One of our day trips out of Palm Cove was a drive to the Tablelands. We knew the adventure entailed going up the mountain and we because of the name we expected to find a flat (table like) terrain on the other side of the range. It turned out to be a challenging drive with amazing scenery.
While winding our way up thru the hills, we discussed how they were pretty little mountains nothing like our own grand Rockies. Dave talked about what a great bike riding trail it would be, right up to the 2 miles of 12% slope going UP the cute little mountain followed by miles of switch backs, hills, blind curves and narrow bridges! Even after we crossed the range, the land didn’t flatten out.
The rolling hills were lusciously green and despite the increased altitude and much cooler temperatures the region has a very tropical feel. (Yes – I realize that we were still between the equator and tropic of Capricorn and that the whole darn place is technically tropical). The heavily wooded rolling hills and green grasses valleys reminded me of the mountains of West Virginia. It was a bit surreal for this country girl to see happy cows lounging about with parrots swooping overhead and palm trees in farm yards.
Cruising the Tablelands, we decided to check out one of the several scenic waterfall routes. It was an amazing treat! Some of the falls were next to the road with small viewing platforms; others involved a short hike into the rainforest. The flora was breathtaking and fortunately the fauna was rarely seen.
I’m not sure Dave would have survived encountering many more Bush Turkeys. These birds are black and about the size of a big healthy chicken. They make weird noises and occasionally dart out of the bushes. Suffering from a lifelong chicken phobia, I am not a fan of birds in general and ones that dart past me in heavily wooded rainforests make me jump behind Dave so that he served as a human shield, separating me from those nasty birds.
Here are four of the waterfalls we checked out –
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