Cape Tribulation - 21st September

Cape Tribulation Car Kilometers: 179,389

Distance Travelled: 276km

Total Distance Travelled: 11,138km

We leave the Tablelands and pootle up and down the green and pleasant hills, towards Cape Tribulation, our northernmost stop on the east coast, since we've now decided not to bother going up to Cooktown.On the way we stop at a coffee sampling place, where we enjoy a proper coffee (Dave), and a chilli hot chocolate (me).We stop again at Daintree Village to pick up some cash, supplies and a map, and drive onwards to the queue for a ferry across to Cape Trib.We fit onto the ferry with about 12 other cars, a bargain at $19 return for the three or four minute journey across the river, guided by a thick chain under the water.Off the ferry, we plunge into the spectacular Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of the Daintree National Park.Dave loves driving along the super-windy and narrow road towards the campsite, and poor Ken doesn't have a clue what's going on.Several gasp-inducing sharp bends later, and we reach the site - happily pitching up in a shady alcove just metres from the beach.That done, we set out to explore the area: Cape Tribulation is breathtakingly beautiful, a place where the rainforest meets the sea.There are layers of mountains, huge ferny leaves, trailing vines, silvery beaches and more bugs than you can shake a stick at.We spot dozens of big, bright blue butterflies on the drive around, and our tent poles become a temporary home for the bright green tree ants, which live in the tree next door.We drive slowly as advised by the road signs, wary of bumping into any of the strange and rare cassowaries who live in these parts.Although we have supplies, it's been a long day, and Dave suggests we go out for dinner.A restaurant up the road has been recommended to us, so we drive out along the pitch black wiggly road to hunt for it.When we arrive, we're immediately pretty sure that it's not our scene - it's beautifully decorated, has gorgeous staff dressed in black, and an area to sit and wait to be seated.We are told that it's an hour wait for a table, so pick up the menu and take a seat in the bar.Our mouths are watering - the menu items all sound delicious… but at $15 for a starter and $30 for a main (and this is the kind of place where they do mind you sharing one meal), we decide to give it a miss and slip out the back door.Not that the prices were extortionate or anything - we wouldn't have blinked twice at paying fifteen quid for a main course at home - but just not for our budget conscious travel wallets.Even when we're having a splurge we have to be conservative!We've just about resigned ourselves to noodles back at the tent when we pass a brightly lit backpacker's hostel.We check out the Lonely Planet's opinion, not trusting our own, and read: "PK's has an infamous party reputation and because its Jungle Bar literally goes bananas, it's either your gig or not…."Hmm.A write-up that would normally guarantee that we drive as far as possible in the opposite direction.However, a phrase further down the paragraph catches our eye: "There's a restaurant".Hmm. There really isn't anything else open in Cape Trib apart from the wallet-emptier we just came from.Against our better judgement we park up and decide to have a look… and find that despite appearances, and even with the addition of a can't-wait-to-finish-my-shift-and-get-away-from-inconvenient-customers receptionist, it has a really good atmosphere.Whilst we aren't quite converted into paid-up members of the backpacker hostel brigade just yet, and will never ever be thin, tall, blonde, overconfident or cool enough to fit in, we had a great evening that didn't burn too big a hole in the purse.Possibly Sunday nights are the exception to the 'full on party' rule.Yes I know I'm a grandma.Two delicious portions of $8 fish and chips with salad and a few drinks later, we decide it's time to head back and make for the door.On the way out we spy a few computers with internet access, and since we have credit left on our Global Gossip account from Darwin, decide to check our emails before bed.Sat closely together on a bench, staring at the monitor, Dave nudges me for no apparent reason.I frown at him and carry on typing. Two seconds later, Dave tells me off for nudging him.We both look at each other, and then look down… it turns out that a grasshopper the size of my hand is jumping about between us, the culprit of the nudging - he's got some power in those pencil-sized legs!He bounces off behind the computers as we shudder at the close contact with yet another larger-than-life bug that we'd rather only meet at a distance.Recovered from our close encounter of the insect kind, we drive back to our beachside spot and tuck in for the night, after admiring the bright, bright stars that have put on a show for us - the Cape is mostly generator powered, and doesn't even have a mains water supply, so it's moonlight that keeps the site lit at night.We wake up refreshed, and dig the map out again for another exploratory trip around the Cape.We head firstly to a lookout on one of the beaches, and then meander along a tame 1.2km boardwalk through a portion of rainforest and mangrove that runs alongside the sea.I spot a few fish and some turtles in the murky waters of the mangroves, and then rescue Dave from a small stick insect that has attached itself to his window in the car, using my now practiced insect-removal technique of coaxing it onto a stick and rehoming it in a nearby bush.We drive to the Fan Palm Boardwalk Café for lunch, but are told on arrival that their supplier hasn't turned up today and that they've just run out of food.Boo!Our mouths are watering again as we walk by others who managed to make it before the shortage, munching on heavenly smelling wraps and sandwiches.This puts our plans off kilter, as we'd driven about 20kms to get here, with a plan to go next to an ice cream company a bit further on.We decide that rather than heading back to camp for lunch, we don't want to miss out on the ice cream action - we're not disappointed, and enjoy a sample of the ice-cream on offer, trying wattle seed, mango and coconut flavours, along with something purple that tastes plant-y but we can't remember what it was.Mmm.Still hungry though, we zoom back to camp and rustle up some chopped salami, garlic and spaghetti, whilst spending the evening updating our journals as we've gotten a bit behind.Tomorrow we leave for Port Douglas, and our last leg of this part of the trip down to Sydney.