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Published: October 2nd 2009
Daintree Ferry
.... across the Daintree RiverDAY 328
Last night did not work out as I had written it, I did go to clean my teeth but the people we met earlier invited us over for a cup of tea, so Andy and I grabbed our chairs and went over to sit with them. We chatted for a while, but it was late and the very bad thing is that because we were tired we did not write their names down so have forgotten all of their names already.
We finally went to bed at about 11.00, Andy went straight to sleep, however I lay looking at the bright moon for a while, and did not get to sleep straight away, I feel I have a guilty conscience and I also forgot to mention it in yesterdays blog, but I killed a Gecko, I was completely mortified when I realised and struck with guilt, I went to put something in the bin, I saw a Gecko in the bin, but it scuttled off, I had no idea that it was lurking around the edge of the bin, so when I put the lid down I squashed it! I felt so sad that I killed
something, Julie said “don’t worry he chose to die that way,” but I could not help feeling that if I paid attention to where he had gone then that little fella would be alive today.
Eventually I went to sleep, we slept only under one sheet and one blanket, it was a lovely night.
We both awoke just before 7.00 the daylight was already streaming in, it sounded busy outside on the campsite, children were already outside playing (still school holidays here), so it was time to get up.
Andy went over to the camp kitchen to boil the kettle for our morning tea, while I made the bed and zipped up the inner panels to get the tent ready for folding.
After a couple of mouthfuls of tea I popped over for a shower, when I came back Andy went over, we were not going to do our own breakfast this morning as we thought we would try the Free Pancake Breakfast down by the Garden Pool.
At 8.00 we arrived armed with our cups, plates and cutlery and joined the very long to await pancake. We had to wear a name badge, so
I am guessing that the idea is to talk to people and get to know them, also there is a Snorkel and Dive company handing out brochures, of course this is what it really is about, a bit of marketing and hopefully more than a few people will go on one of their trips. We sit on the edge of the pool and eat our breakfast amongst the masses.
The pancakes were huge and thick; there was a table with allsorts of toppings available, such as golden syrup, maple syrup, lemon juice and sugar where you could go and help yourself, then to one side was a table for the tea, coffee and juices. It was quite an enjoyable atmosphere, but it was time to go and get packed up ready to move on.
It did not take us long to pack up as we did not get much out last night, but Andy wanted to inflate the tyres slightly more as they were a little bit too low. So while he did that I went to check out and get our $10 boom gate key deposit back. There was also a book exchange outside the mini mart
so I dropped off a few books, trouble is I picked up a couple, still we will read them and drop them somewhere else. I did find another Nora Roberts novel, but as it was in a Scandinavian looking language I did not think it suitable reading so had to leave it.
Oh, nearly forgot, when I checked out I was given a complimentary bag of Jelly Beans to enjoy on our journey, not a big bag, but they were nice all the same and did not last the journey out of Cairns.
So, onto the problem for the day, when I started the engine this morning to reverse and hook up the trailer, it was fine, however when Andy started the engine to pull off site it was revving high again, oh no, this is not good. We could not understand what the problem was this time, so had no option but to stop at Nissan on our way through Cairns.
We thought that they might run and hide when they saw us coming through the door again, but no once again they were exceptionally helpful. Neil the Nissan technician came out to check what was
going on, he started the engine up and realised straightaway what the problem was, he said “I’ve solved the problem for you”, “Great” we said “what was it?” He smiled and said “I just flicked the switch” and then it all became clear, while Andy was tinkering around this morning he must have accidentally flicked the Diesel Preheat switch.
Andy was slightly embarrassed to say the least, but then we were both feeling a bit paranoid after all the trouble we have had in the last week or so. Still problem solved and we are back on the road, we head North out of Cairns toward Mossman and Daintree.
Once we were past the junction for Port Douglas we were on new territory, we admired the still stunning views of mountains, tropical rainforest and the beautiful beaches, we pass banana plantations and sugar cane plantations on the way.
We needed to catch a ferry across the Daintree River to get up toward Cape Tribulation, just a short ride across costing $15.00 for a one-way ticket for both the truck and trailer (we should go back a different way when we leave Cape York).
While we crossed
I speculated on how many crocodiles would be lurking around us, and if they have been loitering for years waiting for this ferry to sink and give up its payload of passengers, thankfully not today!
On the other side a much longer queue awaited the ferry, we passed them all driving around the winding roads and eventually turning off for Cape Kimberley. We see signs all the way telling us not to drive fast and warning us that “Cassowaries Cross Here, next 2km” but no not for us sadly, we arrive at the stunning Cape Kimberley and go for a walk on the beach, there is not another soul around and this beach is stunning, of course you are not really allowed to swim or stand on the waters edge because of the crocodiles etc.
There is actually a campsite here but there are signs up saying “Keep Out” “No Camping, No Toilets, No Water”, we wondered if it had been taken over and was up for refurbishment.
Onwards we drove, stopping at the Alexandra Lookout on the way, the view was just perfect! An Orange Footed Scrub Fowl ran across the road in front of us,
Coconut Tree
Dont want one of these falling on your head I think he was trying to fool us into thinking he was a Cassowary, but the size is vastly different!
We had thought about going into the Daintree Discovery Centre, there is a canopy walk, amongst boardwalks etc. Of course always the possibility of seeing Cassowary, however we see that it is $28 each to get in, and we did not want to spend too long here, we just wanted a quick look and move on, so thought it would not be worth spending the money, gosh we sound like a pair of skinflints. Don’t get me wrong on this, I think it would be a great place to spend a few hours walking around and enjoying the wildlife and the rainforest, it does look very well done.
We make a sandwich and move on, eventually we find on the map that there is an ice cream place further on, I mention it to Andy and of course he is engaged with that idea, so on to the Daintree Ice Cream Company, only to find that it is not your usual flavour ice cream, but a made up selection ready for you to buy.
Today’s flavours are:
the base is lined with Macadamia, with a scoop each of Black Sapote, Wattle Seed and Banana with Mango ice cream. The lady behind the counter explained the flavours to us, mentioning the Black Sapote is also called “Chocolate Pudding Fruit” surprisingly it tastes just like chocolate pudding. The Wattle Seed ice cream tastes just like cappuccino, no need to explain what the others tasted like.
Daintree Ice Cream is a busy place and the surrounds are beautiful they have labelled the trees so that you can see where the fruit comes from. We see some flowers in the garden that we recognised from the Cairns Botanical Gardens.
A huge family arrived, there must have been 20 or so members of this family, the poor woman behind the counter got confused over how many ice creams they had, but it was not really helped by all of the kids trying to scream out their orders and two adults trying to organise things in different ways, but the funny thing was a shout went up from someone saying “Grandpa’s paying,” poor Grandpa having to foot the bill for that one, he may have regretted offering!
Onwards we went
this time looking for our campsite, we drive over speed humps in the road, we think that they are there to slow the traffic down for the Cassowaries.
By 3.00 this afternoon we have our campsite, we pre booked this one a few weeks ago when we started to plan this leg of our journey, we are at Noah’s Beach Campground, which is run by the National Parks.
We find our pitch, but are not too impressed by the site, it is not easy to pick a good site when you do it on the internet as you have no idea how big it is, if it is on a slope, will the trailer fit etc. Well we find this one is on a slope, the bay is shallow with a huge area in behind for pitching a tent, so not particularly good for camper trailers (I don’t think anyway!).
We get it sorted making the best of a bad job and soon get the kettle on, it is a lovely afternoon, we are surrounded by trees and enjoy a relax and read our books.
Just before dark we pop out for a drive, we drive
over Oliver Creek, I see something floating in the water, but it is hard to see what it actually is, could it be a crocodile? Unfortunately we cannot stop anywhere here so we could not get a closer look. We see a boardwalk that we may do in the morning.
Back at camp we go for a wander through the campsite and onto Noah’s beach, wow, it is beautiful. The sun has already set, so we did not catch a dramatic sunset tonight, there are only a few other people wandering down the beach.
After a while we head back, we want to get dinner on before it gets dark, so tonight we have one of Andy’s precooked and frozen curries, yummy!
With the washing up done, Andy reads, I type up the blog and I will have a short time to read before going to bed.
We are both tired so an early night will be on the cards.
Another day and another adventure tomorrow, and hopefully a Cassowary!
P.S. we were thrilled with our blog statistics for September, a quick check on them today reveals that we had 3401 hits, our best
ever with August being 3349 so we are excited to see what October may bring.
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