TRIALS IN CAPE TRIBULATION

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Our main aim for the day was to get to Cape Tribulation. We made a whistle stop tour of some towns on the way and we were soon boarding the cable ferry. There were signs warning us of recent Croc sightings so were pleased that we were not aloud to get out of the van. Reaching the other side we were suddenly surrounded by rainforest. We were on a narrow and winding road driving up and down hills with a sheer drop into the dense forest on one side. If someone were to drop off the edge then no one would ever know as the forest would swallow them forever. We took it very easy.

We stopped at a look out point and the views were just stunning. Wandering through the rainforest it had a strange spooky feel with trees so high that it was difficult to see the tops of them. Next we stopped at the beautiful Cow Bay, a beach with shady trees and golden sands. We wanted to stay but we could see a storm brewing and we still had no idea where we would be spending the night. Returning back to Hilda we found that she to wanted to stay. There was a steady drip of coolant coming from her… not again!!!! After investigation there was no way that it could be patched up this time. So as inconvenient as it was it was time to fit the new pipe. We put Hildas front wheels on two blocks of wood, dumped the coolant into the oil change tray and had a race against the storm to get finished in time. This also included some time for Andy to spend telling me that this was an impossible job so that once the job was finally done he could spend plenty of time patting himself on the back. We managed to get the job done just in time. The rain started and we began throwing everything inside the van, getting ourselves a good soaking in the process - well they don’t call this Cape Tribulation for nothing - At least the job that we had been putting off was now finally done.

With most of the day now gone we booked into Cape tribulation campsite and decided to explore some more of the area tomorrow.

After another rainy night we awoke to blue sky and sunshine. Perfect weather for exploring beaches. We made our way to Cape Tribulation. It was named by Captain Cook after his ship hit a reef. When he pulled away in search of deeper water he hit another reef and almost sank his boat The Endeavour. This second reef is now named Endeavour Reef. Cook recorded “The north point was named Cape Tribulation because here began all our troubles”. There is a beautiful beach with palm trees and golden sands. Right on the edge of the beach stood the mangroves which then turned into the thick rainforest. I can only imagine what the explorers must have thought when they arrived here and had to hack their way through it! We spent some time walking on the beach but of course it was not safe to go in the sea so when we got too hot we made our way back. Cape Tribulation is as far north as you can travel unless you have 4WD so we had to drive back in the direction we had come from. On our way back we found a boardwalk through the rainforest. We thought it would be just a quick loop so didn’t go back to the van for water or insect repellent. We walked and walked and we walked some more as the forest and mangrove got thicker and there was hardly any daylight to be seen though the forest canopy. After about 15 minutes we were both pretty thirsty but we were at the stage where we didn’t know if it was quicker to turn back or carry on. After some discussion we decided to carry on. We were soon glad we did when a huge Perentie Lizard appeared in front of us and we had to wait for it to cross the boardwalk. Later as we crossed a bridge we peered over the edge and saw two turtles swimming about amongst some fish. Forty five minutes later we finally reached the end - well actually we had reached the beginning. We had walked it the wrong way round - there was a huge information board explaining how long it would take and the things we might spot if we looked hard enough. We now had a journey through the scary forest road back to the ferry.

When we arrived we were second in line. Now I know I have said before that parts of Australia are stuck in a time warp and it would seem that this part was no exception. First in line for the ferry was a man in a pickup who appeared to be in his late 30’s. His music was so loud that it could be heard from back in the forest. His choice of music was Buddy Holly with Raining in my Heart followed by La Bamba which was an interesting combination!

That evening we made it as far as Mossman. It was a little run down in places. One bar looked like it had once staged a dawn shoot out… maybe not all that long ago. It wouldn’t have been our first choice of stop overs for the night, but we wanted to visit Mossman Gorge in the morning so there was no point in staying anywhere else. In the end we found a good campsite. There was an Olympic size swimming pool in the same grounds which was free for us to use. We made full use of the pool after we had set up. There is no better way to cool down than jumping straight into the pool. There was also a man training for free diving. He had weights round his neck and ankles and was doing breathing exercises in the shallow end. As we got out he disappeared underwater, resurfacing two and a half lengths later - we were breathless just watching him!

It was dark by the time we sat down to eat dinner. We were sat under the awning when I heard a noise like a hellicopter coming into land on top of us. We went out to investigate and after some time spent staring into darkness we saw a massive flying fox bat with a wingspan of about 1 meter. Their wings were so big that you could hear the wind rushing past them as they flew by!

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