Cape Tribulation - Paradise in the Rainforest

Cape Tribulation is 65km north of Mossman, on the northern side of the Daintree River. This really is the place where the rainforest meets the reef.  The Great Barrier Reef is only metres from the shoreline.  The drive to the Daintree Ferry is only about 30 minutes from Mossman.  We had earlier visited the local Douglas Council office to collect our Daintree Ferry Card.  We qualified for this card because we're living here for a year and our caretaker agreement allowed the council to use their discretion to issue the card.  We didn't fit into any of the 8 specific criteria clauses, and relied on clause 9 which allows the discretionary issue of the card.  It's been well worth the visit to the council office as the $15 card gives us free ferry travel (for the car and caravan) until July 2018, saving the $24 ferry fare for each trip.  We did a reconnoitre day trip the week before we needed to take the caravan, to check out the campgrounds and caravan parks.  We selected the Cape Trib Campground and booked in for 5 nights for the following week.

It really is a beautiful place.  Patchy TV coverage, no wifi, no phone so effectively a technology free holiday.  This area is "Gondwana Rainforest".  There are many plants that are only found here - like the first flowering plants.  They have survived, and some have evolved, from the time before Australia split away from the ancient Gondwanaland.  The ancient heritage has been preserved because this area did not experience the volcanic activity which affected the rainforests further south and west.

The Cooper Creek Rainforest Walks had been recommended to us so we booked in to do the 2 hour rainforest walk before we left Mossman.  On the Saturday morning we arrived at Cooper Creek and we were greeted by Angie who would be our knowledgeable guide.  On our walk we saw several interesting spiders - Northern Jewel Spider, Golden Orb Spider (the web glows golden in sunlight) and the St Andrew's cross Spider (the cross is formed by thickening the web) and the well camouflaged Lichen Spider (can you see it on the tree trunk).  As we walked we learned about the history of the area, it's inclusion in the Daintree National Park, different flora and fauna.  We could hear plenty of birds although we didn't see many because they live high up in the canopy.  Our walk took us through the Fan Palm Gallery and we saw many different types of palm trees.

There are many self guided walks through the rainforest in the Cape Tribulation area and we explored the Mardja Botanical Walk.  There were plenty of interpretive sighs explaining the plants as we walked through the rainforest and mangroves  along the well maintained boardwalks and paths.  The basket ferns are home to many different rainforest animals including birds, lizards and snakes.  We could hear the "cannonball" seed pods exploding to release their seeds as we walked along.

We tried the ice-cream at both of the ice-cream factories in the area.  The Floravilla Ice Cream Factory had about 30 different flavours so we bought 4 small tubs of different flavours - macadamia, mango/ginger, mango/coconut -  to try over a few days, delicious and creamy.  The Daintree Ice-Cream Co. is nearby and is located in an orchard of exotic tropical fruits.  We tried tubs of different flavours - Davidson's Plum, Black Sapote, Wattleseed and Jackfruit - and  bought a 1litre take home pack to enjoy later - also delicious.

In all we had a very pleasant 5 days with some walks along the beach at low and high tide. At low tide the reef is exposed very close to shore.  We'll definitely be back to visit more of this beautiful paradise.

Tomorrow we're heading off in our caravan for a couple of weeks to attend the Bushtracker Owners Group Annual Muster in Winton, central Queensland.  It will take us about 2-3 days to get there (it's about 900km away).  We're looking forward to visiting Winton again and catching up with our friends at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum.  It will also be good to renew friendships with fellow Bushtracker Caravan owners.  It's always a great time of socialising.