After gathering up all our things and packing everything away, each in its allotted place, we set off on virtually the final push northwards . I say ‘virtually’ because we tried to book our preferred campsite on Cape Trib but there were no spaces available for our first night so we are staying at another site (Rainforest Village) just a few kilometres south of where we are heading to tomorrow.
Before quitting Cairns we needed to establish where we will leave our camper while we are diving. This was easier said than done as, although there is lots of parking in Cairns, most has very precise limits, almost always prohibiting overnight stays (presumably to stop people like us just turning up and making our homes on the side of the road). We were momentarily excited when we discovered a car park by the marina which advertised long-term rates but our hopes were dashed when we realised that the opening was only 1.8 metres high and our van tops out at 2.6 metres. No amount of breathing in was going to let us under that barrier! However we then located a campsite close to the centre of the city which agreed to allow us to park our van on the edge of their sites for the requisite days . All this allowed us to take another look at Cairns after having been there last year. We thought that it has become quite a bit smarter. It may be our imagination but there seemed to be more emphasis on a wider range of travellers and less focussed on the backpackers (however, we weren’t there late at night to witness the crowds falling out of the big bars etc!)
So we were at last ready to set out! Our main route has been mapped out by the Bruce Highway, which skirts the Queensland coast all the way from Brisbane but finally finishes at Cairns. From then on a less significant road, The Captain Cook Highway, is our route. This takes us up past Port Douglas and on to the Daintree River. Of course we had to look out for a number of big things on the way! We also stopped at a lookout point showing a stunning view over the rainforest and up and down the coast. This viewpoint was dedicated to a local politician of the past and had been opened by a more recent politician. However, he or she does not appear to be well liked now because someone had carefully removed all trace of their name from the cast metal dedication plaque, leaving just the letters after their name!
Despite Cairns’ recent sprucing up, Port Douglas remains its considerably posher brother . There is a sense of spaciousness and the numerous very glossy and refined spa resorts and boutique hotels are set in vast manicured grounds. There are more golf, tennis, sailing, Masonic and other clubs than you could shake a hand crafted aboriginal stick at. When we got to the ‘centre’ it was a mass of upmarket cafes, bars and clothing shops interspersed with swanky apartments and resort blocks. However, don’t let that suggest that we were not impressed! All this and gorgeous soft sandy beaches! At one point while we were planning our route we had considered staying here but changed our stopping point. It’s clear now that the main problem would have been that we would have been tempted to eat out for every meal every day as so many places had very tempting menus. Perhaps it is best for our waistlines that we go north and eat salad in our van!
The road soon became considerably more narrow and twisty with lots of ups and downs, quite a contrast from the flat straight roads that we have been using much of the time . The rainforest increasingly loomed up to and over the road although we got several glimpses through the vegetation out to the beaches and sparkling blue sea. Eventually we reached the Daintree river and needed to take the ferry across in order to access the Cape Tribulation area. The roads on this side are even twistier and there are several signs reminding people the road is only there to provide access and to expect difficult driving conditions (although the road is now just about surfaced the whole way, a relatively recent innovation).
As we neared our destination we were diverted by the lure of Floravilla’s ice cream, made on the premises from local exotic fruits. There was a daunting array of flavours to choose from and Jen’s banana, ginger and coconut was quite delicious but Tony’s pawpaw and lime was just not fruity enough! We’re hoping to take in the opposition, the Daintree Ice Cream Company, on our route back southwards to do comparison trials (only in the name of science of course).
After a pleasant night at our interim campsite we started out on the short journey to our ultimate destination, Cape Trib Camping site . This is located further up the windy road, close to where it reverts to unsurfaced track, beside the beach and surrounded by rainforest, with the reef only a short swim away. We took our time getting there, stopping at a couple of rainforest and mangrove walks on the way. This whole area is so incredibly old, the information suggests that it is the oldest rainforest in the world, far older than the Amazon jungle. The reasons for this are complex but are related to the movement of the primeval land masses before the present continents were established. Changing climates have altered the location of rainforests (and sadly about 80% of Australian rainforest has been destroyed in the period since European settlement began).
We were really interested in seeing how the mangrove swamps give a protective environment for numerous fish, including many that will later inhabit the reefs that we love to dive. In addition, though, they build up new soil and allow the rainforest to extend itself and maintain the environment for many endangered species such as cassowaries . Cassowaries are big emu-like birds with blue necks and heads, the key species in this area. They eat numerous rainforest fruit and deposit the seeds in their droppings, hence extending the range of the plants. Sadly their numbers seem to have dropped to something like 1500, which is endangering the existence of the plants as well as the birds. Hence, although we have seen plenty of signs warning us not to run over the cassowaries, we have not actually seen the cassowaries themselves. They seem just as elusive as the numerous crocodiles we are so frequently warned about but fail to make a showing!
Having established ourselves in our final campsite, right by the beach, Jen and I decided to go for a swim. We had talked to the people at the reception desk who regaled us with the usual ‘welcome to the jungle’ stories about crocodiles, sharks, cassowaries and stingers but assured us that the sea was safe in the area around the campsite. We sorted out our equipment, which we had not looked at since leaving Rosa’s place. When I opened my dive bag I was really surprised to find an enormous cockroach (dead)!
Armed with fins, masks and snorkels we set off for the beach and plunged in . However, the visibility was not really very good and after a period of thrashing around and spotting only a few glimpses of fish we decided to call it a day. We made our way towards the shore through the shallow waters, sitting down to remove our fins and then continuing our wading back. Suddenly Jen cried out because she had ‘trod in a hole and something had stung her’. Indeed when we got to shore it was clear that something had got through her neoprene boot and punctured her ankle, which was now bleeding well. Unsure of what might have done this, we consulted the reception desk and then decamped to the pharmacist (actually a doctor and we had met him earlier in the day in his capacity as purveyor of phone cards, there being no mobile reception in Cape Trib).
He looked at Jen’s wound and was clear that this had been inflicted by a stingray. As we knew, stingrays like to settle down into hollows that they form in the sandy bottoms. Jen seems to have stood on one of these and annoyed the stingray a bit, he therefore making his obvious response by stabbing out at Jen’s foot (though heaven knows why the stupid thing didn’t just swim away like most stingrays in such a position, it’s not like we were trying to be quiet and careful and we were only a few metres away from the shoreline!) . Luckily the stingray was small, Jen’s boot was strong or the thing only got in a glancing blow (or a combination of all of these!). The doctor assured Jen that the pain was probably at its maximum at this stage but to look out for later infection. He did suggest that she could bathe her foot in (literally) scalding water as a precaution, but Jen decided that this cure was worse than the problem and declined. At this stage, the swelling has gone down and the pain receded. Looks like she may be in the clear!
This evening, like many others , we have spent some time reviewing the photos we have taken and having a quiet drink after our evening meal. Like most nights, at half past nine, we are the last people on the campsite still up and about and we have our little I-pod speakers (playing a bit of cool jazz) on the lowest volume for fear of disturbing others. The interesting thing is that the youngsters, who had their repetitive beats going full blast earlier this evening, appear to have retired to bed! One big difference this evening has been that when the photo editing software cautiously said ‘do you really want to delete all your photos from today?’ , Jen bravely, and without a moment’s hesitation, replied ‘yes’ and promptly lost all of our photos! And no, we don’t have any back ups, on cards or on the computer, believe us, we have looked! C’est la vie! So you will not see any pictures of the fabulous huge lace monitor lizard that we saw at Noah’s Beach campsite this morning, or the one hundred and fifty artistic pictures of ferns, bark, creepers and palms that Jen took in the rainforest, or the pictures of the mudfish crawling around out of the water, or the crabs with the bright red pincers or the orange footed scrub fowl . Ho hum!
More purposefully and more metaphysically, this evening we have spent a bit of time in the dark looking upwards and outwards at the stars and beyond. The extremely low light pollution around here means that you can see huge numbers of stars with enormous clarity and features such as the ‘milky way’, as you look through the densest part of the universe, stand out really clearly. We paused and marvelled at the huge range of possibilities that are out there. If each countless speck of light represents a star - and each star holds its own system of planets, how many other forms of life are currently looking out into their own dark skies and wondering what other life exists? It starts to make one feel rather small and insignificant (but this is easily remedied by a large scotch and lemonade) J
Oh! and by the way, Rangy arrived out of the blue to join us for our travels! We had been wondering where he had got to and his comments about his whereabouts had been a bit hazy. Well he turned up with view to taking part in the jungle games here but unfortunately they are on Wednesday and we will be gone by then . He seems to be trying to make up his mind if he’ll stay here, travel with us to South America or find somewhere quiet in Oz to settle down. I must say, he’s looking a bit pinched, perhaps he’s been living in very restricted spaces for while with too few opportunities for fresh air and exercise.

After all our fussing around to find a home for the campervan while we are diving, events have overtaken us. We turned on the light in the van, only for it to go out. Simple case of blown bulb thought Tony and removed said item, only to find that the whole holder had substantially melted and was not going to to remedied by a simple bulb change. This is a really small but annoying problem as the light is above the cooker and we now have to cook in the dark! So we phoned Travellers Autobarn and have arranged to leave the van with them in Cairns while we are on the boat and therefore do not need to make use of the parking that we so painstakingly arranged!


We booked for a sea kayaking experience with the outfit by the campsite, neither of us having done this before . This entailed a very early start, the guy saying that he would meet us at 7:00am at the campsite reception hut. We were there in plenty of time and settled down, steeling ourselves for an energetic morning. However, by 7:15 the guy had not arrived and we asked in reception. They were apologetic but had forgotten to inform us that he had already been in long before 7 and called the lesson off because it was too windy!

We therefore had a morning to wander the beach, this time with the tide well out. The extent of the pristine white beach is really stunning and walking the soft sand, nice and firm nearer to the water, was a delight. We were often the only people there, only occasionally did others appear, often for a very short look around before disappearing back into the rainforest that borders the beach. We enjoyed exploring the areas where creeks empty into the sea, often bordered by tangles of mangrove and the associated swampy land offering increasing soil for other vegetation to take over . You can almost see the process at work and the interim stages are interesting. For example we found whelks living a couple of metres up in the branches of trees growing out of the sand; these are obviously covered by sea water periodically although they were high and dry when we found them.

On the way from Cape Tribulation on our return trip to Cairns we made our promised stop at the Daintree Ice Cream Company. This is a trip that we would recommend to everyone passing this way. The company make their ice cream from fresh local produce and offer no choices. You have the range that they are currently making and must have their set bowl of four different varieties - this cleverly makes you sample something that you probably would have avoided! When we visited there were two ‘normal’ ices, raspberry and banana that were coupled with the less regular types; Yellow Sapote and Wattleseed. In fact the banana was made from a less usual variety of banana and didn’t really taste like you would expect. The revelation for me was the wattleseed which was really great and I definitely wouldn’t have made that choice from a list! (If you look at our picture of the raw fruits you’d be forgiven for wondering how you could make ice cream from wattleseed at all!). We wandered their interesting orchard where you can see lots of the different fruits growing on the trees as well as their stunning gardens with fantastic displays, particular of the plants from the ginger family, it would be really wonderful to get some of those going in the Ingle Row tropical jungle!