Touring near Cairns- Week 2 waterfalls and caves.

Another week off back at Cairns, need it after 21days of work.
Once more truck is already packed up and ready to go, everything I own is in there. stopped at the farmers market and butcher to fill up the fridge. Headed south to the next range rd going up to the tablelands, inland from Inisfail and Mission beach, the Palmerston.

Josephine falls was a great spot to stop for lunch,   a huge deep pool with crystal clear water,  catfish cleaning the bottom and a waterslide waterfall!,  and that wasn't even the best part of the view lol. Found a free camp near by at gold hole,  but decided to carry on up the Palmerston. This rd is locally famous as the main part of the "waterfalls circuit":

Josephine falls

• Tchupala falls
• Walacha falls

Henrietta creek for a swim and lunch. This was a nice camp spot too but it was full up. So we continue on.

• Nandroya falls
• Silver falls 

Left into the thick forest to an old logging camp for the night. Continued up the Palmerston range to

• Suoita falls
• Pepina falls
• Zillie falls
• Mangali falls & Mungali Creek dairy factory, awesome milk with cream on top.
• Ellinjaa falls
• Mila Mila falls, Mila Mila town & Milla Milla look out, Mila is water in aboriginal and it's a very suitable name,  alot of waterfalls around these parts, we visited 11 within a couple days, was too many to swim them all. 

Oh and for dinner we checked out dinner falls and the crater, hard to describe but it's a like a giant post hole straight down into the rock,  50m wide 100m deep I estimate, very impressive.

Found another free camp after trying a few unsuitable ones, past the rain forest and into the dry euclypt bushland. The next day, Herberton for the info center To Help decide Where to go next.

Due west, follow the signs towards Darwin, stopped at an old cob & co horse and coach stop for lunch,  but not much left,  just a sign post and some concrete pads, be good to have a look around with a metal detector. 

Carried on to Chillagoe where there is the remains of a old  mine & smelter plant. And saw an ausco camp (same as the camp we are building at work,  but they get grass and gardens,  we get dust or mud.

There are over 600 limestone caves at Chilligoe, for safety reasons only 6 are open to public, the rest are accessible via the caving club. But any little track off the road leads to a cave if you know where to look. The entrances are safe to explore if you are careful not to go too far in. And they make good private camping spots.

Visited several sites including some amazing rock art and a type of cave that was mostly sheltered overhangs and catherdrel type,  that where once home to aboriginals. 

Camped that night down a side track near a rocky outcrop with several restricted caves and rock formations. Through out the night we thought we could hear a noise like a puppy or injured animal, in the morning while having an early coffee I herd it again,  went for a short walk through the maze of rocks being careful not to get lost,  and Spoted a couple little fluffy looking dingo pups. Decide they where OK and didn't want to disturb them so kept my distance, mum was probably out hunting and they where calling to her. 

2more caves pompie, another one,  they are pretty intense, hard to get into and many directions to explore. Difficult to climb around diffinatly need a torch. There is no need to go into the restricted caves when these ones are so good. Especially when only have a couple days. 

Found a place to swim under the coolabaa trees had a cuppa then all the way back to Cairns, all in 6days. What to do next time.

Henrietta creek

Walacha falls

Mangali Rapids, the falls are below and hard to get in a photo 

Ellinja falls

Silver falls 

Mila Mila falls 

Obligatory selfy, proof I was actually there. I trimmed the beard back a bit soon after this. 

Awesome lookout.

The crater

Dinner falls 

Picked up some candle nuts in the rain forest, they are singing with oil they burn like a candle. Early pioneers used them when they run out of candles. 

Cob &co stop for lunch.

Into the dry country, no waterfalls here. 

Asked these two for directions but got no response.

Straight flats way up behind all the hills and rainforests

Giant green tree frog,  they get big out these ways  

A cool monument to the old days of mining, glad there is a bit more money in it now days. 

These guys did it tough. 

At least my wheelbarrow has a motor. 

Relics of the old mine. 

Limestone monoliths 

Caves are hard to photograph 

This rock is heavy. 

The boogie man. 

Stone rino. 

It's gna fall. 

Small opening leading to a massive cavern and tunnel network 

Swim time to cool off 

those dusty guys gave me bad directions.