Blogs from Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 17

With Sydney behind us we made the short flight up to Cairns in Queensland and back to the tropics. Everything ran according to plan and we were able to find a cheap shuttle bus that took us directly to the door of the backpackers (Parrotfish Lodge) we were staying in, in Port Douglas. The main reason for coming to Port Douglas was to take a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef, which we duly did the next day. Again we were picked up at the door to the backpackers and transported to the quay to make the one and half hour journey out to the reef on a large catamaran. Lor got a bit seasick on the way out as the sea was quite rough and had to stand at the side clutching a paper ... read more

After spending another night in Cairns we drove north up to Cape Tribulation. Again, this was a really good drive for sight-seeing. We crossed the Daintree river on the ferry and then stopped off and had some lunch at Myall Beach before going to Cape Trib. It's one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. You walk through thick rainforest to a sweeping beach. The rainforest is literally on the beach. There's also mangrove forests on the beach. You look out to sea and can see the Great Barrier Reef. It is stunning. After Cape Trib we travelled back down to Noah Beach where we went on a rainforest walk. It was a fantastic rainforest. So many creepers and amazing looking trees - it was so humid it's like being in a greenhouse. We went ... read more

The morning was spent sleeping in as we had a rest day in our 3 day trip to Cape Tribulation. After a lazy breakfast we went for a walk down to the beach where litteraly 'Rainforest meets reef' This was a picture of paradise, no hotels, hostels, restaurants, bars etc, just a perfect example of two Gobal Heritage sites looking great next to one another. The place was deserted, like our own private beech, except for the warning signs of man eating crocodiles and killer jelly fish (we kid not!). The beach is crossed in two places by 2 estuaries which are both great breeding grounds for the jelly fish to meet the sea and for the crocs to do a bit of fishing. While I took in the view, Dan decided to try and find ... read more

My last Greyhound trip for now took me to Cairns, where Emma and Marc were already waiting for me with the car we rented. Cairns would have to wait till later, we were first gonna make a little trip further up north. Very convenient, by car, so much better than by bus :). Our destination for the first day was Port Douglas, a coastal city not that far away from Cairns. The main attraction of port Douglas was the beach, but unfortunately the weather wasn't that sunny that day. However, that didn't stop us from heading to the beach in the afternoon. As far as I was concerned, I could have been lying anywhere, I was just enjoying the Dutch magazines Marc brought with him so much, it had been a while after all.. :) Besides ... read more

23/11/06 - 24/11/06 Cape Tribulation We headed North from Cairns for an overnight stay in the rainforest of Cape Tribulation. Their tourist motto is “Where the rainforest meets the reef” and it’s certainly true, with the forest coming right down to the beaches and even into the water. Our first stop en route was at the Daintree Wildlife Centre where we both held a baby Roo/Wallaby (I can’t actually remember what it was, but it was incredibly cute!) and I found myself with a parrot on my head. We also spied green tree frogs, salt-water crocodiles and those unusually dangerous birds - the cassowary. Our next stop was a mangrove walk, where we spotted archer fish and ‘mighty mouths’ in the water, obviously named for their huge mouths, and on the land, beautiful fan palms and ... read more