As far as I'm aware, everyone loves waterfalls, and few things are better than beautiful waterfalls where you can swim with almost no other tourists aside from your own group. That is why hands down one of the best day tours I've ever done was Barefoot Tours trip around the Atherton Tablelands. There were two lakes, three waterfalls, and 1 PM body shots... what more could I want in a tour?
My Gilligan's pickup in Cairns was at 7:30 AM, and our guide, Emma, informed us off the bat that everyone on the bus was hungover. We even had to pull to the side of the road at one point so one girl could get off and be sick. Luckily nothing cures a hangover like some freezing cold water, so we were all on the road to recovery very soon. We went around the bus and did icebreaker questions on the way, and it was a fun, laid-back tour. We even each had our own cozy blanket at our seats!
Lake Eacham
Our first stop was Lake Eacham, a perfectly still, large, glassy blue lake surrounded by trees.
We didn’t actually have the greatest of weather. It wasn’t hot out, and it stayed cloudy all day. Emma had told us that this lake had the warmest water of all of our stops, which we quickly discovered was not warm at all and put me in dread for the next three. I don't know why I always expect to turn up to natural swimming holes and have them feel like hot tubs, but the disappointment still gets me every time.
We had a fruit break afterwards. A huge platter of pineapples, bananas, passionfruit, kiwi, canteloupe, and watermelon was set out for us, plus tea and coffee. So good. One of my newly discovered loves in Australia was passionfruit. It looks like crazy inedible jungle fruit on the inside but it is delicious.
Dinner Falls
Our next sight was Crater Lake, the only one we couldn't swim in. That was ok because we bypassed it and continued walking on to Dinner Falls where the water just kept getting colder, but it was too much fun to really care.
Millaa Millaa Falls
Our lunch stop was at the Millaa Millaa Hotel. It was a proper Aussie pub which means there were basically no veggie options and so I ended up with a bowl of wedges. We did get a free beer though, and since one of my friends on the bus had correctly answered a trivia question and won a tequila shot that he didn't want, he gave it to me instead! Emma of course recruited one of the guys to lay down on the bar so I could take it as a body shot, and I decided this was maybe the best tour ever.
Millaa Millaa Falls was nearby, the most famous of the waterfalls we'd see.
I think some British singer Peter Andre filmed a music video there or something... I can't keep up with their nonsense celebrities (I can't even keep up with America's nonsense celebrities).
Anyway, Millaa Millaa Falls was easily the most beautiful and poured down into a swimming hole beneath.
As promised, however, the water was freezing! You'll quickly learn while traveling the backpacker route that there are certain must-do photos at various locations that might look unique to your friends at home, but every other traveler actually has the same one. The thing to do here is a hair flip (I guess Millaa Millaa was not monopolized by B-list British pop stars because Herbal Essences also filmed a commercial there), so we spent some time attempting a group shot and I also took a few solo ones on my waterproof disposable camera. I obviously couldn't see my pictures until the film was developed (just like the old days!) and each one was just a couple seconds too early to be good.
Or my hair was just being annoyingly uncooperative.
The group shot is better.
After swimming, we hopped back on the bus and headed to our final waterfall.
Josephine Falls
Josephine Falls is a long, gradual waterfall that streams down a creek.
The main attraction is a natural rock slide near the bottom.
That was very fun. I went down twice, but the rocks were also slippery and the current kept trying to pull you down the creek afterwards, and if I remember correctly I had to have somebody rescue me from being swept away. Water is not my element but I like to play these situations off as if I was never about to fatally drown.
Afterwards, we went to the pavilion and had another round of tea and coffee, this time with Australian snacks like Tim Tams (dip them in coffee! Try the raspberry/dark chocolate flavor! Send some my way!), Anzac cookies (also amazing), chocolate cake, and Lemmingtons.
It was seriously one of the best tours and not all that expensive in comparison to others! The waterfalls are so worth seeing, and you get to spend your day swimming at these gorgeous locations. I would highly recommend not missing this if you are in Cairns.