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Published: October 17th 2008
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October 16, 2008
Today we went to Jurassic Park minus the dinosaurs, or at least it seemed that way. Driving north from Port Douglas we put the Jucy Van (and us) on a cable ferry to cross the Daintree River. We then drove as far as the sealed road could take us to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the sea. Captain James Cook’s boat, The Endeavor, ran aground there on a reef, hence the name Cape Tribulation. This area is called “The Daintree” and is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the oldest rainforest in the world, whatever that means. It is a gorgeous area with more of those beautiful white sand beaches that seem to go on forever. We walked the Dubuji Track and the Jindalba Track (trails are called tracks), two long boardwalks through the rainforest and saw a few more new birds and ferns the size of a house. Both had well-done interpretive displays. We stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream Company where we ate refreshing scoops of apricot, mango, coconut, wattle seed, and sapote ice cream at a picnic table on lush tropical grounds. Sapote tastes a little like chocolate pudding. We searched the
entire day for the cassowary bird, but had no luck. That guy has been eluding us for four days now.
We ate dinner at the Rainforest café in the town of Mossman and Vicky, the owner, sat with us as we were the only patrons. Our meal was grilled mackerel on white bread with onions, lettuce, and beet root (as Vicky called it). Vicky turned out to be a wonderful person to dine with. She seemed to know everything going on in the world and added a lot to our understanding of Australian economics.
This town seems to have a large percentage of Aboriginese. We haven’t seen very many up to now. We are now in a caravan park in Mossman. We are invited to Les and Deb’s camper for coffee tomorrow morning. They are from Prosperpine, Queensland. Everybody is just so darn nice.
October 17, 2008
We had our coffee with Les and Deb and we headed off early to Mossman Gorge where we took yet another 3 mile rainforest track. We stopped at an Aboriginal Center to look at some art and cultural displays, and back to Mossman for lunch….mango smoothie, mmm! We
went to the sugar mill close to town to see about a tour, but decided we could see a lot without the tour and didn’t want to wait around for the next one. We then headed back to the same mountains we came through 3 days ago to have a look without the rain. Now we could see the cattle stations with rich rolling green pastures, and prosperous looking homes. The main reason for backtracking a bit, as you might have guessed, was for the birding.
Driving the back roads we found ourselves at Julatten Mountain Retreat, a Shangri La-type “well-being” center. The owner was very cordial, gave us a tour and let us spend some time bird watching on the grounds, even after I had to ask what a well-being center was.
The next unexpected stop was at Baramundi Gardens where we bought a pineapple and soda and the owner explained his baramundi fish farming operation. Looked like a lot of work to us.
It is nice having these relaxed days. We rushed to this area to ensure we would have at least one nice day to go to the Great Barrier Reef, but as it
turned out, the weather has been beautiful ever since we got to Port Douglas. We thought it would be hot this far north, but it has been lovely. We know it will be hot in Darwin, so we’re lucky to get a break here in Queensland.
We have returned to Port Douglas and are at Tropic Breeze again.
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Connie
non-member comment
Ok, two questions: what are baramundi (I assume they are some kind of fish), and what is a well-being center- a fancy spa? Can't wait to see what you will do next...