A big improvement with the weather today. Blue skies and no sign of clouds greeted us this morning. Our park is located a few kilometres from the Crystal Cascades, hence the name! We decided to pack a picnic lunch and go exploring to the Crystal Cascades and then on to Copperlode Dam/Lake Morris. Crystal Cascades was a stunning, series of waterfalls, swimming rock pools surrounded by lush tropical rainforest. Freshwater Creek tumbles its way along and it is very picturesque. We enjoyed our walk to the base of the main waterfall and saw many groups swimming in the safe rock pools. We had packed our bathers but weren’t brave enough to swim. After our walk we drove up an extremely narrow and windy road to the Copperlode Dam. This dam is the main water-supply for Cairns and we had read that you could kayak on it. In an area near the dam wall, a large deck had been built and displayed boards about the history of the dam. Further on from here was a lovely park with BBQs, seats and tables for people to use. We stopped here and had our lunch and then started investigating where we might be able to put the kayak in. After checking, we found out that the only way to kayak on the dam, was to book a kayak from a tour company. Apparently there are strict controls on people using the lake and you just can’t take your own, kayak or boat. (The dam had many varieties of fish.) The company that hire the boats and kayaks keep all the records etc. We were a little disappointed with this so after enjoying the beautiful views of the lake we headed back to the caravan. We decided to go out for dinner and had booked a seafood restaurant call Prawn Star. We headed to the Cairns Esplanade wharf area and to our restaurant which was located on 3 fishing trawlers! We enjoyed platter of delicious prawns and Rob also enjoyed a dozen oysters. Prawn Star only serves lobsters, Moreton bay bugs, prawns, oysters and salmon. Drinks were various wines, beer and cider on tap. The food was nothing fancy but fresh and delicious. It was a delightful night with the wharf and boat area beautifully lit and the sea calm. As we were returning to the car after visiting the nearby night markets, a fine mist of rain started to fall.
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