26/9/9 Cape Tribulation Sat

We had a well deserved relaxing break up to Cape Tribulation for the night. We were collected from our hostel early to drive the scenic ocean road towards Cape Tribulation. We were last on the bus so ended up with Phil sitting up the front and Liz tucked right down the back in a chair with no view...perfect!!! We stopped for a breakfast stop at a roadside cafe. We had toastie and egg sandwich there before setting off again. The cafe was attached to a traditional Aussie saloon with all sorts of country artefacts and a piano in the corner. We drove only another 10 minutes before we stopped again on the banks of the Daintree river where we had some tea and biscuits. We boarded a boat for an hour long Crocodile cruise. We were lucky and spotted 5 Crocs of differing sizes from a tiny one just a few months old up to a huge old male called Scarface. The driver also spotted a tree snake which was almost impossible to see until the boat was right next to it. We stopped next at a rainforest walk where the driver was really knowledgable about the plants used by the indigenous people. We didn't see any Cassowaries though...they are very elusive. Apparently it is the breeding season so the males are sitting on the nests and can be extra aggressive. We arrived at our accomodation Ferntree Lodge which looked great but were told the room wasn't ready. We only had one night so we didn't want to hang around at the hotel for the room so we left our bags and went for a walk. We have both been to Cape Tribulation before and can't believe how developed it has become with shops and a pharmacy as well as many eateries and accomodation. We called in to look at the pharmacy ran by a Hawaiin pharmacist and ended up booking ourselves onto a tour for the next day through the rainforest with a local guide. Next we called into the rainforest visitors center called the Bat house where the man working was the ranger who had taken Phil round the forest 10 years ago!!! The place was full of information on the rainforest animals, birds and plants and they also had an injured bat there called Sunshine. She was munching away on apple which apparently they only suck the juice from and spit out the pulp. We took a quick walk around the centers regenerated rainforest and then set off down the road to Cape Tribulation Beach. We walked for about 20 minutes before we got to the soft white sand of the beach and the little bay. We then walked up and over the headland onto Myall beach off which we could get back to Ferrtree via a forest boardwalk. We walked the length of the beach and realised we had misse dthe turn so went into a camp ground and asked directions. Apparently someone had stolen the sign sp we weren't being blind after all. We walked back along the beach and turned off onto the Dubuji boardwalk. It took about half an hour to walk around the winding path. We saw loas of massive trees and ferns and also saw a Boyds Jungle Dragon (large tree lizard). We stopped to take a few photos of the lizard which didn't move or blink the whole time we were there. We got back to the hotel four hours after we left for a quick walk and went to our lovely room. It was really nice and a shame we only had one night. We showered and went to PKs hostel nearby for a meal and a beer but we were both pretty tired so went off to bed.

27/9/9 Sunday Cape Tribulation

Guilan, our English guide collected us from the hostel at 8 am then drove to pick up 4 more people for the walk. He had lived in Australia for 22 years and didn't look anywhere near his 42 years. He lived near Cape Tribulation and owned a 50 acre section of land including rainforest and a new cocoa crop.
He had taught himself about the flora and fauna and the indigenous knowledge too. We drove into the Noah valley , Noah means border in Aborigine, which marks the border between the north and south tribal areas. The land is used by the Jalanji people for meetings etc but is privately owned too. As we walked through the unlogged and virgin rainforest area he pointed out many interesting trees and vines, ferns and other plants. We climbed up a dry creek bed over massive bolders that create waterfalls in the wet season. It must all be very spectacular in the wet season. we reached the top of our walk at the foot of the Fossil falls which only had the smallest trickle of water in them. WGuilan produced a billy can from behind a rock and then a burner and morning tea from his bag. We sat under the shade of the forest canopy eating fresh baked cake and drinking tea...how lovely. We set off to return down to the bottom but used an Aboriginal hunting pathway instead. Guilan pointed out a tre buttress root which had been examined by Aboriginal elders who said that it had been cut to make boomerangs and weapons...you could still see where this had been done. Once we got back to the car we drove a few miles to a watering hole where we went for a swim in the cool freshwater creek. it was reall ylovely and refreshing for about half an hour till we had to go. We got dropped at the Whet cafe recommended by guilan for a nice lunch then went back to the hostel to wait for our bus back to Cairns. On the way out of Cape Tribulation we stopped at the lookout for the Alexandra Ranges but the dusty and smoky clouds obscured the view. We went straight to Mossman gorge to have a bit more time there instead. Mossman gorge is sacred to the local jalanji people who believe the giant rocks in the gorge are the eggs of the serpent who caved out the waterways in the dreamtime stories of creation. There are some short boardwalks there and a beach area from where people can swim but we didn't go in as we'd dipped in the waterhole that morning already. We had an icecream before getting back on the bus to drive to Port Douglas. Port Douglas is reputedly a luxury resort and we stayed for only half an hour. It was nice but nothing too exciting. It has a great beach but we didn't stop near it. On our way into Cairns we saw two fields full of grazing wallabies which was great to see. We went out for a free dinner at the Rhino bar with Colin but didn't stay very long as we all had a diving course the next day and a really early start.