Atherton Tablelands

I had booked a tour to the Atherton Tablelands (a rainforest an hour south of Cairns), not really knowing what to expect. But it turned out much better than I imagined it would for $80. As we began our walk the guide asked “what are you all hoping to see?” I called out “snake” since that was the only animal I could think of that I hadn’t seen in the wild yet and really was hoping to see while in Oz. Our first stop was to a giant fig tree which isn’t too terribly exciting until he opened up his magical bag and out came a python! It was probably 2 meters long and he had found it on the road near his house. Knowing it would never survive there, he decided to catch it and release it on his next tour (which just so happened to be mine)! He let us drape it over our necks and take pictures… clearly I was all over this. He pretty well instantly wrapped his body around anything he touched. He had gotten a decent hold around one guy’s neck but I’m sure the guide wasn’t nearly as taken aback as the rest of us were. The rest of the tour consisted of our guide cracking jokes, and stopping at 3 sets of waterfalls, which included the Millaa Millaa Waterfalls where the commercial for Herbal Essence is filmed. Needless to say all of us girls had to re-enact this shot. Our guide took pictures and I will add them once he uploads them to the website. When stopping for our first coffee and snack break, our guide made real brewed coffee, whipped milk to make froth and even topped up our coffees with coffee flakes. Pretty unexpected when in the middle of a rainforest. He taught us how to crack open a coconut and entertained us most of the drive with random stories of his life. The next morning I made the drive out to Port Douglas for some good quality beach relaxation time.