Once you've negotiated The Walkway it's back into the forest until you reach The Tower, which takes you up, should you choose to do so, to points where you've got a bird's eye view rather than a treetop vista. Reading the screeds at the base of The Tower (at least that's where I think it was, I was waiting for Madam to finish up yonder) I learned the RCW was built in the wake of Cyclone Larry, and there was plenty of evidence of Yasi in the area. Still, rainforests grow, and the area will recover to its full former glory. It couldn't have been too far short of it, given a location just on the lee side of the ridge.
Our ramblings were frequently disturbed by the presence of half of the Year Eight cohort from an Innisfail College, clipboards in hand and under the supervision of one of the RCW rangers, who sympathised with a couple of ex-teachers while maintaining a supervisory eye on proceedings.
Back in the car, once we'd reached the top of the Palmerston we were off on the waterfall circuit, taking the looping trail that delivers you to the Mungalli Falls rapids, and continuing on, to the Mungalli Biodynamic Dairy.
