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16th - 17th April - Cape Tribulation
During our stay in Cairns we had organised a 2 day trip up North towards Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest 'Where the rainforest meets the reef'. Here is the only place in the world where two world heritage sights meet so we were expecting something special!
On Wednesday 16th April our pickup was at 7Am so it was an early rise. Our bus driver was called Kiwi Matty and he chose to ask us 3 quick questions to introduce ourselves to all others on the bus...
1. Name?
2. How long are you staying in Cairns?
3. Do you scruntch or fold your toilet paper?
The last question brought some interesting answers! The first stop was Mossman Gorge where we had a quick walk through the vegetation to the swimming hole. The water looked inviting so we all had a swim in the fresh water, a little on edge as to whether Matty was joking when he claimed there had been the occasional croc sighting in the river! After this we jumped back on the bus and carried on towards the Daintree Rainforest. Here we stopped for a rainforest walk where
Matty enlightened us on how different parts of the vegetation had been used by the Aboriginal folk to enable them to survive. He also went into some details about one of Austalia's biggest exports, sugarcane. In the sugarcane fields most of Austalia's deadly snake population can be found. Another story he told was of Austalia's biggest pest, the cane toad. This animal is not a native of Australia and since being introduced to help kill pests which eat the sugarcane, it has caused catastrophe. Any predators of the cane toad are killed due to its deadly poison glands therefore its numbers are greatly increasing. It is for this reason that there is a state wide initiative for people to kill the cane toad when sighted and it has even been made illegal to not kill a can toad once you have made contact with it. School children are even given projects to collect and kill cane toads and rewarded for the largest number! It is also known that licking a cane toad can lead to hallucinations and a rare few choose this option for a cheap high. Although the downside is it often results in death!
Finally, after a
The cassowary
This deadly bird can disembowel a human! further drive we arrived in Cape Trib and at our accomodation for the night, PK's Backpackers. It was a great setup with all 5 of us staying in a dorm hut next to the on sight bar. Having thrown our bags in the dorm we went down to beach which turned out to be stunning. Deserted, the sand stretched as far as the eye could see. The water hole was our next destination and a short 10 minute walk down the road took us to the river. We walked upstream and managed to track down the water hole where 2 Auzzie guys were already swinging from the rope swing into the crystal clear still water. Having taken the advice of our bus driver to come to this specific water hole we still kept our eyes peeled for any sign of movement in the water...CROCODILES! He had told us to ask the locals where to swim as he had known cases of backpackers swimming in water holes where there were crocs.Not a pleasant thought!
We readied ourselves for the water and spoke to one of the Auzzie guys who we found out lived in Lake Trib. He reminded me very
much of Moglie from the Jungle Book as he used the rope swing to do some outrageous stunts into the water. He also climbed to the top of a nearby tree and jumped in as well as running from the 5 metre high bank and diving towards the water. Having seen how to do it we all had a go on the ropeswing with Ross attempting something similar to a backflip, forgetting to let go and nearly landing on the overhanging tree roots. It was a close one! Just before we were about to leave Moglie suddenly dived in the water and surfaced holding a terrapin! We all had a closer look before he put it back in.
In the evening we headed back to PK's to cook dinner and saw Moglie again with a snake round his neck selling coconuts out the front of the hostel. He really was a man of the wild! The night finished with a few drinks at the hostel bar with some of the other guys on the trip.
Next morning we woke to the sound of rainfall battering our dorm roof! A shock for all! We were already wet so decided
to head back to the same water hole as yesterday for a wake up swim. On the return journey we took a detour onto the beach and walked the length of it back to PK's.
The bus then picked us up to take us back towards Cairns. It was on the way back that we were really able to see how expansive Australia is as we drove through miles and miles of open road. We took a stop at the Daintree River for a cruise to have a look at the wildlife/ crocodiles before making another stop to taste some crazy flavoured ice cream. Jackfruit is not a flavour I would go for again! Finally, we drove through Port Douglas for a whistlestop tour. The place is dripping with money and due to our drivers distaste for the stereotypical stuck up rich people who frequent the area, we moved quickly on back to Cairns. A great trip!
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