East Coastin'

Now that we’re East coastin’, life is like the Eagles; easy. The temperature has changed drastically, so while it’s still hot under the sun during the day, the temperature drops at night and is comparable to the hot days during Ontarian summers.

When we left Palm Cove on November 7^th, we aimed to drive to the Northern most point on the East coast that our non-4WD would allow. Cape Tribulation; this was the place where Captain Cook actually crashed his ship on the reef and “all of the trouble started.” I can only imagine what kind of trouble wild, unbridled Australia gave them as we have to be on our toes still in the 21^st Century.

To even get to Cape Tribulation, you have to cross a river on a small Ferry that pulls itself across the croc infested waters using cables. It’s such a short ride that its funny that the crossing even warrants a Ferry, but it was definitely more interesting than a bridge, and made the whole thing feel that much more exotic. We drove off the Ferry and up through the winding forested roads, into the Daintree Rainforest, passing the ferns and the palm trees, the ‘caution; cassowary’ signs, and the local tea fields.

We did a few short ‘hikes,’ I use the word hike loosely since they were only 700m – 1.2km in length and had a built in boardwalk. We did all of them in our flip flops. Even though the walks weren’t strenuous or spectacular, it was nice to wander beneath the shelter of the rainforest and listen to the peaceful sounds of birds and other unknown creatures poking around. There were signs posted over the creeks and even where the beach met the forest, warning of the Estuarine Crocodiles that will come and eat you, should you enter the water. If the crocodiles don’t get you, the Box Jellyfish will. They even have vinegar stations posted by the ocean, to curb the pain while you wait for the ambulance. (What doesn’t try to kill you in Australia?!)

 When we got up to the short Cape Tribulation walk, we wowed at the mangroves and took in the view, and then headed out to find a campsite for the evening. We ended up at Cape Trib Campground, mostly because they advertised wood fired pizzas.  Our choice couldn’t have been more on point for what we wanted. We cosied up on the verandah, under the porch lights and played some outdated Star Sign game, while we sank a few beers and amazing pizzas. Eventually, we graduated to Jenga and entertained the bar with our highly competitive rounds. 

After reaching our Northern most point of the East, the next day we started to descend the infamous coastline. We didn’t get too far before taking a small hike to the Mossman Gorge and swimming in the somewhat icy waters. Along the way we discovered that mango trees grow abundantly just about everywhere, and stopped to pick a few for our snacking pleasure. We ate one later that day for lunch, and it was delicious. Of course, anything you worked for always tastes better.

From Mossman, we found ourselves meandering back into Port Douglas and taking a peek in the shops there. We didn’t find any treasures, and hit up the marina in hopes of finding a vessel to take us on to train us in our PADI in exchange for work. No one wanted to take us (and who could blame them!) So we cut our losses and parked up in a hostel/caravan park called Dougies. The atmosphere there immediately made us feel at home. Backpackers hanging out on the lawn, sprawled on blankets beneath the palms by the pool in the late afternoon sunshine beckoned to us.

We checked in and Steve made his famous jalapeno-cream cheese burgers for dinner. Afterwards we went for a swim and then had a few drinks while watching Super Bad being projected onto a sheet in the garden.  I went to bed, while the guys played in a small pool tournament to scratch off the rest of the night.

Jumping on the bed with excitement

In the morning we took another swim before waving goodbye to Dougies and booting to Cairns. 

We upgraded our lives the minute we rolled into our parking sport at the Holiday Inn. Air conditioning, real beds, and a place to hang our hats. I don’t really have anything to say about the rest of that day since we just rolled around town and picked up some souvenirs and hit the hay early.

Today, we rose early to take the scenic train to Kuranda, a hippie village in the folds of the Daintree rainforest. Steve and I had a good day gazing out the old train at the waterfalls and hilly views, pursuing the village shops, and nibbling on a treat here and there. To be honest though, it wasn’t as original and as special as we had thought. I’m not sure if our expectations were just extremely high, or Kuranda was one of those gems that once held a unique secret in the universe, but has now been overexposed to tourism. That being said, they sure did have great ice cream! 

Tomorrow, the Great White gets an oil change and we cruise on down to Mission Beach in hopes of spotting a cassowary in the wild, and then onwards to the next adventure.