A Sunrise and A Waterfall

What a Fantastic Sunrise

Standing on the Cardwell beachfront, not another soul in sight, I watched my first sunrise on Australia’s east coast for quite some time, and what a beautiful sight it was, even if Hinchinbrook Island was in the way.

I guess I could have seen the Sun rise across the ocean while we were in Townsville, but that would have involved ‘going out of our way’ to get from one side of the city to the other and then (perhaps) Magnetic Island may have been in the way.

As it turns out, I loved standing there on the Cardwell beachfront, watching the sky lighten, and the sun rising just behind the northern peak of Hinchinbrook Island, with sunlight reflected on the peaceful waters.  We chose to not visit the island, but rather enjoyed a leisurely outing along Cardwell Forest Drive – a 26 kilometre (16.2 miles) loop through state forests in the foothills west of Cardwell.  This is where you get to access some local attractions.

The drive takes in the Cardwell Lookout, Attie Creek, Dead Horse Creek, and The Spa Pool.  Each location accessed via a not-so-rough gravel road.

We entered the drive just out of town with the lookout our first stop.  After a tough 25 minute walk straight uphill, we were rewarded with a wonderful view of Cardwell (as per my featured image above), and the Hinchinbrook Channel.

As you can see, once again we’ve arrived to see everything green following what little rain has been received during the wet season.

From the lookout, the next stop is Attie Creek where we walked up to the falls.  After struggling the short distance up to the lookout, I have to be honest and say I thought another uphill climb (double the distance) would be the end of me.  (As it turns out, my sister-in-law was kind enough to share her cold with me.  No wonder I struggled.)

What a Lovely Little Waterfall

I plodded along and eventually made it to the falls where the water drops a mere 25 metres (82 feet) into a gorgeous little plunge pool.  The water was so inviting we decided to go in and cool off.  It was the middle of the day and the temperature was starting to warm up a little, but holy moly that water was cold.

It was the coldest water I’ve been in for longer than I can remember.  Dean threatened to throw me in (ok, push me in), but that didn’t happen.  I sat down and edged my way into the water, one limb at a time, squealing like a school girl every time Dean splashed me.

It was so refreshing and, with no fear of crocodiles, I can understand why this is a popular local attraction.  We moved on and made our way back, past Dead Horse Creek and The Spa Pool before a quick trip to the Edmund Kennedy, Girramay National Park where, unfortunately, the Mangrove Boardwalk was closed for repairs.

I guess there are lots of other things we could have done in Cardwell, but we’ll always remember swimming in that cold water in the plunge pool at the bottom of Attie Creek Falls.

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Thoughts on Location No 93 – Cardwell, North Queensland

We stayed at the Cardwell Beachcomber Motel and Tourist Park, located across from the beachfront, but as I mentioned above, my sister-in-law was kind enough to share her cold with me, and I’ve had a couple of days of feeling unwell and couldn’t tell you much more about where we stayed.

I can say the sleepy little seaside town of Cardwell was the perfect place to unwind following our hectic time in Townsville, even if the most exhausting thing we did was walk up the Attie Creek Falls to have a swim.  I spend most of the time in bed sleeping and trying to fight off some germs.

We arrived in Cairns yesterday and will stay a few days before moving a little further north.