Its only a short run from Atherton to Port Douglas via the mountain pass down to Mossman and we made it down to the bottom safely. It's probably a better way down than going via Kuranda and Cairns. Actually the van park is the Big 4 at Craiglie, which is about 4km south of the turn-off to Port Douglas proper. It makes for a quieter park and a nice little drive into the shops / beach / marina / markets.
What possessed us I don't know, but we went up to 'the Daintree' for the day. First of all you go into the Daintree village, and then wonder why you are there, because there is nothing there except a couple of cafe places and outlets for crocodile cruises. Not a problem, we'll go back to the turn-off and take the ferry across into the Daintree itself. Or not. We waited over an hour for the ferry, but finally, for the small sum of $28 for a return ticket (just how many one-way tickets do they sell?) we were under way.
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| Vehicular ferry. Daintree River, Daintree Qld |
We headed straight for the Daintree experience looking for lunch and, well, an experience. It is one of those places where you walk around a raised path through the treetops and it is the first 'thing' you come to on the road, some 10km from the ferry. Sadly the moment we walked in we remembered that the cafe is perfectly neat and clean, but useless. They make coffee and have a handful of pre-made sandwiches, a dodgy looking frittata and a few cakes. We made the best of what they had because it was now 2pm and we were starving. However, we had second thoughts about taking 'the experience' and instead jumped back in the car and went looking for the Daintree Ice-cream Factory and Fresh Fruit farm.
We were looking forward to an ice ice-cream each from this establishment, only to find that they only dish up one style of ice cream, made up of 4 different flavours, one supposes from the fruit that they have at hand. Today was Black Sapote (chocolate pudding flavour), mango, wattle seed, and coconut. After one finishes ones ice-cream confection, one can follow the marked path around the farm and play spotto with the various fruit trees that they have, none of which are actually in fruit at this time. OK, so it was a pleasant enough way to pass a half an hour, but not something you'd go back to in a hurry.
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| Daintree Qld |
We ended up driving the rest of the 40km up to Tribulation point, took an obligatory walk along the beach and headland lookout, sadly, no cassowaries, before doing the only thing to do, drive back again!
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| Kulkie Beach. Tribulation Point. Daintree Qld |
On the way back, we stopped for a quick look at the Alexander Lookout and then back to the ferry. Our luck was in, straight on the first ferry.
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| Daintree River. Alexander Lookout. Daintree Qld |
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| Fern. Alexander Lookout. Daintree Qld |
Another day we revisited Mossman Gorge, which is still very beautiful and still only costs less than $10, and that's for the bus ride up to the walking track. You could give the bus a miss and walk (2.5km uphill) but why would you? We spent a pleasant hour and half wandering around taking too many snaps and watching the fearless young persons swim in the freezing waters of the river and dicing with the dangers of strong currents and unforgiving rocks. We even stayed for lunch at the delightful cafe.
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| Mossman Gorge Qld |
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It is peak tourist season as the log-jam on the suspension bridge shows
Mossman Gorge Qld |
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| Rocks, water etc. Mossman Gorge Qld |
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| Moss at Moss-man Gorge Qld |
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| J Black. Ace Photographer. Mossman Gorge Qld |
A few trips into 'town', to see the beach, the Flagstaff lookout, the markets, the boats, the shops etc, not to mention the odd lunch and coffee along the way, filled up a few more days. One night the sound of live music reached our caravan and upon investigation turned out to be two old fellows playing guitars and doing rock and roll classics in a blues style. Quite an entertaining evening, maybe the wine helped?
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| Four mile beach from Flagstaff Hill. Port Douglas Qld |
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| Random view from Flagstaff Hill. Port Douglas Qld |
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| Random boat activity. Port Douglas Qld |
Today, after the Port Douglas Markets, we wandered down to Cairns to have a swim at Palm Cove beach, and then wandered back again. Tomorrow we are off down to South Mission Beach for a few days, which signals the start of our return journey.
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| Jacana on lily pad. Cattana Wetlands Cairns Qld |
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