Balgal Beach
Arriving at this stunning little beachside town, we were instantly thrilled to see the beautiful beaches, tall palm trees, lush green grass, fantastic kids playground and a funky little cafe all on our doorstep! Best part of this place was again it was a free camp! Yeah!
With Dads birthday being the very next day, he was thrilled to be able to celebrate it relaxing by the beach.
With plans also to finally catch up with Martyn and Cassie and the boys, and now also Gary's parents, our group was about to expand rapidly!!
The next day the girls woke early to give their Pops the handmade gifts they had made.
The morning was spent relaxing beachside and we had a yummy lunch of pizza and hotdogs (dads favorites ;))
After lunch Gary had news that Martyn, Cassie, the boys and Grandma and Grandad had just arrived at the caravan park just down the road! (Unfortunately there was no available campsites at our small campground.)
The girls being super excited to catch up with family that they had not seen in well over a year, we soon headed down to say hello and invite them all to Dads Birthday dinner at the little Cafe located near our camp.
That night we all enjoyed a delicious dinner, whilst catching up on each others adventures.
Over the next few days we all spent time together exploring the surrounding area.
We visited Paluma National Park by driving up long windy roads, with thick green rainforests on either sides to check out waterfalls and admire the breathtaking views from the various lookouts.
We hiked and had great fun sliding down natural rock waterslides. We visited a fruit stall on the side of the road on our way into Big Crystal Falls, and brought some yummy fresh fruits.
Traveling altogether up the coast, we stopped in for a night at the Ashton Hotel. Lush green grass, tall mountains and Sugarcane as far as the eye could see, made a stunning backdrop.
Heading out for the day we visited the tallest free falling waterfall in Australia. Wallaman Falls. With a massive 268m drop it was quite an impressive sight!
We hiked to the bottom of the falls, as well as viewed it from the top. Although we all agreed it was too cold to swim in the bottom.. We did find a great place for a quick dip at the top.
We spent our days exploring The Boulders, Josephine Falls, Golden Hole and Bramston Beach.
The day we headed to The Boulders and Josephine Falls we were lucky enough to have Lyn and Geoff (Cassie's mum and step dad, and also great friends of ours, whom we traveled with in the early days of our adventure) drive down from Cairns to join us for the day.
We all especially enjoyed Josephine Falls which had brilliant natural rock waterslides!
The day we drove down to Bramston beach was a great day out also. After following some off road tracks we discovered some secluded little camps tucked in amongst the trees which stepped directly out onto the beach. We stopped to enjoy the surrounds and have lunch at one of these little spots.
With such great views and campgrounds, Gary and I discussed the possibility of returning here to camp, at some stage during our travels.
Packing up here we headed for Cairns.. With plans for Mum, Dad, Gary, the girls and myself, to house sit a friends house for 5 days, we were quite excited for a change of scenary and a chance to relax in a little luxury!
Ella was especially excited as part of the housesitting agreement was we had to look after dog, Buddy! Yeah!!!
After spending a night catching up with the Mike and Mel and their gorgeous little girl Mia, over a delicious dinner cooked by Mel, we were soon waving them off.
The next couple of days were spent catching up on some much needed cleaning of the car and caravan and checking out some of the Op shops around Cairns. (We LOVE Op shopping!!) We managed to pick up quite a few pieces for no more than $1 for each item! Woohoo!! Gary even managed to find me a "Onesie" that was exactly the same as Ellas!! Hehehe...
On the Saturday morning, Mum and I headed out to hike a popular hill climb known as "The Walsh Pyramid." 922m high with uneven rocks to negotiate every step of the steep climb up made for a great challenge!
The views from the top were quite impressive also with the many Canefields and the city of Cairns in the distance.
Later that afternoon we headed out for a day exploring the funky little town of Kuranda with Martyn, Cassie, Alec, Janet and the boys!
That night, thanks to Lyn, who had generously offered us tickets to attend a party thrown for the Master Games featuring Daryl Brathway and after the grandparents all offering to look after the kids... Martyn, Cassie, Gary and myself headed out for a night of fun!
