS THIS ONE HAS TOO MUCH CONTENT.  THE NEW ADDRESS WILL BE chrisandvaltothursdayisland