Day Seven

In the Daintree Rainforest. Post-dated

We got up early this morning to leave Port Douglas and head to Cape Tribulation. It was sad to leave Port Douglas as we had a great time there and it was a great little place with just the right mixture; it was vibrant enough to be fun but not so busy that it felt like Blackpool! Our little 8 seater coach headed up the coast road past some truly stunning scenery. It’s a measure of just how remote the place is that the twice-a-day coach also delivers all the produce and newspapers to the area. We’re staying in a lodge in the rainforest, about 500m south of the Cape Trib headland. It is more basic than we had imagined but it’s grown on us and it’s quite cool really. It’s in dense rainforest with one road that runs parallel to the sea, with a few paths coming off it. Up one of those paths is a series of huts nestled in the forest – that’s pretty much where we are. Just a little hut with a little bathroom. No TV, no internet, no phone, no mobile signal; it’s quite strange but really good. So far no killer spiders either, which is a plus.

We got here and dumped our bags and wandered the five min walk down the track towards the beach (Myall Beach). We stopped on the “high street” along the road and had some lunch. The high street consists of a shack which serves as a café and a tourist information point and opposite another shack which consists of a grocers and a pharmacist.

In between the beach and the road there is a strip of forest which you can either walk straight through and down to the beach or there is a boardwalk which the local eco-tourism board has set up so you can walk around some of the rainforest in a controlled and safe way. We did that which took about an hour and a half. It was great because we could see all the plants and learn a bit about them and we saw scrub fowl and a forest dragon. We could hear all the sounds of the rainforest that you usually hear on wildlife programmes too. No crocs or cassowaries thank God. (Cassowaries, for those that don’t know are emu sized birds with a blue and red horned head which have razor sharp feet that they use to puncture your stomach if you come between them and their eggs). The board walk was really good as we could go through the mangrove forest at the edge of the forest without fear of crocs. The scenery is incredible here. Sandy beaches and blue sea bordered by dense lush rainforest and mountains as far as the eye can see. When we finished our boardwalk we walked along the beach for a little bit before heading back to the lodge where we both fell asleep – still don’t think we’ve quite got this time difference malarkey.

This evening we decided not to go to the hotel restaurant but to the restaurant where our bus had delivered some produce earlier on. It was only about 150m away from our hotel and it was absolutely fab. It was called “Whet” and it was another shack set in the forest with a veranda which you can eat on. It also serves as a cinema for the locals and tourists with a projector and a pull down screen. They show one film three times a day. The veranda was actually in the forest, so much so that you could hear the sounds of the birds and insects whilst eating. The food was great - Mark said it was the best steak he’s ever had – and that’s saying something; the man’s had a lot of steak. The walk back to the lodge, however, was not so good. It was totally and completely pitch black. We couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces and we had no torch. On either side of the road we were walking down was dense rainforest inhabited by things that don’t appreciate English tourist stumbling upon them in the night! We had to get our phones out and just try our best to see the edge of the road. The only way we didn’t miss the turning for the track up to the lodge was by luck; a car happened to pass just as we were near it and so illuminated the road sign. It was amazing, however, to see the sky. There are just so many stars; it’s absolutely beautiful to see them all twinkling away.

Aaw… A lizard just crawled along our window! We’re going to sit on our veranda with a glass of wine and a pack of cards now. Oh, and mosquito repellent too!