Advertisement
Published: June 24th 2015
Edit Blog Post
Family photo at the start of the tour
Cape Tribulation visible in the background as we start up the "Bloomfield Track" We enjoyed sleeping in a bit before checking out of the lovely Sea Temple Resort for a drive up to Cape Tribulation. After getting breakfast and some snacks in downtown Port Douglas, we embarked on the trip north. The two-hour drive was quite scenic and included a ferry crossing at the Daintree River followed by signs warning us that we were in “Cassowary Country”. We stopped for lunch at the Turtle Rock Café in the town of Cape Tribulation where we later met Mike, our guide for the day. Our pre-arranged tour took us up the “Bloomfield Track” which was passable in Mike’s four-wheel drive Land Cruiser. Mike was a very knowledgeable and personable guide with a genuine passion for the area. He explained to us the origin of the name “Cape Tribulation” (the starting point for Captain’s Cook’s trouble with the Great Barrier Reef). We also learned about a number of the rainforest plants. With water so plentiful, the competition is for sunlight and many plants try to win by growing on top of other plants. The strangler fig, for example, will start growing in the top of an existing tree. If successful, it sends roots all the way down
Crossing Emmagen Creek
This is one of the other tour operators heading across the creek just ahead of us. to the ground. The roots grow on the outside of the host tree, eventually growing thick enough to completely encase and kill the host. We had a long stop at a vast expanse of sandy beach where we were the only visitors. A couple of mangroves were scattered around, as were battalions of soldier crabs. These cool little creatures move across the beach in tight formation as they sift through the sand for food. As they work through the sand, they leave a trail of little sand pebbles on the otherwise smooth sand. Looking around, we saw that much of the enormous beach area had been combed by crabs since the last high tide, suggesting a very large and hard-working army. Mike showed us ant nests in the mangroves and John and Lauren were persuaded to taste the green ants. Mike assured us that they were both edible and flavorful. Lauren agreed that they produce a pleasant lime taste. After a long stay at the beach we pressed on and eventually met up with Gloria, an aboriginal woman who works with Mike on his tours. She accompanied us to the waterfall at Wujol Wujol, telling us a bit about her
Crossing the Creek on Motor Bike
This fellow and his friend were heading up on bikes that Mike didn't think were likely to make it much further up the Bloomfield Track. Here he is returning from the far side of the creek. We enjoyed watching him dump the water out of his boots when he reached the shore. culture and stopping close to the falls to explain that women in her culture were not allowed to go farther, only the men. Of note was her sense of time – the word “yesterday” meaning simply before, for example. After our visit to the falls, it was time to head back to town. Mike seemed disappointed he didn’t have time to show us more, (we had enjoyed the beach too much!) but it was getting dark. We agreed on one last stop at a series of boardwalks that wind through the mangrove forest. It was already getting quite dark as we arrived and it became a night tour of the mangroves (the roots are creepy in the dark!), with Mike occasionally stopping to point out features of the different trees with his flashlight. As we made our way back to the road, we saw fireflies darting through the forest. Back in our rental car we stopped at a restaurant recommended by Mike and had a reasonably good dinner considering the remote stretch of road we were on. We arrived at Silky Oaks Lodge close to 9pm, weary from our long day. Our “tree house” isn’t actually built into a tree,
Cowie Beach
Our family off in the distance gives a sense of how vast (and unpopulated) this beach is. Mangroves dot the horizon. but it is beautiful and secluded, with a deck that puts you right in the middle of the rainforest. After a brief exploration we were happily in bed.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0313s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb