I knew I had to get back down to Brisbane at some point. My original plan was to rent a car just like I did on my way up to Cairns. But it was way more expensive renting a car this time around so I figured I would have to fly down there.
After a few days of hanging out at the hostel, I was ready to move along. It wasn’t exactly my scene, to be honest with you. Just a lot of partying and I wasn’t in the mood to party that much. Especially after our big night out with the gang when we first got back to Cairns.
Alex had teased the idea of driving back to Brisbane because he wanted to spend Christmas down in Byron Bay. And he finally made a decision to do it. So I told him I would go with him.
He really wanted to explore the Atherton Tablelands and we decided that we would make one last trip as a group together. There were a couple of waterfalls northwest of the city that we wanted to hit. Off we went.
The first stop was Davies Creek but it wasn’t all that impressive. The campground towards the bottom of the falls was quite nice. Spots nestled up right near a few pools that you can swim in. I honestly wish we had booked a campsite there.
Towards the top, there were a few pools but they weren’t very full. It was a hot day so of course, we took a swim but we weren’t really able to submerge ourselves in the water fully. It wasn’t nearly as refreshing as we were hoping it would be.
We were able to walk to a lookout point but the waterfall wasn’t all too impressive. I honestly forgot to take a picture of it.
The next stop was Emerald Falls and this one was way more impressive. We took the walk all the way to the top. Roughly two kilometres one way. The view from the summit was great and we were all eager to get a closer look. So we skipped and hopped along the rocks to get closer to the edge of the waterfall.
Alex got a little bit too close. His first mistake was standing on one of the rocks that was wet and had a consistent flow of water moving across it. He posed for a picture and then just like that he was gone. Slipping and sliding along the waterfall.
From where I was standing he disappeared after ten or so meters down the falls. My mind instantly started thinking about the worst case scenario. Did he fall all the way down the waterfall? Was he still falling? Is he dead or seriously injured? How was I supposed to get back to Brisbane now?
Joking aside he ended up being okay. He bounced off a few rocks and then landed on one that was positioned perpendicularly to the way he was falling. So it ended up stopping him in his tracks. No serious injuries. Just a fucked up shoulder and a gnarly bruise on his hip.
I think we were in shock, the whole lot of us, for a few minutes there. How he ended up escaping that without anything serious happening is beyond me. He must have a guardian angel looking out for him or something.
We moved down towards the bottom of the waterfall to take a swim and it was quite lovely down there. I met someone that I had crossed paths with earlier on my trip but for the life of me I couldn’t remember where I met her.
Anyway, we ended up camping there for the night. Alex was in no condition to drive for very long and the rest of us couldn’t be fucked to find a campsite so close to sunset.
It was our last night together and we just stayed up late and reminisced about the journey we had just been on. We stayed up late and we just talked. I played some ukulele and Ty played some songs on guitar. Scott challenged us to talk about what we learned about ourselves on the trip.
I had two things. First, I was proud of myself for being open-minded to the experience. To jump in a car with someone you just met and drive 2,000 kilometers takes a lot of courage. I was proud of myself.
At the same time I was lacking in confidence at some points on the trip. So I need to remember that I had a lot to offer as a person.