30th June – 2nd July 09
From Palm Cove we headed for the resort town of Port Douglas. Port Douglas is very modern and seemed purpose built for tourism. The palm tree lined beach is very nice and surrounded by ‘stinger nets’ for safe swimming. The town is full of boutique shops and expensive accommodation (even the Caravan Parks were expensive!). We had lunch by the very nice new marina (the paint was probably still wet!) and gazed at the very expensive looking boats.
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| From Port Douglas, Mossman, Daintree and Cape Tribulation |
With cheaper accommodation in mind we headed on out of town and into Mossman. Mossman is a sugar growing town and is famous for it’s gorge. This gorge is very different to the red desert types we have seen before. It was surrounded by rainforest and has a lovely river flowing through it. People were swimming in it and there was a large group clambering to take pictures - The scenery was gorgeous.
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| From Port Douglas, Mossman, Daintree and Cape Tribulation |
Before we left town we pulled up next to a familiar looking Toyota Land Cruiser (This will become relevant soon) and popped into a newsagent to buy a guide to Cape York – our next big adventure!
We headed out of Mossman in the direction of the World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest. This is the only place in the world where 2 ‘World Heritage’ listed areas exist side by side – The Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef.
The drive through the rainforest along the coast to Cape Tribulation was spectacular and easily rivalled the Great Ocean Road. Just after the ferry crossing (the only way across the river) we stopped at an amazing look out and took the obligatory piccies.
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| From Port Douglas, Mossman, Daintree and Cape Tribulation |
We spent the night at a caravan park in the forest and pulled in behind a now very familiar grey Toyota Land Cruiser 61 series. We headed off to the camp kitchen for dinner and got talking to a couple it seems we had been following for a while. (Little did we know at the time, but this was the beginning of a great friendship and an awesome adventure). Their names were Sandy and Elliott and after eating dinner and talking for a while we were invited back to their camper trailer to getaway from the biting insects! We chatted over a beer until late and casually agreed that we may bump into each other in Cooktown at Orchid Travellers Park.
