The tropical north: Part 2 (pictures)

Just briefly, before updating on our time over the past week, we wanted to post some pictures to go along with our previous post on the tropical north of Queensland.

   

A shot from when we picked up our campervan as well as a shot through our back window our first night in the van up in the rainforest.

 At every turn on the trail of our rainforest hike was another breathtaking view and steep climb.

The Daintree Rainforest has two massive fig trees with cultural and spiritual significance at each. On top, we are in front of the Curtain Fig, and underneath, we are inside the Cathedral Fig.

 Millaa Millaa Falls - one of the several waterfalls we visited in the Atherton Tablelands. Gave a "Take that!" to the weather and jumped in for a quick dip.

 We have not yet told you the story of Paronella Park, where these two pictures above are from.            Jose Paronella was a Spanish immigrant at the beginning of the 20th century.  In the 1930's, after saving some money, he decided to build a Spanish estate (castles, gardens, walkways, waterfalls) by hand where he could host and entertain. Since he was not a builder, the estate today looks like ruins from hundreds of years ago. The park has been reopened for tourism in the past 20 years and presents a dreamlike setting to explore.

On our way down south to Townsville, we found an off-road detour to the top of Australia's (supposedly) largest and most magnificent waterfall. After our trusty van fought through the potholes, we were left with this view and a dead car battery (I, Jon, left the lights on again...).  We put this here because it captures a little bit of the weather we have faced so far this trip.  While we heard the power of the falls, we saw nothing.

Two more posts to come on all we have done since our time up north!