Day 206 This morning there was time before check out to go wander the park again, see a few things we did not the day before and revisit what we did. Such a nice and calm way to start the day. Once we left the park we were heading up the Canecutter Way towards Innisfail. Within a few minutes of driving it started to rain, hard, then in a few minutes it was gone. this was the pattern for most of the day, on and off rain.
We went through Innisfail without stopping hoping to make it to Babinda and The Boulders when the rain took a break, glad to say it worked out. Got off Bruce Highway, drove through one street Babinda and 6 km on the other side entered the picnic area at The Boulders. Along the picnic area ran crystal clear Babinda Creek not much to it right there but a few hundred meters up stream through lush green rainforest and we seen how The Boulders got their name. The water speeds up and crashes and weaves through a maze of massive...well, boulders. The Aboriginal story behind the creation is a twisted tale of love. OOlana who was promised to a tribe elder fell in love with a man from another tribe. They ran away but were caught and separated. On the way back to her tribe OOlana broke loose and jumped in the creek throwing boulders high in the air. Where she lays is now called Devil's Pool. They say her spirit is still lurking around the boulders and when somebody dies in the creek (apparently many people have, not heeding the warnings of slippery rocks, strong current and fast rising tides), it's because of her still looking for her true love. We hiked the short distance back down stream and I tested the clear water by wading in a bit, it was freezing!
Soon after we got out of there and were back on the Bruce it started raining again. We wanted to check out Josephine Falls so we were back tracking a bit. When we arrived the rain had stopped again, and it was a brisk, short walk to the falls. Josephine had two rock pools (the bottom good for swimming) and three tiers to it making it less of a sheer drop falls but adding a lot of character. After a photo session I once again decided to test the waters but this time full out. Climbing over the bed of assorted sized rocks I reached the water. There was no wading in here it was in to at least the waist in one shot. GLACIER COLD!! As clear as that water was it matched it in coldness. I lasted a mere 10 minutes or so as my hands and feet were going numb. My body temperature was definitely lower even to Jenn's touch for the next hour or so. We couldn't tell as the forest canopy covered us but some time on our walk back it started to rain. We lazed around in the van while it stopped then back tracked to Innisfail for the night.