Day 7 - A Drive in Australia

4/12/07 – Thursday
Well today was another awesome day in Australia!! We had to check out of our hotel at 10:00am, but didn’t fly out until midnight, so we decided to rent a car for the day and do some exploring. Jason took a taxi to the airport and found a car – it wasn’t as easy as we’d hoped as some of the companies were actually out of cars because of spring break business! He practiced driving on the wrong side of the road on the short drive back to the hotel and then we packed ourselves and our stuff in and took off.

We weren’t sure where we were going, but really wanted to see some waterfalls that were in an area about and hour and ½ outside of Cairns. We took a road that we had been told was a little “windy” which turned out to be an understatement!! Jason did a great job maneuvering on the wrong side of the road, but we were both a little tense by the time we got to a straighter road. The girls were all queasy after that windy drive, and we were happy to see that road end!! The drive was absolutely gorgeous with green rolling hills and mountains everywhere. The weather was rainy and foggy which made for some beautiful pictures and a peaceful atmosphere also.

We found the first beautiful waterfall in an area called “Milla Milla”. It was amazing to be that close to such a beautiful waterfall!! We went on to see 2 more that were in the area and then on to a little dairy farm/tea house place where we were greeted with a small plate of fresh cheeses to taste. They were all delicious and the lunch we ate there was as well. We have never tasted such fresh cheese in our lives! For dessert, we had a passion fruit flavored cheesecake that was the freshest and most delicious cheesecake I have ever tasted!!

After lunch, we stopped at another waterfall and spoke to a local woman who told us about an old castle nearby that she said we just had to see. When we arrived, we found that it was actually located in a park area called “Paronella Park”. We were disappointed as there was a pretty expensive admission cost and we were tired of paying such huge prices for everything. They offered to let the kids in for free, and we needed to kill some time, so we decided to go ahead and go on in and it turned out to be one of the most amazing things that we experienced on our entire trip!!! The first thing we got to see was a dance performance done by an aboriginal group which was awesome. The park is centered around the remains of a castle that was built by Luis Paronella and next we took a tour around and heard the interesting story of his life and the park. He died and left the castle and park to his son who died and then it was sold and was left and not maintained for many years. Then, 13 years ago a couple who currently own it, saw it on a trip to Australia, purchased it and refurbished it and are still working on restoring the history of it. The castle was destroyed by a fire, but the structure that is left is still amazing to see. We stayed until 6:30 when the owner did a wonderful nighttime tour of the park and we wandered around with flashlights and they lit the castle up at the end. It was really an amazing experience!

After that, it was back to Cairns where we ate a quick dinner and went on the airport. Our flight left at midnight which I wasn’t looking forward to, but the girls all did great and we slept the majority of the time. We made it back to Guam at 4:15am and got to bed just as the sun was coming up for a few hours of sleep. It was definitely a successful vacation and one that we will never forget!!!