This weekend the group went to Malanda Falls and Granite Gorge.  Malanda was beautiful.  It is part of the World Heritage site here in the Australian Wet Tropics.  We were given a tour of the rainforest by Uncle Ernie, an aboriginal tribal elder.  We saw several trees that were over 500 years old.  They were absolutely amazing, really huge.  We also got to see a group of turtles swimming in a river below us.  After the walk we ate lunch at Malanda Falls.  It is a waterfall about 4 meters high with a lake at the bottom.  We went swimming in it after we ate.  On Sunday, our free day here with SFS, we took a group trip to Granite Gorge.  The main attraction is a tribe of rock wallabies that will come to you when you offer food, and sometimes even if you don’t.  They were adorable.  One of the females had a joey in her pouch.  The head poked out while we were watching.  There was also a swimming hole there that we got to use.  A big rock in the center was perfect for jumping off.  All in all it was an amazing weekend.

                                                                                                    -Carolyn