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In the Van
Driving up to Cape Tribulation. Look at the beautiful scenery!April 5th: I had heard many great things about Cape Tribulation since arriving in Cairns and so I decided to go on a day trip to explore its great beauty alone, as Kevin decided to pass. Cape Tribulation is a headland located within Daintree National Park and contains some of the vast Daintree Rainforest. Cape Tribulation was named by James Cook in 1770. It was named as such after Captain Cook’s ship ran aground on the reef just off the cape, with Cook writing in his journal “because here began all our troubles”. The Daintree Rainforest runs over 1200 square kilometers and is the largest continuous area of rainforest on the Australian mainland. It is over 135 million years old, the oldest rainforest in the world. It contains a huge variety of wildlife, plants and insects, including 13 species of bird which are found nowhere else on Earth. The Daintree was added to the World Heritage List in 1988.
I was picked up bright and early in the morning by the tour guide, in a small, 20-seater van, right outside of the hostel. After picking up the rest of the group, we were off! We headed up the coast on
Sugar Cane Field
Sugar cane used to be the main industry in Queensland. Most of Oz's most venemous snakes like to live in these fields! what was voted the “second most beautiful road in Australia” and I wasn’t disappointed. The highway offered amazing views of the ocean on our right, and mountains on our left. (The number one road, if you want to know, is the Great Ocean Road between Adelaide and Melbourne - Kevin and I are hoping to get there on our trip eventually!). We passed many sugarcane fields, which was once the most important industry in Queensland. (Tourism is now number one). It was explained to us that many of Oz’s most poisonous snakes love to live in sugarcane fields. :S
Our first stop was Mossman Gorge. Absolutely beautiful! I went on a self-guided tour around the area, walking through the forest on manmade paths, stopping to take many photos of course. A couple people in my group even had a swim in the chilly water! We saw a spider that was much larger than spiders back home! About as big as an adult man’s hand.
After some more driving, we ended up at a small zoo run locally by a nice couple. Here, we saw wallabies, freshwater crocs, saltwater crocs, a cassowary, amethystine pythons and many, many different kinds
Mossman Gorge
A picture of the beautiful Mossman Gorge. of birds. One white cockatoo, who was in a cage right out front of the zoo, had a small vocabulary! While we were looking at the crocs, the owner came over with some meat and was able to get the crocs out of the water. Scary!
Our guide gave us a guided tour of the rainforest while explaining to us the history of the area and many of the trees/insects/native animals. The rainforest in this area is ancient and magnificent! It is home to thousands of different types of plants, animals and insects. It is hard to believe that Aboriginal tribes used to call this harsh environment home!
To conclude our tour, we went on a crocodile cruise. Now, you may think that this would be exciting, but crocs are masters of stealth and can avoid being seen if desired. And so, we didn’t see ANY CROCS on the cruise!! Haha We were all disappointed, but still had a fantastic day, nonetheless!
On the drive back to Cairns, we made two quick stops. One stop was at a lookout point on the highway were we all hopped out of the van to get some amazing pictures of
Mossman Gorge 02
Another view of the Gorge. Some people in my tour group took a swim in the frigid water. the ocean and surrounding area. The second stop was in the small town of Port Douglas. This town is known for being a hot-spot for celebrity viewing, as all of the big names (Steven Spielberg, the Clintons, Tom Cruise, etc) have vacationed here at some point. I believe the Clintons actually own a house there. After these pit-stops, it was back to Cairns! And time to fill Kevin in on all the amazing stuff he missed. 😊
Once back though, I found out that Kevin had already made plans for the two of us that night! He had spent the day checking out the town, and met our friend Keith for lunch. Keith was only in town for one more day, and would be flying back to Sydney to meet up with his wife before heading back to England. So that night we all went to the Shennanigans pub and had a great time. We listened to the live music and played a few games of pool while trying out some new beer (Keith liked Victoria Bitter, but we tried Tooheys New). We didn't stay out too long since Keith's flight was early in the morning, but it was
Mossman Gorge 03
Photo I took of myself using the camera's timer. still great to catch up!
Hillary (and Kevin)
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