Tropical Paradise

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to Cape Tribulation, until I saw pictures of it. Like most places here in Oz, it looked amazingly beautiful, so I signed up for a tour.

The tour would take us out of town a few hours south, to the Daintree River for a crocodile spotting cruise, Cape Tribulation for a hike along a boardwalk through the Rainforest, lunch at PK’s Jungle Resort in the heart of Cape Trib, on a hike to Mossom Gorge and to the resort town of Port Douglas. As you can tell this was a lot to pack into one day, and thus the early start to it all…

Banana trees and sugar cane lined the highway

The bus arrived at 7:40AM to collect me outside of my hostel. As it pulled over, a short tattooed guy with curly flowing hair called out my name, looking for me. I called back and loaded the bus, which was a smaller bus like the one we had in Alice Springs.  On our way out of town the guide pointed out a place on the side of the highway where a large group of wallabies were to be spotted, which was pretty neat, as I had only seen one at the Koala Conservation.

Crocodile!

Is he catching his breath OR getting hungry?

We winded around curvy bends in the road, which in turn made me feel sick, so I dosed off. I awoke at our first stop, the Daintree River. After a quick morning tea we loaded the boat for our cruise. I sat by the rail, ready to search the water and banks for “Saltys.” Soon enough our driver was pointing out a big one, a 4-meter croc that that was lazing on the left hand bank. We headed up the river further looking for crocs and within a few minutes came across a smaller one basking in the sun with it’s mouth open. I was surely glad that we ended up not encountering any crocs in the water…or at least, none that we saw.

The Strangler Tree

The bus then took us to a boardwalk that weaved through the rainforest. Our guide talked about the plants found in the rain forest as we walked along. Turning one corner we came to a stop. A girl with keen eyesight had pointed out a large spider off in the distance. It was massive. I was happy that it was a healthy distance away from us.

Next we headed to PK’s Jungle resort to drop off people staying in Cape Trib for the night and then we went to the beach. You weren’t allowed to swim at the beach because of the crocodiles in the water and because it was becoming stinger season, so I was okay with not being able to stay long at the beach.

Mossom Gorge

The bridge swayed as the water rushed below it...

After lunch we headed to Mossom Gorge. I had seen pictures on the brochure of here. It looked nice and green, and when we got there it was as pictured. The green plants reflected in the color of the water, making the water a nice brilliant color as well. They said you could swim in the gorge, yet signs warned against it. With only a half hour at the gorge we decided to skip swimming and to hike to the footbridge, crossing the river.  

View at the lookout

Along our way out of the rainforest to Port Douglas we stopped at a lookout that offered a fantastic view of the beaches below and then continued onward. When we got to Port Douglas we had some free time to explore the town. It reminded me of places along the Oregon Coast that offer nothing more than small souvenir shops. We walked to the beach where the wind was blowing so hard we had to shield our eyes with our sunglasses. Sign everywhere warned of the dangers of the water. One thing I learned was that if stung by a jellyfish you should pour vinegar on it.

These warnings are NO JOKE!

Tropical Paradise...plants in Port Douglas

And then we loaded the bus again for the last time and headed back to Cairns. That night I wandered around the esplanade at night, watching the heaps of bats flying overhead. They call the bats, “Boxes”. Some were quite big, stretching out the length of my arm! I then returned to my hostel where I hung out with new friends and went to bed. 

At one point the sky was black, with bats...

The Lagoon at night

Cairns at night (taken from the lagoon)