As we continued our journey north past
Cairns, we decided to head to Port Douglas in the hopes it was a
little less packed out than Cairns.
Despite the weather chopping and
changing, from drizzle to sunshine, we found the drive to Port
Douglas a truly beautiful one. A windy cruise along the coast.
The next day we set out with the plan
of going to Cape Tribulation and then onto Cooktown.
After some cruisey roads we hit the
water and catch the ferry across to the Daintree. This new location
was also a stunning drive. Cruising through some gorgeous lush rain
forest, up and down winding hills whilst also feeling the breeze from
the ocean not far off.
Not far into the drive you are treated
with a beautiful lookout, showing the rainforest packed hills meeting
the ocean below.
Once at Cape Tribulation we jumped out
and decided to check the "Friendly Grocer" shop, which Jen
really got excited about. See early in 2012 Jen lost her favourite
hat at a concert, known to all as her rainbow hat, wherever she went
to look for a new one, hippy stores, clothing shops and supermarkets
she could never find one... until today!
Now with a grin from ear to ear we move
over to the "Dubuji" part of the Daintree National Park for
some lunch and a cruise around the board-walk. The board-walk was set
up really nice, it connects to the beach and gives you a grand tour
of where the rainforest literally connects with the beach, a lot of
unusual plant life resides here, we saw some quirky white clawed
crabs, curious lizards although despite hearing them grunting from
behind the thick forest walls we saw no wild cassowaries.
The Daintree area was so gorgeous we
decided we'd organise a permit and camp at Noah Beach Camp grounds
and wow what a treat. Sleeping in the rainforest, listening to the
waves of the beach in pure darkness at night really made for an
amazing nights sleep.
Come morning I really had to remind
myself as I sat outside, in a rainforest, listening to the waves, in
my pyjamas eating my breakfast that it was actually the middle of
winter!
We decided we would lock down the hubs
and take the 4WD track to Cooktown, rather than return on the ferry
and take the long way, besides it was 100ks to 4WD vs 400+ks to
backtrack, makes sense to go 4WD!
As previously stated we have minimal
4WD experience, but we had heard the track had been recently graded.
It was a pretty damn bumpy and slippery ride, a few river crossings
“Rocky” romped over with ease as if to say "Why'd you bother
locking the hubs?". As we got further into this amazing drive
full of really thick rainforests we hit some pretty steep inclines
forcing me to crawl up in first gear. Some vehicles had enjoyed some
of the steep inclines back down the mountains a little too much, and
as such were rewarded with becoming an upside down decoration by the
track to warn others to take it easy. One was pretty fresh too, we
think the last few days.
The hard part of the track was only
about 30kms and well and truly worth the adventure, we had such a
good time just sitting in the car only jumping out to take some
spectacular photos.
Once we reached Wujal Wujal, the first
dry spot on our adventure, we decided to check out the waterfall, it
was close by and only a short walk, perfect way to stretch out after
that long 30ks! As we approached the waterfall we looked out over the
river, to see a big fat crocodile bathing itself on a rock. After
however many "Warning/achtung crocodile" signs we've seen
we finally saw a crocodile in the wild!
The waterfall was a pretty site,
although we were too intent to find more crocodiles to give it our
full attention!
Back on the road towards Cooktown and
eventually we drove past "The Lions Den Hotel" a
pub/museum/rest-spot/camp ground that a few people have told me I
have to visit, so we did a U-turn and went back, parked up the
troopy, had some grub and went for a little walk around the place. As
we were walking, I hear a sh sh sh from Jen to look up and find a
goanna skulking about a BBQ.The Lions Den Hotel is a great stop for a beer, food or fuel and a welcome stop after the 4WD track through the Daintree, however it is quite easy to spend a little too much money on beer there!
Cooktown wasn't far further on, and was quite a lot quieter and smaller than the previous towns mentioned in this post. It had a quiet breezy atmosphere by the ocean. A great strip by the water for a nice walk with a few touristy things in the park.
In the centre of this walk lies this big black musical ship, full of assorted percussion setups, lots of fun for young and old alike!
- Cameron
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| The Musical Ship |
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| Some of the instruments |
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