Cairns 2 – Cape Tribulation

Sunday, June 5

Despite going home ‘early’ the night before, when we woke up on Sunday we still felt like we were dying of a hangover. Later we found out someone on the boat had a cold, which somehow Carl caught Saturday night. So on top of being hungover, he was sick.

We had planned to spend the day at the Lagoon and have a barbecue but we couldn’t motivate ourselves to leave the Airbnb. Plus the weather was very overcast. Plus I had a lot of blog writing and Instagram posting to do (this thing doesn’t write itself!) So we took a recovery day, which is needed every once in a while when traveling for a long time.

Monday, June 6

Rather than pay $200 per person for a guided tour to Daintree National Park we decided to rent a car. We reasoned we could also go up to Cape Tribulation to see the only place on earth where two UNESCO world heritage sites border each other: Daintree National Park and the Great Barrier Reef. We also convinced a guy we met on the dive boat, Matt, to come with us and split the costs.

The rental places had closed too early the day before so we chanced it and left it until the morning of to find something. We walked down the street to a place called Cruising just after they opened at 8am Monday morning. The guy at the desk was obviously absolutely swamped. There were multiple phones ringing and he couldn’t get a word out before someone came in to tell him something. He told us there was only one rental car available for that day, available at 10am.

As he went to reserve it for us, it booked up. Then he found a car that would be available at 10:30am so we said we’d take it. It was a later start to the day than we’d planned, but it was better than nothing. So we hung out at the Airbnb until 10 and then walked back to get the car.

We drove by Matt’s hostel and he was waiting outside, ready to go. We hoped he didn’t regret choosing to come with us versus a guided tour, but it was too late for him to change his mind and he was way too nice to admit he was disappointed, so we told ourselves everything was fine.

It took a little over an hour to reach the Mossman Gorge Visitor Center. I’d read that there was a shuttle from the center to the gorge but I didn’t realize it was required. The signs discouraged personal cars and pedestrians along the road. I agreed in principle (fewer personal use cars into the wilderness) but not financially, especially when the shuttle cost $12 each and it was about a 6 minute ride. We reasoned that because the park entrance was free, they had to get funding somehow and they chose a short shuttle ride.

We timed it perfectly and didn’t have to wait at all for the shuttle, which then took us just up the road, further into the park. We walked along the boardwalk trails for a bit until we built up a sweat and needed to jump into the water. There were many signs posted that warned against swimming in the gorge. At this place, crocs weren’t the issue. It had been raining that morning and the water was high, and running fast. Still, everyone and their mom was in the water. When we saw a young couple with a baby we decided it was safe enough for us.

At the end of one of the trails we found a little pond with a teeny waterfall that looked perfect for a dip. We got in and had to submerge our bodies completely because the swarming mosquitos were unbearable. I’m hardly ever affected by mosquitos but after about 3 painful bites to my butt and face I was over it and we decided to get outta there.

It was a very jungly hike back to the shuttle stop. We saw huge trees with broad root systems and vines going everywhere. There was also a Boyd’s forest dragon hiding in the tree. At the water’s edge were a couple of brush turkeys, just in case you forgot you were in Australia where everything is weird.

Our next stop was the Daintree Discovery Center. I had book marked this spot thinking it was the visitor center for the park. To get there, google maps told us to take the ferry. As we approached the water’s edge we didn’t see instructions for how to take the ferry. We wondered if ferry in Australian meant ‘bridge’.

Then all of a sudden there was a toll booth with the NICEST lady working it. We quickly paid for the ferry and drove right onto it, just as it was getting ready to leave. We weren’t allowed to leave the car and it was a slow ferry so we barely noticed we were moving and then all of a sudden we were on the other side.

We drove up to the discovery center to find it was a fee for entry boardwalk and activity center. We were reluctant to pay to walk on another boardwalk. The staff person couldn’t believe that we had just shown up (4pm), weren’t staying the night, and hadn’t been to Cape Tribulation yet. He advised us to go up there before the sun set. So we drove onwards to the cape.

We parked in a big parking lot and used the bathroom before starting our walk. That’s when I saw the biggest spider of my life. It was sitting in a massive web at the entrance to the ladies room. She was beautiful but just about the last thing you want to see before pulling down your pants and hovering over an open hole.

As we stared at her a woman came up and explained that it was an golden orb-weaving spider. We then noticed that her massive web had a golden tinge to it. It was a beautiful site to see this huge spider sitting in the middle of her golden web.

In 1770 British explorer James Cook ran his ship into the reef off of Cape Tribulation and was quoted to have said, “and here began all our troubles”. We liked this quote and started to say it as dusk approached and we walked along the boardwalk near croc-infested waters.

The sun had just gone behind the big mountain to the west, starting an early sunset. With the beach (and Great Barrier Reef) to our right and the tropical rainforest-covered mountains to our left, we truly felt like we were on an exotic adventure.

As the sky darkened we reasoned we had time for just one more walk. We drove south a bit and got out to do the boardwalk trail at the Dubuji trail. Dubuji is a Kuku Yalanji word that means ‘place of spirits’. We were nearly the only ones on the trail. It was getting dark and the cicadas were humming loudly. On the way back we heard what sounded like a huge frog somewhere in the forest.

We got back into the car and headed south toward Port Douglas. Despite being a Monday the downtown was hoppin’. We found a place that served craft beer and burgers and managed to order just before the kitchen closed. We got another Australian style burger with beets on it. We also ordered mac and cheese croquettes and it only came with two measly croquettes. At least it was enough for us each to have one!

We drove back to Cairns and dropped Matt off at his hostel, saying goodbye but acknowledged that we’d probably see each other in the airport. Then back to our Airbnb to pack and sleep.

Tuesday, June 7

We had to check out promptly at 10am and so had some hours to kill before our flight that afternoon. We walked over to Smith Street Cafe and got some nice iced lattes to kill time. At first I ordered an iced coffee and the woman asked if I wanted ice cream and whipped cream. I said, “no thanks, just the coffee and milk…and ice”. She said, “oh ok so you want an iced latte”. I relied, “yes, please, an iced coffee”.

That’s when another staff intervened and explained that an iced coffee means it comes with ice cream and whipped cream and an iced latte is just an iced latte. The line had lengthened and I must’ve looked stupified so they said forget it and just made me an iced latte. Oh, Australia.

Frustrated with the lack of WiFi (hence delay in posting these blogs!), we decided to go to the airport early. At the airport there is free wifi outside and guess who we saw sitting there- Matt! So we sat with him for an hour or so. When he left for his flight we joked we’d see him again inside. Later, we did see him but as I waved he quickly said “see you later, I’m boarding”. Poor guy had had enough of us.