I got stuck in Cairns, I admit it. There is too much to do.
I thought I'd spend some 3 days but now it's 5 and if I had unlimited time (and budget) I could easily spent 10 more days without doing the same thing or tour twice.
Still didn't go for the skydive...

Anyway, this was definitely the last day in Cairs (btw 120.000 inhabitants) , I HAVE to move on. In not even 2 hrs, which is midnight here I'll catch the bus to AIRLIE beach.
Thus, I don't miss out on anything because at nights I (mostly) sleep anyway and I hope I can do that in that bus,too.
And what's more it safes me the bucks for the accomodation. Sounds great, let's see if it works out.

Today I went on a Tableland tour, that area is in the South-East of Cairns.

I have to mention that I got only 4 hrs of sleep last night so I was a little tired.
I did not plan that but what can you actually plan on such a tour?!
Went to that cheap and cheerful backpackers place to pick up dinner.
Sat down next to that girl who was on her own too, but after some minutes a whole bunch of people turned up.
They were a big group of Irish working holiday makers and they were really decent people. I didn't realise how fast the time went. That's probably because when I looked at my watch at 1am. most of them were not drunk yet.
No "Whiskey in the Jar" attitude, good thing, good night.

Anyway. it's called tablelands cause it's all mountains but with flat tops instead of tips, if that makes any sense to you.

It's all green again, although there is only about 1/3 of all the original lush rain forest left. They used to cut timber until the late 1970s. Thank God some clever person thought about sustainability these days and stopped the disaster.

At first we went on a boat rip cross a vulcano valley lake. I could see water turles from the boat and an ugly rain forest turkey.
After that we saw 3 amazing waterfalls in the deep rainforest, what a shame they are exposed to tourism now. (I'd rather have discovered them on my own while fighting my way through the deep jungle)! Somehow I was not too happy because I don't really enjoy that rushing from one sight to another. I should get a driver's license finally.
But thats another long way to go....for many reasons.

I better leave for the bus now.
To be continued

btw I put new pictures online

Continuation

Before lunch we visited a cute little organic diary farm, tasted some cheese and - guess what - QUARK, that's what they actually called it. Weird to learn about German Quark in Australia.
Enjoyed it, but I never got such Quark in Berlin :)
Lunch was in a kind of childrens recreation camp, Godness I envied the kids. Such a great surrounding, right next to a waterfall and they did treeclimbing, rockclimbing, Platypus watching etc...I would have joined them happily.
Platypus watching afterward has not been successful, unfortunately, but I didnt really expect it anyway.
The last and greatest station was an old spanish castle in the middle of the rainforest.
Paronella Park
It was built by a Spanish guy who had his dream of a castle in the jungle fullfilled after ages of hard work. And hafter not having contacted his financee in Spain for 11 years, and after having been pretty surprised that she had been married meanwhile and after having married her younger sister finally. That was from the 1920s to 1940s, when Australia was much less explored than today. What a great story.
I want to marry into a rainforest castle, too!!It just has to be big enough that I don't mind the bloke sharing the place ;)

In the evening, well at midnight rather I took the bus to Airlie Beach. For some reason someone sheduled the moring stop at 5:30am (1,5hrs!!) so there was not much sleep tonite either.
Let's see how it goes now. I am sharing my room with 7(!!!) people, don't think I will close an eye..