The title of this blog may be somewhat misleading as our extent of adventuring into the Cape was like Edmund Hillary reaching the outskirts of Auckland on his way to Everest. None the less, it was fun ..... so read on.

After our successful pick up from the airport, we took Peter back to our favourite caravan park to get settled in, and to prepare him for his big week of running and living with kids! I think he did pretty well.... even surviving the 7am Cairns Parkrun instead of having his first holiday sleep in. The next day we ummed and ahhed over whether to try a trip out to the reef with two small children, but the weather was looking iffy and the wind was picking up, so we changed tack and headed north towards Mossman Gorge. After a lovely coastal picnic by the pier at Port Douglas, we headed up into the mountains and found a pearl of a farm stay tucked into the top of the mountains at Julatten. A good sign was when the owner met us at the front gate and said he was really busy, showed us to our spot, and all we could see was two other vans, and a tent way at the back of the property.

The property was previously a tree farm that was let to go wild and the new owners who retired here, have made it into a slice of heaven, with lush grass, palm trees scattered throughout and birds a plenty. Another young family travelling Australia was parked nearby so we socialised over the fun and difficulties of travelling with children (while thinking of nothing better to be doing with our lives). Mossman Gorge was our destination for the morning, so Peter dropped us well out of town, and we did a long run back through the streets of Mossman before finishing the run at the information centre ready to shuttle bus up into the gorge, deep into the dense rainforest. A short walk revealed the cool waters of the Mossman River, and further in we discovered the giant fig trees tucked away under the canopy. A swim and a picnic in the tranquil waters was a lovely way to cool off from the humid heat of the rainforest.

On our drive north, we had high hopes of sighting one of those endangered Cassowarys, after missing out on the Cassowary Coast. There were plenty of signs around, so odds were high. Prior to heading north we jumped onto a tiny boat on the Daintree River for a bit of croc spotting, and did we see them! We spotted eight or nine of them, along with a few old boys around 5 metres long hanging around the rotting corpse of a pig they were snacking on for morning tea. Back in the car, over the river on the punt, and deep into the rainforest of Cape Tribulation. We slowed down at all the signs, but no luck spotting a cassowary. We have written to the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature, requesting that they reclassify the Cassowary as 'mythical'.

After squeezing our camper into our allocated spot, we took a breath and took in our surrounds. What an amazing spot, squeezed between the rainforest and the Great Barrier reef. A short wander on the beach allowed us to see the birds, jungle, sandy beach, as well as the calm ocean crashing on the reef just a few metres away. As much as you try to relax into this beautiful environment, the knowledge that stingers and crocodiles can get you if you get to close to the water, snakes and spiders can get you too close to the jungle, and even that Cassowary is apparently deadly if you get an angry one. How unlucky would that be?!

We enjoyed a few days of bush walks, fruit ice cream, a dip in a 'croc free' swimming hole, and a delicious pizza before heading up the Bloomfield Track. A few nerves were apparent when the sealed road went to gravel, they jumped a few levels after the first river crossing, and peaked when we started climbing up the side of a mountain dragging the lump of a swan behind us. But the Prado ate it up with more to spare, so the remainder of the 30 kilometre trip was awesome, crossing some cool creeks and climbing some massive hills, with gorgeous views back down the coast.

We arrived in Cooktown and found a great little spot at a passionfruit farm on the Endeavour River just out of town. A morning on the harbour with a play and fish and chips before we headed west into the Cape proper. Laura, a tiny town in the heart of the Cape, was our expected destination, but a right turn instead of a left turn in Cooktown had us travelling 100 km along the alternate route via Battlecamp Road instead of the paved highway. This road took us deep into the Lakefield National Park, over creeks and dry river beds, through scrubby forest, and along endless stretches of red dirt roads. The journey is the destination rang true for this trip, as Laura as a location was entirely underwhelming. With the Laura Dance Festival on, we were denied entry to one van park as 'friends' were coming, and the other looked pretty roudy so we kept going. A very impressive walk up to Split Rock just south of Laura, was the highlight revealing some extensive and pretty impressive aboriginal rock art. We opted for a long drive all the way back to Mareeba in lieu of finding a random spot at a roadhouse, and stayed again at the Birds of Barren.

We managed to do the Tablelands again, filling in the gaps from our previous attempt including Lake Euchom - a crater lake, the historic village of Yungaburra, the curtain fig tree, and attending the Atherton ParkRun in windy and drizzly conditions. We dropped Peter off at the airport in Cairns to send him off back to Newcastle, following another sampling of coffee from local coffee plantation Jacques.