Cairns isn’t just the Great Barrier Reef
A holiday in Cairns isn’t just about the Cape Tribulation and the Great Barrier Reef. There are heaps of other things to do. We hired a car and discovered some of the less known attractions.
The Babinda Boulders are, as the name implys, big rocks near to the small town Babinda. They are located within a streem in the rainforest, so this is an idyllic spot and somewhat beautiful. I could just stand there for ever just looking at it.
In the tongue of the Yidinji “Babinda” translates to “water flowing over rocks”. The Yidinji tell a rather sad legend about this location: The young girl Oolana was destined to marry the young man her clan had arranged for her, when another clan came along to hunt in the area. At once, Oolana fell madly in love with one of the other young, men from the other clan, and as he loved her as well, they eloped the next night. Soon they were discovered, and according to the tribal law, the young man was punished. As Oolana was quite important to her clan, she was not punished, but she sat down beside the water and cried. The water swallowed her and put all the rocks on top on her – but she is eternally calling for her lover, and this is why you should not swim in the creek: If a young male ventures into the water, she believes her loved one has finally come, and grabs the swimmer. If she sees that it is not the one she waited for, she is so disappointed that she lets them drown.
In fact, within the last eighteen years, nineteen people died from swimming in Babinda Creek. Of course from a western way of looking at things this is because the current is so strong, and some people just don’t follow the signs that advise against swimming. But I find it very interesting how the Aboriginal legend explains important things on different levels: On the one hand marriage law, as the story depicts how unhappy you become if you do not follow it. On the other hand that you should not swim in the creek. And finally it is a story of how the Babinda Boulders were made. This is typical for Aboriginal legends: You can read them on different levels, they are not only simple tales, but have a very important message for the community.
The MaMu Canopy Treetop walk is situated within Wooroonooran National Park. This park is part of UNESCO world heritage, but it’s not very well known and not many tourists go there. It lies south of Cairns, near Innisfail. Wooroonooran’s old growth rainforest is some of the oldest in the world.
The canopy walks leads you through the forest on three different levels: On the ground, above the canopy, and through the canopy. When constructing the walk, they used the destruction that cyclone Larry had left: They placed the pillars right there where trees had previously stood. Because of this they did not have to remove any trees.
I find rainforest so interesting and thus the MaMu Canopy Walk was just incredible to me: To see the giant trees from the ground, than to be right on one level with them, and then to see them even from above… Just awesome! And there is no need to be afraid, as the walk could even bear an adult elephant. It was called MaMu after the Aboriginal people of this area.
The highest platform is about 37m high and the view is just spectacular… I felt like being in a BBC documentation when seeing this huge green mass and all the enormous trees.
Mungalli Falls is a picturesque waterfall situated on the Atherton Tablelands. Unluckily I did not have time to go to the bottom and only saw it from above. Mungalli is an Indigenous name for meeting place, which is apt because three waterfalls actually join here. With a fall of 90m, it’s the highest waterfall of the area. It is surrounded by incredible rainforest.