Where The Rainforest Meets The Reef

---

News Flash: (11th September) Sarah is driving Ramraider this weekend at Santa Pod, Northamptonshire in the European Drag Racing Finals. On the first of two qualifying days she was the top qualifier in her class with the top re-action time of 0.0002 second - good on you, Sarah!! We hope you and the gang enjoyed the weekend. Obviously we are a little behind with our blogs but we’re trying to catch up – there’s just too much to see out there!

A quick hi to Amy in Melbourne. Amy’s birthday was on the 2nd September so we hope she had a fantastic day!

Alas, Friday 2nd September didn’t look too promising. It was overcast, a bit windy and rain had clearly fallen at some stage during the night. We had decided that we would only stay in Port Douglas a few days so, unless we extended our stay, today would be the only opportunity to do the planned trip north as far as Cape Tribulation. The forecast suggested that things would improve so we decided to set off and to make the most of it no matter what. Soon we had passed through Mossman and were heading for Daintree. After a few kilometers we deviated slightly to visit the caravan park at Wonga Beach. We had not been there before but an old school friend of Grahams who now lives in Tasmania had referred to it as one of his family’s stopping places when they had done a tour of Aus many years ago. Unfortunately when we got there it started raining so we didn’t see it at its best. It’s a beach side caravan park and the “No Vacancy” sign told us that it’s still a popular place to stay.

We drove on to Daintree where the heavens opened and we were subjected to a tremendous downpour. Our planned river cruise to spot wild salt-water crocodiles looked in jeopardy as we took refuge in a local café for some tea and raisin toast. But the clouds cleared away quickly and the sun began to shine so we enquired about a cruise at the information centre next to the café. They checked for us to make sure the cruise was running – yes, as long as at least two people showed up and the next cruise was due to leave in about 8 minutes. We booked our tickets and made our way down to the small quay where the skipper was waiting for us. Just as he was about to set off with only us on board he had a phone call to say another four people were on their way down. So eventually, with the sun struggling to shine, the six of us and the skipper set forth.

The skipper was an elderly fellow who explained that his passion was birds and that he preferred doing the early evening cruises when there was a lot more wildlife activity. He seemed a bit subdued, perhaps by the changeable weather or by the lack of numbers, but we were under cover so if the rain came again (and it looked a bit threatening) at least we would be dry. Nevertheless, we soon spotted a very big female salt-water crocodile of about 4 meters in length. Salties tend to be the main focus on these trips as they are not as common or as easy to get to see as the “Freshies”. Also they are considerably bigger and this one was huge and fully out of the water. It was known that an even bigger male was nearby and an earlier cruise had witnessed a bit of a “spat” between the two. Our skipper was hoping we might witness the same and hovered in the area for some time just in case. But the huge male, also clearly visible, was about 50 meters away and neither looked as though they were about to move. We drifted on down the river where, with the help of Ian, our guide, we spotted two frog-mouthed owls snoozing in a nearby tree. They are amazingly well camouflaged against the local trees and it needs an expert to spot them. We were on the way back when Ian stopped the boat by a seemingly empty tree but with more guidance we eventually all saw a huge python – another creature that was just ‘resting’ during the heat of the day. Imagine the shock you would get if you were just walking by a tree, looked up and saw an enormous snake!! The weather held on for us and a few more birds were spotted and again we cruised slowly past the two huge salties. But the hoped for confrontation (a romantic one) still didn’t look as though it was going to happen. Our hour was soon up but it had been very interesting to say the least! Our ticket enabled us to go on another trip at a different location if we wished but we really wanted to go to Cape Tribulation so we gave up that opportunity.

We made our way back out of Daintree and took the coast road north towards Cooktown. The distance we would travel – as far as Cape Tribulation – is entirely on bitumen but the onward journey to Cooktown is not for the faint-hearted. It involves an extremely tough 4WD route which we had done last time as part of a trip (there’s no way we would do it in PIE). There is a very good inland route so those wishing to get to Cooktown can easily make it that way. But we were headed for Cape Tribulation and first we had to take a ferry across the Daintree River. It’s quite a large ferry – big enough to take several lorries if it had to but today there were just three cars on the outward trip. Once on the other side of the river we were immediately in a National Park so speed restrictions applied and many signs warned of wildlife, especially cassowaries. We paused briefly at Mount Alexandra Lookout from where there were stunning views over the forest and out to sea.

After a while we came across something which we hadn’t seen last time and in fact had no idea it was there – The Daintree Discovery Centre. We were tempted to take a look as the advertising board made it seem very attractive – tree-top walk, canopy tower, a cassowary circuit, various lookouts, bush tucker trail and more – and the temptation proved too great. It was quite expensive to go in but the guy in the reception was very persuasive and let us in on the concession rate. We learned some amazing facts and one of them was that the Daintree Rainforest is about 110-200 million years old and is the oldest intact lowland tropical rainforest in the world and the only other ones that come anything like close are also Australian.

We strolled along the various boardwalks, round the ‘cassowary circuit’ (without seeing a cassowary!) and along the aerial walkway. The canopy tower is probably one of the main attractions and, according to the brochure, was the first of its kind in Australia, being built in 1989. So up we went – it’s 23 metres high and has 5 viewing platforms. Each level had information boards about the sort of flora and fauna we might see. For whatever reason we didn’t see many birds, butterflies or animals but the views were magnificent and Graham made it comfortably right up to the top. The main difference between this tower and the one at MaMu that Graham struggled with is that the floors and stairways were solid so he couldn’t see down through them. Adjacent to the tower is a splendid theatre with interpretive displays and a series of videos and touch-screen information. Graham watched a film on climate change and there were other documentary programmes running on TVs throughout the theatre together with some amusing information boards on the life-cycle of a cassowary. Back out in the rain-forest we wandered through an area where huge extinct creatures towered over us. We could probably have spent the remainder of the day in the centre but our visit was really a spontaneous one as our intended destination was Cape Tribulation. Nevertheless, we had enjoyed a very worthwhile visit and went away with a brilliant booklet.

We motored on through the fairly narrow rainforest road until we reached the end of the sealed highway and drove on for a short distance on the gravel road but we soon turned back and almost immediately saw the sign we had earlier missed to Kulki Beach on Cape Tribulation. We remembered stopping here on our trip for breakfast (we had started out at 5.30am!) and what a stunning location it was. Well, how nice it is to say that nothing had changed – it is an extremely rare place where the rainforest meets the reef and it is completely unspoilt and a beautiful, natural place to be. We rescued our spare set of picnic chairs from the car and just sat on the beach for some time taking in the splendour of the place. Even the weather played its part as the sun shone and with so few people about it was as though we had the place to ourselves. Eventually, though, we knew we would have to start the journey back if we were to get “home” in daylight so we reluctantly dragged ourselves away. We kept a little time in hand as there was one other place we wanted to visit before taking the ferry back across the river. That was an ice-creamery – the famous Daintree Ice-Creamery that specializes in unusual fruit flavours all grown in the surrounding orchards. Its obviously a very popular location as, even though we thought we were late, the place was packed and we only just managed to find a parking space. The available flavours are rotated daily and today’s options were wattleseed, raspberry, banana and coconut. There was no messing around with choices or cones. They only served the day’s four flavours all together in tubs but, given the quantity and the variety, the cost at $6 per tub was pretty reasonable. Of course the ice-cream was delicious and we just had time to do a quick tour of the orchard to see where and how the ingredients were grown. At 4:30, which was their closing time, we set off for the ferry keeping our eyes peeled for cassowaries – alas, we didn’t see one.

The timing of the ferry was excellent – it had just arrived from the other side and the few vehicles on board had begun to dis-embark. There were quite a few vehicles ahead of us in the queue to board but no big units so everyone got aboard OK. We were lucky – they clearly give priority to local business traffic and local tour vehicles. We were virtually the last one on and were directed into the queue behind those vehicles. At the other side it was that line, including us, that was let off first so we jumped about 30 other cars to start our onward journey towards Mossman and then on to Port Douglas. We seemed to get back in no time although the light was fading fast – we just got back before the full darkness set in. It was nice to be able to relax and reflect on what had been a really enjoyable day and although it had started a bit soggy the weather got better as the day went on - we loved it.

---

Photos

Stunning Kulki Beach
at Cape Tribulation

What a privilege it is to be here again
at a very special World Heritage listed site

Comments

[kangaroojack]

Hi Both, Awesome pictures, travel safe. Kangaroojack