1 Day in National Park/Rainforest
After another hot night in the van and after a bit of brekkie
we packed up Muriel for the first time and headed for the rainforest of
Daintree, apparently one of the oldest in the world.
First though we thought we would check out Mossman Gorge
which was around 20km along our route, stopping along the way at a Bottleo to
replenish the bar section of our van.
Just before midday we arrived at Mossman Gorge and went to
the tourist office to find that they charged an extortionate price to get a
guided tour which included going to the indigenous peoples’ village and taking
part in a few crafts. So instead we just
paid the entrance fee to walk around the gorge by ourselves.
A quick bus ride later and we were dropped off at the start
of the walk and we preceded along the walkways deeper into the rainforest until
we came to a lookout point over a river which was very pretty. A young kid also pointed out a snake to us
that was chilling on a nearby rock – better watch out for those along the
track.
From there we continued along paths through thicker
rainforest with loads of really ancient interestingly shaped trees, stopping
off for photos and lookout points along the way overlooking the river.
The walk wasn’t too strenuous as it was only about 3km and
not too steep, so after around an hour or two we finished this nice walk and
jumped back on the bus to the carpark where we had a quick cold drink in Muriel
before setting off again.
We drove for a while and along our route we noticed a place
called Wonga Beach so we just had to check that out and pulled up in a wooded
lay-by and headed to see the beach. As
soon as we jumped out of the van a bunch of mosquito’s descended on Shell, so
we quickly hit the beach took a few pics before running back to the safety of
the van from those blood suckers! The
only regret I had about leaving was that I didn’t get a picture of Shell in
front of a Wonga Bay sign with a wad of bank notes in her hand!!
Continuing our journey to Cape Tribulation we eventually
came to the end of the road where we had to catch a little car ferry across the
river to get to our destination. Whilst
sitting in the car waiting for the ferry to get back to our side we saw the
first signs informing us that this was Cassowary country (Very large
Emu/dinosaur type birds that are particularly dangerous if provoked!!).
Reaching the other side of the river we continued along but
the roads were a bit more hilly and we found that Muriel did not particularly
like hills (I think a lot of her horses have escaped) meaning sometimes I had
to crawl up them in 2nd gear at around 20mph, much to the annoyance of
some fellow tourists stuck behind us!!
But it was quite interesting to count the ;be aware of Cassowary’ road signs along the way.
When we reached Cape Tribulation we went and checked out the
nearby Myall Beach which once again was pretty stunning (we didn’t stop long as
I’m not that happy about all the croc warnings) before heading to the camp
ground that we had booked for the night.
Arriving late in the afternoon and checked in, this campsite
was a bit more basic than the last but it had the attraction of a lot of
wildlife as the owner was a bit of a zoo keeper, with snakes in the reception,
parrots outside reception, a field full of wallabies and apparently a croc pond.
We then found our plot which was right next to the rainforest
and unpacked (methinks Shell maybe in for more mosquito action tonight!!),
enjoying the sounds of the rainforest, before sorting out our evening meal of
fried lamb Cutlets, potato’s, salad and Shell’s yogurt and mint dressing/sauce
(delicious, our new favourite camp meal!).
Later in the evening we thought we would check out their
camp bar, but it was pretty quiet apart from the parrots and the beer was also
expensive. So we just had the one before
heading back to Muriel for a night cap and early bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment