We had decided to slow it down a little after several 3 day stops as Tim was starting to get pretty fatigued. To be honest I was too but Tim has a legitimate excuse to take it easy so we will say it was because of him.
We found a private stay on Hipcamps just outside of Malanda that was touted as camping along one of the tablelands most pristine waterways with your own private waterfall. Sounded like a beautiful spot so we decided to book in for 4 nights.
Unfortunately the reality was a little different to the description and we were actually camping beside the road, albeit a quiet one where the river passed underneath us out of site and the waterfall was a walk down a goat track with head high grass on either side. It didn’t help much that it was gale force winds when we arrived freezing cold and neither of us were feeling the greatest.
Beautiful creek just hard to get to 
Campsite by the road 
The private waterfalls
But an afternoon of doing nothing and an evening of movies soon made us feel a little better and the next day we went for a walk into Malanda and back. The wind died down a little and it meant we could sit outside the camper trailer and enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Though we hightailed it into the van at dark as the temperature dropped to nearly single figures. Griff even made it into the van.
The next day dawned with beautiful sunshine and both of us were feeling better so we decided to do a little waterfall tour around the area. Again we had to be a little selective due to Griff so only falls with short walks from the car park but we still got to see some amazing falls. To be honest even though the sun was shining the water was still a little icy for my liking so we didn’t really miss too much not being able to swim.
Mills Milla 
Zillie Falls 
Ellinjaa Falls 
Walk to Ellinjaa 
Countryside of Atherton Tablelands 
Next day we went for a leisurely walk along Patersons Creek near Yungaburra to see if we could see a platypus. The walk starts just in town and then winds it’s way along the creek. The creek is actually on private cattle grazing property, however the family has allowed the community to plant and cultivate the banks to ensure the wildlife thrives. This includes platypus in the creek and rare tree kangaroos in the trees.
We were a little skeptical as to whether or not we were going to see one but sure enough after mistaking a turtle for a platypus we went to turn away and up popped a platypus. They really are the weirdest animal I have ever seen! Unfortunately it did not show itself for long enough for a photo so we continued on looking for more. It’s actually quite difficult to look where your walking, look at the creek and look in the trees to try and see a tree kangaroo. But we managed to do so without any injury. 😂
Watching and waiting for platypus 
The platypus! Not a very good shot but evidence none the less.
On the way back we managed another two sightings. Even managed a photo which looks like a floating poo or tree branch but I promise you it is a platypus. Unfortunately we did not see any tree kangaroos but I don’t think we could have coped with seeing two bizarre and wonderful Australian animals in one day! S