Cairns and Cape Tribulation: Living in the rainforest

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Cairns definitely felt more like Australia, we could feel the humidity as soon as we stepped off the plane and although it seemed a little overcast it was very warm which made us cheerful. We called our hostel who organised to come and pick us up. The hostel was named Calypso and was really great fun with a large pool and great buffet that was cheap for guests every night. One of Shane's friends worked there too so we got to know the rest of the staff pretty quickly.

Cairns suprised me, the town centre being very small and clean and I liked it a lot. Swimming was impossible here however, due- not to sharks- but this time to bloody crocs!!! The front shoreline boasting a great promenade for morning walks and strolls stretched out over marshland that was in fact the start of a sea that you couldn't see for miles. This marshland was inhabited by a gazillion crocodiles and there were warnings everywhere telling visitors not to even attempt going near the water. To rectofy this problem though, Cairns had a huge, stunning blue pool next to the town and beach that they named 'the lagoon'. This was a great place to hang out and go for a swim and sunbath and Shane and I spent a great deal of time relaxing there and topping up the tan.

Whilst in Cairns, we ideally wanted to get some fruit picking work and so spent some time looking for jobs but because we didn't have a working visa it was practically impossible to find anything and we finally gave up. Instead, we simply decided that we would leave Oz slightly earlier and head to a cheaper continent. We visited the travel centre to start booking the trips we had bought in our package and were heavily advised to see Cape Tribulation whilst we were in Cairns. Looking through the brochures we realised it was not something to be missed and thankfully we didn't miss it- It was truely incredible...

On our way to Cape Tribulation we were allowed to take a short walk through the forest, where we saw some great waterfalls and rivers and walked over a rope bridge. After this we were taken on a guided tour of a wildlife park. Here we got our first taste of just how massive and dangerous crocodiles are, two 2.5 metre crocs were hanging out in the sunshine and when the park supervisor took some meat over one croc almost lept over the fencing and snapped at it with dagger-like teeth. We also saw some birds, snakes and kagaroos which was great. After this we did a short rain-forest tour before arriving in Cape Tribulation where we were introduced to many weird and wonderful trees and plants- one tree that could actually walk.

Cape Tribulation is located within the Daintree National Park and the Wet Tropics World Heritage area. The area is very remote containing only a handful of tourism resorts and backpacker hostels. A sealed road provides access to the area from the south via the Daintree River ferry and if it rains heavily people often get locked in for weeks on end. The cape was named by British explorer Lt. James Cook on 10 June 1770 after his ship ran aground on a reef near the site, "because here began all our Troubles". Shane and I booked a two night, three day stay there at a cheap little hostel named Ferntree. As luck would have it, when we arrived in the early evening the hostel was closed down for renovations and as the owners of the hostel also owned a luxurious 4* resort in the area, we were upgraded at no extra cost.

We were shown to an area of remote wooden cabins that were literally in the middle of the rainforest, exotic trees and wild flowers hanging over our lodge and strange noises becoming louder by night. The cabin was amazing, with a large, open lounge area, COMFY beds and a clean, big bathroom- there was even space to unpack clothes for the first time in months!! Here we met our two random roommates, great people, one was an older woman named Debbie who worked as an artist and an English teacher in an American university and also wrote many books on feminism, she was quite a character. Our other roommate was named Jos, a young guy from the Netherlands who was really bright and fairly quiet, again another character. As we were miles away from civilisation we spent that night in a refreshing way, a group of very different and head-strong people simply sitting in the dim light of the cabin learning about each others lives and loves and discussing topics of the world. We talked long in to the night before retiring to bed-listening to all the wildlife as we drifted off.

The following day was entirely ours, our host was only picking us up the day after to give us a tour of Daintree river before taking us back to Cairns. Shane and I got up early in the morning and headed to the beach for a sunbath, the beach was simply stunning and I hadn't seen anything like it since Ilha Grande. The Cape Trib beach had a similar backdrop to the Brazilian island- the stunning rainforest meeting white sands and beautiful seas. The beach seemed to stretch for miles and Shane and I were the only people on it, the only down side to it's beauty was the fact that it was stinger season and we weren't allowed in the sea without a stinger suit. I will explain about the jellyfish now as they are a big concern in Australian waters and this was a problem that followed us down the East coast:

'Stinger' season usually lasts from November to March, though people are warned to stay out of the waters through April too as many are still found floating around and we have in fact seen quite a few. 'Stingers' refers to marine stingers, mainly jellyfish and in Northern Australia there are many types. The two worst threats are the Irukandji jellyfish and the sea wasp- commonly referred to as the Box jellyfish. Both of these jellyfish are highly venomous and are found frequently in the waters. The Irukandji jellyfish usually only sees its victims hospitalised with Irukandji syndrome. However, in the case of the Box jellyfish, if it stings you in the respitory area (highly likey when swimming) most people die within a 10 minute time frame and these creatures kill more people in Oz than Crocs, snakes, spiders and sharks.

Situated on every beach are vinegar stations and vinegar is to be poured on to the stings whilst awaiting an ambulance. A few beaches do have netted areas that are supposed to be safe from stingers. However, we met a guy our age- may I add- a very large rugby built guy that looked as though he could easily wrestle a croc- and he was stung by a Box jelly fish on his neck which saw him spend the first 3 weeks of his travels in hospital in the worst pain of his life. The point we learnt very quickly.... In Australia- Just STAY AWAY from the sea!!!

After admiring the beauty of the beach Shane and I met up with Debbie and Jos for a swim in the pool and then we decided to go for a little adventurous walk to Cape Tribulation town a few miles away. We saw some amazing flowers on our walk and also spiders that I have only ever imagined in my worst nightmares. Huge, colourful spiders hanging in enormous webs. When we arrived at the town, we saw one hostel with a bar and one small store, how that constitutes to a town i have no idea but we thought it was brilliant. Debbie generously bought all 4 of us some goon for that night. Goon is Australia's cheap wine and though it's utterly horrible it is the national backpackers drink and saviour because it is so ridiculously cheap. It comes in a silver bag with a nostle, that is boxed in order to look slightly more appealing. Made from fish eggs, you can pick up a four litre box for 10 Australian dollars (5 British pounds).

Early that evening the 4 of us went for a stroll along the beach to watch the sunset which was beautiful and then had some dinner. Later that night the four of us had another relaxed evening, drinking goon, playing card games and chatting until the early hours of the morning.

The following day we were really sad to leave and contemplated staying before agreeing that we didn't have the time. We were picked up by our host and taken to the Daintree river. Here we had an hour long boat ride that took us gently down the river where we spotted some local wildlife such as snakes and birds. The two stars of the show were definitely the frogs and crocodiles though...

The Green Tree frogs of Daintree are remarkably cute and small and shine a neon green colour. Being nocturnal, they climb aboard boats in the early hours of the morning to stay hidden from preditors. Our host pulled a few out from under our seats to show us whilst we were on the river. As for the crocs... there were a fair few wild giants, each owning a certain section of the river that they patrolled regualrly. Luckily, with it being a hot day, Scar face and Fat Albert as they are named, were both sunbathing upon the banks of the river. Our host informed us that they were 2 metres long and although they were at some distance if one of us were to fall over board, there wouldn't be a chance we would manage to get back on board before we were eaten (they move like lightening in water). He said that they were also extremely intelligent and that if people are stupid enough to fish, canoe or jetski down the river, the croc will over turn their small vehicle and eat them. If the farmers in the area lose a cow they simply throw them in the river and they are immediately devowered by crocodiles. We also learnt to stay out of any water in the area- salt water crocodiles inhabit any area of water wether it is salt based or not.

After our fantastic boat trip we drove through Port Douglas, an extremely well-to-do area that is home to many celebrity homes and then we headed back to Cairns where the trip unfortunately ended. Cape Tribulation had definitely restored my faith in travelling and Australia and I was excited to see what the rest of the East coast had to offer. Once we arrived back in Cairns we had a day of relaxation at the lagoon with Debbie and Jos. The next day Shane, Debbie and I had a Great Barrier Reef trip planned, so I went to bed early having plenty of nightmares about sharks.

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