Mossman Qld

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Mossman was our next stop, and it was an ideal base from which to explore the Daintree Coast, including having a good range of shops and services. We managed to secure a powered site in the Mossman Shire Council Caravan Park, which was conveniently located adjacent to the Council Swimming Pool, for which caravan park guests had free and unlimited access. I took the opportunity to do laps on several of the days we stayed in Mossman.

Mossman lies in the heart of sugar cane country, and hosts the Mossman Central Sugar Mill, which runs as a Co-operative owned by local farmers. Cane train lines criss cross the area, and you need to be mindful as you drive around. The soil is rich and also supports many tropical fruit farms, as well as of course, the world heritage listed Daintree Rainforest.

The weather was warm and balmy, and despite the crocodile warning signs displayed along Mossman River (which flowed through the caravan park), we swam in the river several times. We were assured by the Managers of the caravan park that salties don't like clear, running water, as we experienced in the Mossman River. The water was cool, but refreshing, and it was relaxing to float down the river and then walk back up to repeat the process. I still checked out the river before going in each time.

Staying at Mossman meant a trip to the famous Mossman Gorge was a must, and the gorge did not disappoint. The gorge is very well managed and the walkways, bridges and lookouts are first rate. It is good to see the local indigenous people gaining employment opportunities in managing the gorge.

On one of our drives, I spotted a sign stating WW11 Bomb Site, which caught my interest. I checked it out, and found the memorial on a back road, which detailed how a Japanese Flying Boat in 1942 had dropped eight 250kg bombs in a cane field near Mossman, mistakenly believing he was bombing Cairns. Shrapnel from one of the bombs pierced a nearby house and badly injured a two year old child. Fortunately the child survived, but it was stark reminder of how close the Japanese came to invading Australia during WW11.

It was only a short drive to the Daintree River, where in order to proceed to the Daintree Rainforest, you need to purchase a return ticket on the car ferry. Due to the long wait at the ferry on that day, and it already being mid morning, we decided to take a Croc Cruise on the Daintree River. We purchased tickets and we were lucky enough to get very close to the "Boss" Croc of that section of the river, a large 4.6 metre Saltie known as Scarface. Next to him was his girlfriend, Elizabeth, who was much smaller than Scarface, and who had borne him several basks of crocodiles. We then drove further up the Daintree River to the township of Daintree, and took another croc cruise. I was expecting to see freshwater crocs up this end of the river, however, all of the crocs we saw were salties, including another large 4.5 metre saltie who had recently swallowed a wild pig, and was stuck in the mud, unable to move.

The next day we rose early to head up to the Daintree Rainforest, hoping to avoid the wait at the ferry. We only had to wait around fifteen minutes to board. It was almost too much to hope for, however, we managed to see a Cassowary crossing the road in front of us, which we were able to film. If I wasn't driving, I would have exited the car to get closer, which probably wasn't a good idea, as the next day I was watching a news story video of an angry Cassowary chasing a Ranger on his Quad Bike in the NT for several hundred metres. We drove to Cape Tribulation, named by Capt James Cook after his ship ran aground on a reef, and slowly worked our way down the Daintree Coast, back towards the ferry, walking all of the available boardwalks, and several of the beaches. It was an amazing experience to immerse oneself in the oldest rainforest on earth. We also enjoyed rainforest flavoured ice creams from the Daintree Ice Cream Company, and walked around their tropical fruit orchard.

The next day we walked the length of several of the local beaches including Newell, Wonga and Cooya, and despite the croc warnings, failed to see any crocs. It may have been that the tides had taken the water out a long way, and they only come onto the beach at full tide.

We would definitely stay again at Mossman and use this town as a base to explore the Daintree Coast.

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