Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation

Saturday 11th November

So today we headed for the most northerly destination of our journey, Cape Tribulation. Not wanting to sound pretentious, but writing this daily diary of our trip from South to North of Australia in nine weeks, reminds me of what Michael Palin had to do compiling his literary works from Pole to Pole.

I know, I'm not in the same league, but I find if I don't get it all in print, there will be parts that may get forgotten over time and it has been a worthwhile exercise for me to record it all.

Back to the script! We drove past yet more sugar and banana plantations and as we passed through the small town of Mossman there was a local market on. We stopped to have a look and came across a stall selling exotic tropical fruits which we had never seen before. The lady offered us a piece of one to taste. It had a yellowish black lumpy skin with soft white flesh inside and tasted like lemon meringue and custard. It was called Rollinia deliciosa and it was. The other fruit had a dark green skin shaped like a pomegranate and inside it was dark brown with a soft fudgy texture. She called it the chocolate pudding fruit.

Anyway, the most remarkable thing about this encounter was that Jeanette, the stall holder, emigrated to Australia from Hornchurch when she was five years old and has a cousin Derek who lives in Chelmsford on the Tile Kiln estate. Jeanette was so excited that we came from the same town and naturally, extracted a promise from us to go and visit them.

To reach the Daintree National Park, we had to cross the Daintree River by a ferry which was operated by chain cable. The road twisted and turned crossing little creeks ( not a cassowary in sight). The forest was rich in fig trees, vines and ferns.

The sealed road ends at Cape Tribulation, about 50 kms drive from the river crossing. It was so named by that man James Cook again; aptly named because it was where he holed his ship The Endeavour on a coral reef as he charted the east coast of Australia in 1770. I feel we have been following his trail since Sydney.

It is a beautiful headland with a sweeping curved beach of golden sand, fringed with palm trees and mangroves. Care has to be taken walking along here, because the salt water crocodiles inhabit the little creeks among the mangroves. There is a boardwalk that you can walk along to reach the beach, but even if the crocs don't get you the mosquitoes will! So the Deet spray was well used.

Further down, we came to Myall Beach, but our campsite from an earlier trip, was no longer in use.

It is said that here, is where the rainforest meets the reef – very true – all very tropical.

On our return journey, we passed the Daintree Tea Plantation .

                               

We decided to camp at the village of Daintree, a very small settlement with just a few stores. The campsite had a very interesting barn full of antiquities, like an old Singer sewing machine, farming implements and a seventies 746 telephone and a switchboard. In pride of place was the owner's 1955 Ford saloon car in full working order. Our day ended with a tropical rain shower but at least it is warm rain.

Highlight of the day: Sampling the tropical fruit.

Friday 10^th November

We left Granite Gorge about 9.00 am and headed for Kuranda. We wandered through the town and along to the station where hordes of people were arriving on a day trip from Cairns. It is quite a nice little town but very geared up for the tourist market.

We made our escape and drove down to the Barron Falls lookout near the Gorge.

There was not as much water falling as I expected given that it is not yet summer here. The road then wound its way through the rainforest for a few miles before dropping down to the flat plain on which Cairns stands. Once there,we 'hangered' left (as they say here) and made our way along the coast, stopping for lunch at Palm Cove.

It was very windy here and evident that a storm had passed through the previous night. The waves were quite strong rolling in along the beach.

Moving on, we stopped at Port Douglas for the night, a very upmarket tourist resort and camped at the same campsite that we had been to before.

Highlight of the day: Late afternoon walk around Port Douglas followed by a welcome dip in the pool.