Sunday - Our tour north
As there is loads to do around Cairns, esp to the North, we decided to go on a day trip to squeeze in as much as possible after our leisurely start. This was also a good option as we are going car-less for the first month of our time here.
So, after some vegemite on toast, the coach came to pick us up at about 7.30am. We were some of the last people on, so we were right at the back, which meant Nik kept hitting his head and Hannah felt a bit sick as it was very rumbly.
The tour took us up the Captain Cook Highway, which is a stunning coastal road that goes past some amazing beaches (though they are full of stingers and jellyfish so you can't really go in them anyway) and gives a chance to see some wonderful green hills and islands, including snapper island which looks like a crocodile. Our tour guide was a comedy American called Bill who was excited about everything. We also went past lots and lots of sugar cane fields and the amazing little sugar railway that transports it around.
Our first stop was the Daintree crossroads, where we stopped in the sunshine at an awesome little café (had to be restrained to not buy a steak and gravy pie!) before heading down to the Daintree river. This is a large river that goes through the Daintree rainforest area and has lots of crocs living in it. We went on a boat up and down the river croc spotting. We saw three crocs (though one was a baby and looked like a lizard) and one of them we saw twice, his name was Fat Albert and he was 4.5 metres long. We also saw a snake in a tree. Plus some interesting tree roots (a new geek passion of ours!). The river cruise guide was a legend and came out with some good quotes due to his dry humour. Top phrases included: "they tried to put a water skiing resort up here a few years back. It didn't go so well" and "as well as crocodiles, you may see a lot of log-odiles. Feel free to take pictures of them."
Mainly the people on the tour appeared at this early stage to be freaks/bland. Some of our favourites included some girls with matching horrible shorts, polo shirts and ribbons, yes ribbons, in their hair, a girl who really fancied herself but whose backside was eating her stained white shorts, and a south African couple who thought they were brilliant but were the most bland, yet somehow offensive, people we've ever seen.
Also while we were at the river, we had tea and biscuits and it was special because it was actual Daintree tea, grown locally and delicious. We saw the fields where they grow it later on.
Next we went to Jindalba botanical boardwalk in the Daintree rainforest. There were lots of trees, including some old ones (oldest was about 500 years) and some fig ones that borrow other trees and create their own fertilising eco system. There was also Wait-a-while which is a thorny tree with long hanging tendrils with spikes in them that can trap you and hurt you. Plus we avoided the stinging trees, these have lots of fine needles on them that stick in you causing a rash and pain for 18 months. We were warned about leeches but didn't see any. We were hoping to see a Cassowary, an endangered dinosaur related bird, but we didn't. Though we did see the destruction caused by feral pigs, which to protect the rainforest means you're allowed to hunt them with a bow and arrow.
After that, we drove through the rainforest up to Cape Tribulation, which is named in Captain Cook's journals, and where he had a spot of bother with his boat. We walked down to one of the loveliest beaches either of us has ever seen, with perfect white sand for miles surrounded by palms and lush mangroves and leafy hillsides. We then had lunch at a backpackers in Cape Trib called PK's which was an awesome spot. Nik had fish and chips for lunch and Hannah had a salad wrap and chips. We were further offended by most of the guests and did our best to not speak to them.
After lunch, we headed back south and Bill, the maverick tour guide came up with a brilliant idea, shouting out over the classic rock he was playing.. "who wants to stop for ice cream!" (imagine his excitement). All the bad shorts girls on the tour (and there were many) were v excited by this, so it is no surprise that there was more cellulite on these young girls than we have ever seen in our lives. Chunky calf muscles too, anyway, we digress. Ice cream. We stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream company where they have their own orchard and gardens where they grow exotic fruits and make them into totally natural and organic ice creams, with a few flavours on offer each day. We opted for a tasting pot to sample each of the four flavours. There was mango, sour sop (one of Hannah's fav fruits anyway), Wattleseed (dunno what it is, had a sweet, burnt taste) and Black Sapote (some sort of round fruit that tastes like chocolate). We then were able to wander round and take a look at the different fruits and the trees in the orchard.
We would have liked to stay longer looking at the fruit farm, but we were whisked off to the Alexandra range lookout, which offers views over the sea in the area, with the islands and mountains etc. It was ok, but not a patch on some of the views we saw in Indo. Some bloke (not on the tour) proposed to an ugly woman while we were there. She said yes. Happy times. We also saw an island where the queen left her cutlery once or some such nonsense.
Afterwards, we had to drive to go across the Daintree River again, but this time we went on a cable ferry on the coach not the boat. It was not as good as the Cowes chain ferry. On the journey, Bill announced that he was going to play a track by a local 'Aboriginal House Hip Hop Act' (words that should never be seen together - TRUST US). Before he has even played it, the annoying Saffa couple were trying to be all ethnic and asking 'where can we buy it? Whats the groups name?' Before they had even heard it. It sounded like background music in some sort of Brighton shop that sells incense and wooden carved animals. It sucked.
Next stop was Mossman Gorge. Mossman is a small town with a big Abo population. It also has an interesting history as it blew down in 1905 and then they started rebuilding it, but because there were only a few women in the town, the first buildings to be rebuilt were the pubs, and the vicar had to rebuild his own church single-handedly as nobody would help. We went to the Gorge part, which is more rainforest and a big river that you can swim in but it is very cold. Despite having come prepared with our swimmers on, we opted out of the swim as there was only a small area you could go in and it was heaving with people, inc lots of kids, so wasn't quite the back to nature experience we hoped for! Instead, we went around the walkways and looked out over the gorge and the forest - it was nice but there wasn't much in the way of wildlife to see.
Our final stop was a town further south called Port Douglas, about an hour from Cairns. It used to be nowheresville, but then a fraudster developer introduced a luxury resort and some palm trees and since then it's taken off, and you can see why as it is LOVELY. It has a gorgeous little marina with super blue water, surrounded by leafy mountains, then it has a random little beachfront, with the cutest church ever (though we saw a questionable. Her: white cowgirl outfit. Him: tuxedo t shirt. WOW). Other than that, it is just a market, rows of little streets with pretty hotels and apartments and little gift shops. It also has a string of proper pubs, bars and restaurants that are all gorgeous and all have live music going on. It is also warmer there. It's basically a lot like Cowes but better, or St Tropez, but much much smaller. We wished we were staying there.
We then drove back towards Cairns, taking in the scenery again. The highlight however was that instead of being dropped at their hotel ("we haven't been staying in hostels meh meh meh"), the annoying South African couple chose to get dropped at CHURCH. It was a first for Bill, that's for sure!
We got dropped at our hostel and were ravenous by this stage so headed straight to Gilligans for backpacker free dinner. Chilli con carne tonight. One of the best ones so far. And the early doors big portion was a result. We were however so knackered that we didn't even bother to have a beer this evening, though we were motivated to book a day out on Tuesday. We have booked a day on Fitzroy Island, which is one of the Great Barrier Reef's less developed island, and as such was the cheapest day trip!