19th - 22nd Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation

Days spent:
Port Douglas: 2
Cape Tribulation: 2

As the journey back from Cooktown down to Cape Tribulation would take several hours, we decided to stop over at Port Douglas before heading north again. The drive was long, hot and dry and so noisy that our ears were hurting. We didn't want to put the air-con on (as it's expensive) so we just had the windows opened. When we did come to stop, we had to empty the cabin of massive butterflies.

We spent two relaxing nights in Port Douglas walking along the beach and window shopping. This place is very touristy and full of posh boutique resorts. We wanted to go swimming but the sea conditions weren't calm enough to have the stinger net out so we walked instead.

The next day the weather was good enough to actually do our washing! That took most of the morning, as we had to close by incase there was an unexpected rain shower. We amused ourselves by trying to see how far we could swim underwater with just one stroke.

It was another clear morning when we set off for Cape Tribulation. We had to make two quick stops on the way, one for fuel as there were no facilities further North, and two, to pick up another toaster after our second one had blown up that morning.

We had to take the ferry across the Daintree River which takes you across to the national park and rainforest of Daintree and Cape Tribulation. There's no electricity from here on. All residents have to use generators or solar panels.

We reached Cape Tribulation which took ½ hour through thick rainforest, creeks, and road humps (for Cassowary protection). The campsite was right on the beach amongst the rainforest, and was really basic. The toilets were the environmental compost toilets.

We first, as usual, walked along the beach to the boardwalk that took us through some of the rainforest, Fan Palm forest, and mangroves. The rainforest in Cape Tribulation is the oldest in the world and has been aged at 135 million years - much older than the Amazon. So you have a chance to get up close, the local council have spent a fortune on these sturdy boardwalks which snake their way through untouched forest without causing too much damage (or getting lost/eaten by spiders etc.). Informative signs tell you what you're looking at along the way and we found that if you were quiet and observant you could find loads wildlife and spend ages walking around - all free, as usual.

We also walked over to the other side of Cape Tribulation where there was yet another fantastic beach. It was here was saw a large Lace Monitor nearly falling out of a tree. It was nearly 2 metres long.

We woke up next morning to find a Tropical Golden Orb spider had made its home on our washing line. These spiders are the most disgusting, scary looking spiders going, but are harmless, they are as big as a person's hand.

We drove to the Rainforest Discovery Centre where you could walk along more boardwalks, but at a price. They took you at mid level, so you can look at other plants and fauna at this height. There is also a tower (23 metres) that takes you up to the rainforest canopy, which is another world, but we didn't see any birds like we thought we would.

Afterwards, we went to another boardwalk (as we hadn't had enough), Jindalba. It was getting dark and we were hoping to spot a Cassowary. No such luck, but probably a good things as they're pretty dangerous.

After having our fill of rainforest, we leisurely headed back to Cairns stopping off at the Botanical Gardens, and a safe swimming hole, which we didn't swim in, but it looked really inviting. Because we were really hot by the time we were half way back, we stopped off at Mossman Gorge and took a dip in the really cool and clear gorge. It was extremely refreshing and fun swimming to the boulders and against the current.

We got back to our original campsite in Cairns late that evening.