Advertisement
Published: August 27th 2009
Edit Blog Post
The next stop after Airlie beach was a long 7 hour drive north and the town of Mission Beach. To be honest, it could have been the most awful place I’d ever been and I doubt I would have noticed, what with still being on cloud 9 and all 😊 But as it happened it was a really cute little town. I put the emphasis on little here because there was no more than 15 shops in the town and about 8 of those were cafes!
We still managed to while away the afternoon browsing in the little shops and eating the tastiest pancakes I’ve ever had in my life. But like I said, everything was rose tinted at this stage of the trip!
I also got a bit carried away in a local boutique and bought myself two pricey dresses which were never going to fit into my rucksack in it’s current state but I convinced myself I would have a good clear out before I packed for Asia!
The list of things to do in Mission Beach seemed to be endless but the next day we decided to do something we had hardly done at all
since Fiji, spend the day on the beach. I know, it seems implausible given the fact that the entire East Coast is virtually one big long beach but we had only spent a couple of hours here and there on the different beaches we’d come across thus far. So in true backpacker fashion (well in the more upmarket backpacker fashion we’ve become accustomed to) we headed to the supermarket and spent more that the average backpacker would in a week on a picnic for the beach, including a full roast chicken and some freshly baked baguettes.
We found a nice secluded spot on the northern side of the beach and did what the Aussies seem to call, shade bathing, lying in a shady spot of the beach, in the same beach attire as you wear for sunbathing. I just call it not getting lobstered! haha
The next morning we hit the road again, driving past Cairns and heading further north to Cape Tribulation. As we drove it became evident that the landscape was about to change drastically. We were leaving behind a dusty, slightly bland highway as the road narrowed and began to wind over and around lush
green hills, which reached all the way down to the turquoise ocean below.
To get to Cape Tribulation we had to cross the crocodile inhabited Daintree River. There is no bridge so the only option to cross the river is a pulley operated car ferry. The queue for the ferry can apparently get up to hundreds of cars long at peak times but we rolled up just two cars back in the queue and pretty soon we were on the other side and driving through the rainforest. Ten minutes later we were checking in at Crocodylus Village which is made up of a series of huts dotted around one central common area and is right in the middle of the rainforest.
I was a bit dubious at first, not being the biggest fan of large poisonous spiders or snakes but it came highly recommended, by the GM at my old job of all people, and we were not disappointed! The location was amazing.
Little lizards everywhere, really colourful butterflies, birds singing high up in the tree canopy and on the way to our hut with our rucksacks we were greeted by a huge Cassowary and two chicks.
Now for non Australians, or those who just don’t know what one is, the Cassowary is a cousin of Emu. They are very large and powerful and have been known to attack people if they feel their chicks are in danger. Of course us two idiots didn’t even notice the bloody thing until we were about 6 feet away (about 2m for those of you using the metric system!) and standing fairly close to one of those precious chicks.
I figured if I was going to get mauled I might as well get a couple of pictures, of course the flash went off automatically on the camera which seemed to piss him off a little. But we the rucksacks on our backs we must have looked almost the same size and he started to back off and eventually disappeared into the trees.
We went for a walk on the beach in the evening and on the way back at dusk we got lucky again and spotted a set of eyes in the bushes next to our hut. They looked like big eyes so we didn’t investigate any further haha. The next morning we embarked on a wildlife safari
on Coopers Creek in the hope of, you guessed it, spotting some local wildlife. The guide was pointing out some lovely birds but we were there for one thing only, crocodiles! On some days they spot up to 6 or 8 but we saw 2 on our trip. They are interesting animals and the fact that they have been around for such a long time is very impressive, nonetheless they are truly ugly as hell.
Later that morning we drove up to Cape Tribulation itself and that evening we went to the rainforest discovery centre which had 4 different nature walks and had a lot of information on the indigenous people who inhabited the area before Captain Cook arrived. The bush tucker and traditional medicine walk was fascinating.
On our way back to our hut we got lucky again and spotted a very cute tree kangaroo hiding at the base of a tree. It was only hiding it’s head but seemed to think that meant it wasn’t visible to us. It reminded me of when Rossi puts his head under my duvet cover and thinks I can’t see him anymore and his tail wags like crazy when I
call his name, pretending I can’t find him!
Cape Tribulation was a real highlight for us both, especially being able to stay right in the rainforest and hear the amazing sounds at night, but it was time to hit the road again and make our way to Cairns.
To call Cairns a city seems a little bit of an overstatement, it is more like a large town really. The bay is croc territory so they’ve built a gorgeous swimming lagoon on the esplanade to make up for it. With a few days left before we flew out, we had time for one more day trip. We thought another snorkelling trip on the Great Barrier Reef might bring back some nice memories. Gareth also got to try a free scuba dive whilst out on the reef. I went on an adventure snorkel tour and got some amazing pictures on an underwater disposable camera, which of course we didn’t get a chance to scan so you’ll just have to trust me on this!
And that brought to an end our East Coast road trip. It was a fun filled, action packed three weeks which saw us putting over 3500kms
on the clock, the poor car.
Next stop… Bali……
Advertisement
Tot: 0.268s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0554s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Elvira
non-member comment
to the "posh" backpackers
Hi Guys! Thanks for keeping the blog and sharing your experiences. It's getting pretty cold in here (ok, for the Irish is still a "mild" summer, but this Spaniard is starting to freeze) It's just fascinating to read about all the places that I, yes, I am discovering thanks to you. Enjoy your trip and .... not sure I want to read about Baly (sooooo jelous!) Besos