Josephine Falls

Last weekend my photo club spent the weekend around the Innisfail/Babinda area.  We stayed at Mena Creek on Saturday so we could take in the magnificent Paronella Park and on Sunday we headed to Babinda.  On the way we stopped in at Josephine Falls.  My D-I-L has spoken of the falls many times and how they were her dad's favourite place.  I can certainly understand why.  It is a beautifully serene place.  You can find little places to stop and take in the beauty very easily.

We walked the 700 metres into the falls and along the way came across some very excited tourists who were watching a very long black snake move quietly and sedately across the path.  We watched as it disappeared into the rainforest.  It didn't have a red belly and it was definitely not a taipan and nor was it a python.   Maybe we have come across a new species!

Along the pathway into the falls, a friend that we were walking with, pointed out tiny little ground orchids.  The flowers are not much bigger than a pin head and are very hard to find but they are actually quite lovely.  Our friend was a member of the Orchid Society and I am grateful for her knowledge. I didn't have a macro lens on my camera so the photo is not as clear as I would like, but you get the idea.

We continued our walk into the falls and passed giant rain forest trees and of course the inevitable fungi. We commented amongst ourselves at how dry it was.......after all we were in one of the wettest places in Australia.  At least we didn't have to contend with leeches!

Josephine Falls are spectacular.  They are in fact three falls that plummet peacefully down to a lovely rock pool where people were swimming around and enjoying the warmth of the day.  From the first rock pool down to the second is a natural "slippery slide".  We watched a dad and his two children sliding there way down the slope.

We stayed for quite awhile soaking up the beauty of the falls before our bellies told us that it was lunch time and we had better go and find somewhere nice to eat.  On the walk back to the car park I came across this little butterfly.  He was very small but it's smattering of blue made it stand out easily in the rain forest.

Josephine Falls are a place that I would recommend to anyone travelling around Tropical North Queensland and well worth the short drive off the highway.