Tuesday 7th July Visit to the Daintree

Up early to fix the new number plates to the car, lunch made and we were ready to set off for the day. Heading north for The Daintree and Cape Tribulation we made our first stop at Barron Gorge which is very impressive. It also generates energy that delivers clean electricity to many homes and businesses in the area. In the wet months this would be running full and is a great place for white water rafting.

Barron Gorge

From here we continued north heading for Mossman driving along the coastal road and the northern beaches. This great road twists and turns hugging the beaches and gives some great views. We passed many of the cane fields that were being cut with the trains taking the loads to the local sugar mill.

We picked up the turn off to Cape Tribulation for the run to the ferry across the Daintree River which they have retained as a unique gateway to this special region. We were advised not to arrive during the peak times 11am-12.30pm, however we found ourselves there at midday along with quite a few other cars all lined up waiting to board the cable ferry. It only took us about half an hour to get over to the other side so it wasn’t that bad.

Crossing the Daintree River

We were last here about 18 years ago and at that time the roads were all dirt and it was all quite an adventure as you could only go through this area in a 4 wheel drive which we did in a eight seater monster. Now it’s all sealed to just past Cape Tribulation where the sealed road ends and the dirt of the Bloomfield Track starts which goes on up to Cooktown. What a change, there are now numerous places

Lace Monitor

to stay ranging from very upmarket hotels to unpowered camp sites. Restaurants, backpacker lodges, it’s all here now, along with the designated stopping off points to look at the views across the ocean and rain forest. We made our way to Cape Trib having stopped at a few places for the views and to have our lunch at a picnic table in the rain forest. This is the place that you can see the World’s most Ancient Rainforest and is also one of the closest points to the Great Barrier Reef. There are many beaches which look great for swimming but they all have the usual signs warning of the possibility of crocodiles being in the area. We walked across the beach and waded into the water which was blissfully warm, they do say you can swim here but nobody we saw was being that adventurous and we certainly weren’t going to swim. We walked back up the beach into the rain forest and were confronted with a huge Lace Monitor, well, probably about 5 feet long. We were warned by a park ranger to keep our distance as they are known to attack if they feel threatened. We made sure we kept our distance away but still managed to get a few photos. We kept a sharp eye out for Cassowaries as well ,as they also have been known to attack, mainly as a result of people in the past feeding them their left over sandwiches etc. It is now a $10000.00 fine if you are caught feeding any wildlife in Queensland. The Cassowary also happens to be an endangered bird despite being an icon of the Wet Tropics.

Cape Tribulation Beach

We turned south and headed back the way we came as there is only one road in and out, though there are a few side roads off to various beaches and getaways (wilderness lodges) which can be quite expensive to stay at.

We stopped off at the Daintree Ice-cream Company outlet to enjoy some great tastes of their locally made Ice cream from the fruit of the many trees grown by them. All this, and surrounded by the rainforest and Thornton Peak looming over us.

The ferry ride back was much less crowded and once over the other side we decided to drive another 10 Kms further north to visit the Daintree Village where we had a cup of tea before driving back to Cairns about 180 Kms away.

With darkness falling the drive along the coastal road was quite magnificent as the full moon came up and shimmered across the ocean.