I woke up early in the morning, broke down camp, and got my butt on the road. It was going to be a big day for me. My last with the car. And I still had a three-hour ride ahead of me, not including the waterfalls that I wanted to stop off at.
The first stop was Wallaman Falls. The tallest waterfall in Australia. I got there pretty early. So much so that I was the first person in the car park. I took a moment to admire the falls from the lookout point and I started off on the trek down into the valley.
I made the decision to walk the entire way down without any shoes. Just bare feet. The last few months I’ve been walking around bare foot and it’s been pretty liberating. I lost my shoes at the drum circle in Noosa and my sandals broke a few days later. So that really set me off on my bare foot adventure.
It’s a huge change for me. I was never really comfortable walking around bare foot as a child or a young adult. I was always fearful of stepping in something that I wasn’t supposed to. But now I feel extremely comfortable walking around without any shoes on. In nature or in the city.
Don’t get me wrong. The walk down without any shoes on was not easy. It was painful at points but I persevered. And when I finally got down to the bottom I was so proud of myself. About 3 kilometres downhill with little rocks all over to step on. It was a testament to my determination and will power.
I made my way towards the pool which required me to scramble over these large boulders. It took me several tries to find the right route. And I had to be extra careful because a lot of the rocks were wet with the mist coming off the waterfall.
I was down there all by myself and it was extremely peaceful. I just took some time to be in the present moment. Feeling the mist hitting my face as it came off the waterfall. I stayed around for about 10 minutes and then made the journey back. This time with shoes on.
I hadn’t any sandals with me as I had lost them in Airlie Beach. But while scrambling through the boulders towards the pool I found some sandals that were left behind by someone. And they fit me perfectly. Life didn’t want me to suffer on the way up I suppose.
By the time I got back to the car it was getting to be around lunchtime and I still had quite a bit of driving to do. My plan was to stop by two more waterfalls but I decided I only had enough time to get to one more. So I made my way to Josephine Falls because it was on the way to Cairns.
It ended up being a good choice. A really beautiful waterfall with a nice natural pool perfect for swimming. I met a few characters while I was there as well.
First, we had this Aussie woman who had a bird on a leash just sitting on her shoulder. I got to chatting with her and she had multiple tropical birds as pets. And every once in a while she would take them out into the forest for a walk.
The next man I saw but I didn’t talk to. Similar to most waterfalls there were a bunch of large boulders scattered around. Most people lie around on them soaking up the sun. But this guy got his mountain bike out and was hopping around on them.
It seemed like quite the exercise. But it was amazing how well he kept his balance on the bike. You could see he was exhausted but still he kept his focus and remained in balance. It was a really cool thing to see. I’m just curious how you even practice something like that enough to get good at it!
From there I just made the drive into Cairns and checked into my hostel. Finally, my journey to Cairns had come to an end. Two weeks and over a thousand kilometers covered. Countless nature explored and I even met a few friends along the way. Truly the road trip of a lifetime.