April 1999

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Friday 2 April 1999

Oh dear, oh dear, this would have been perfect aside from the fact we were in the wrong terminal as the travel agent forgot to mention these tickets were for an international flight (flying on to somewhere in Asia after the quick stop at Cairns). A mad dash over to the correct terminal and a few helpful Qantas staff soon saw us through the situation (and customs with nothing more that a PADI dive certificate and a credit card for ID!).

Once in Carins all was well and the weather was glorious, so a quick change at the airport was called for before a short cab ride to the Britz depot for our Bush Camper. A converted LWB Toyota Landcruiser this would be home for the next four days, with all the comforts you'd expect. Well - it had a fridge, a stove and a bed, what more do you need?

Headed north to the first planned destination - Mossman George. Was too hard to resist a quick break at Ellis Beach en route though, where we just hung out and had great fun tormenting... erm studying... the crabs lurking around the rocks.

There's no wonder the slogan of far north Queensland is, 'Where the rainforest meets the reef'. This shot on yet another beautiful beach illistrates the point perfectly. And in case anyone is wondering, this is Ellis Beach, just a short drive north of Cairns.

Mossman George is apparently one of the more popular day trip destinations for those folk based in Cairns (aside from the reef that is). A drive up the usual (for this area) narrow winding road (not too steep though) leads to an overflowing car park. Found signs to the short (2.4km) bushwalk circuit and stomped off into the forest on the trail.

All this was very pleasant, as the track wound it's way through some pretty dense and impressive rainforest, across a rickety old bridge that could have come straight out of an Indian Jones movie and back along the river banks.

	The large boulders and lush fauna that are typical of the Mossman Gorge area. Here we're looking down the path of one of the smaller streams as if merges and flows down to the left there.
	It's all part of the adventure - following the bush circuit brings you to this rather interesting crossing.

Although it was now getting late in the afternoon and there was plenty of cloud cover and vegetation to protect you from the sun, it was still very easy to get very hot and sticky. Could not resist a dip in one of the many swimming holes to cool down. Had a nice dip then sat and admired the lush scene while drying off - great.

	Up stream of the water hole we swam in you see more of those huge boulders.
	A typical forest swimming hole. Was great fun here to dive into the current flowing from the left (see the churned up water?) and let it literally shoot you downstream.
	More of the Mossman Gorge rainforest. This shot was taken from what looked like a small river bed, that probably becomes a raging torrent at the height of the wet season.

When we eventually managed to pull ourselves away from the perfectly relaxing location there was just a short drive back down that winding track to Port Douglas, the first overnight stop. Nothing much to tell about this though, it had been a long day, so took a stroll on the beach before checking into the local camp site and crashing out (oh - after a rather nice Thai Red Curry, even if I do say so myself).

Saturday 3 April 1999

Started with a drive up to Cape Tribulation and on to Cooktown through the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Trib. national park. In case no-one has heard of the Daintree, it's apparently one of the oldest areas of rainforest on the planet (according to my guide book, it's one of the only remaining remnants of forest that covered the whole of Australia 50 million years ago).

Needless to say, this is one very impressive place. It's true tropical rainforest, hot and humid, so much so that my my video camera refused to work here, constantly flashing the "It's too humid here - are you sure you're not in the shower?" warning light!

There is a small visitor's centre on the road here, which has a three of four story tower you can climb up and check out what it's like up in the rainforest canopy. There's also a small boardwalk through the trees with various species and forest landmarks marked which makes it pretty informative.

I have to admit, one of the most memorable events on this trip (and this was several months ago as I write) was being caught in a tropical downpour here. While walking round the path a faint noise began to build, like the wind gathering strength and rustling branches above us. Instead of passing in a moment, this rustle became a low rumble, then a roar as we realised a what was coming and ran for cover just in time to have the whole area engulfed in an unbelievable deluge.

And then a few minutes later the whole episode was over and silence returned, a totally bizarre and awesome experience.

	Believe it or not, there is a small creek down there somewhere between all those ferns and trees. The Daintree Rainforest as seen at the visitor's centre site.
	One of the many creeks to be crossed when driving through the Daintree Rainforest.

Driving onward lead through the forest and several small creek crossings. All very picturesque (as I hope you can see) and all very temping to have a splash around in given the hot and humid conditions.

	A Britz Bushcamper, not too disimlar to the one I was travelling in (OK - so it's identical) crossing a creek here in the Daintree Rainforest.
	Yet another Daintree Rainforest creek, this one being criss-crossed with a fallen tree and vines.
	Another Daintree Rainforest creek. From what I remember this one was a lot deeper than it looks, and was where I took a refreshing dip. I know - not too bright but I managed to survive the leeches and other nasties in there, so don't worry!

	Rob on a beach near Cape Tribulation (perhaps this is Thornton Beach?). Proving this is truly paradise - munching on a freshly fallen coconut after having bashed it open on the rocks.
	Mangroves on the Coast of Cape Tribulation. These were incredibly thick, but could be negotiated thanks to the boardwalk through them at this point. Many small crabs could be seen in down below, if you stand still at look hard for a second or two.
	Cool... for all of us that like to roar through water in our vehicals, check this out! The Bloomfield Crossing, far north Queensland.
	A reminder to all those driving over the Bloomfield Crossing and those foolish enough to think about swimming in the raging torrent. Don't bother, because you'll end up miles downstream (perhaps having first travelled through a large reptile!).

I can only describe the road from the Bloomfield crossing to Rossville (through Cedar Bay National Park) as diabolical. I guess this is only to be expected as we are nearing the end of the wet season and this track must have seen many vehicles come this way resulting in the messy mud road littered with huge holes, ruts and gullies.

Came across Black Mountain on the way to Cooktown. What looks like a pile of black rocks (hence the name) that have just been thrown down from the heavens is a strange sight between all the greenery. Reading the signs by the road here we find that the opposite is true: these granite boulders have been forced upward by some strange geological event and aren't black at all, getting their colour from lichen which grows on them.

	Black Mountain in far north Queensland. A bizzare pile of rocks that has been pushed up from the ground - and is apparantly still growing!
	More wildlife of the Australian outback - a small Gecko found running around near Black Moutain.

Thankfully, from somewhere around Black Mountain ('cos I don't quiet remember) the road was slightly improved and we were relieved to reach Cooktown shortly after, having being shaken around in the 'cruiser most of the day.

Cooktown is a very quiet place, but this wasn't really important... it had a pub to grab a few beers in, and a campsite, which was just about all that was required here.

After dinner (great steak in case you need to ask) spotted a few nocturnal creatures by the shower block and Kim was very excited to find a Green Tree Frog. - it's not that often you find one of these in your bathroom is it?

	A green tree frog found at the Cooktown camp site.
	A green tree frog found at the Cooktown camp site.

I'm also able to report that there were a few of those pesky Cane Toads around. I'm still not convinced about the myth of this Queensland 'plague' as this is the first time I'd ever seen any. To the local residents - sorry guys, didn't get rid of any of 'em as I'd forgotten to bring the cricket bat and golf clubs on this trip!

Sunday 4 April 1999

So this is why they call it Cooktown - a statue of the famous captain stands close by the site that was apparantly used to repair his boat The Endeavour in 1770.

Decided to start the trip back to Carins via the inland route and set out down the Cooktown Development Road. Not quiet as bad as yesterday's trip, but this is still a pretty awful road. Thankfully the mud and potholes didn't last too long in this stretch up into the highlands as one development road gave way to another. The sealed Peninsula Development Road was a welcome sight though.

	The Britz Bushcamper that served us so well on this trip.
	A vehical can get mighty messy up here with all the dirt roads (or more like mud tracks) as can be seen here.

It's just so nice to be able to travel through this kind on scenery, where there seems to be another perfect spot for a break around every bend. The shots above were actually taken by a small creek we found just off the road down a small track. Amazingly Kim managed to catch one of the many small fish trying to make their way upstream here!

	On the inland development road from Cooktown to Cairns - this is the awsome view from Bob's lookout.
The amazing panorama as seen from Bob's lookout, on the inland development road between Cooktown and Cairns.

One of the more dubious 'tourist attractions' listed in the normally excellent Lonely Planet guide was Granite Gorge. Nothing more than a large collection of boulders set in the path of a creek, this certainly was no gorge. However it soon became obvious the reason this place made it into the guide. It is home to a family of rather tame Rock Wallabies, who certainly knew when the next bus load of Japanese tourists from town was due, coming out for their daily (or was this an hourly ritual?) feed in exchange for a few photos and petting opportunities.

A very tame Rock Wallaby at the rather dubious Granite Gorge.

Moving swiftly on it was off to find a camp site for the last evening's stay, and the tree lined shores of Lake Tinaroo sounded ideal. Oops... another mistake, as this weekend it appeared to have turned into a water skier's Mecca. I'm sure that this is a great place when not crawling with this crowd as it has plenty of camp sites dotted around the lake side, but the long weekend seemed to have drawn literally hundreds of folk and their boats.

Although a quiet site was hard to find site we decided to park up at Fong-On Bay Point (yes - strange name, eh?) and settle down to a nice sausage sizzle and a few beers.

Monday 5 April 1999

	Early morning at Lake Tinaroo - from Fong On Point.
	The road to Fong On Point leads through this old growth pine forest here at Lake Tinaroo.

After completing the drive round Lake Tinaroo, the first stop was to check out Cathedral Fig.

Cathedral Fig - a huge strangler fig situated near Lake Tinaroo.

Forest gave way to farmland, and an landscape almost reminiscent of good old blightly driving away from the lake and onto view the other large fig around here:

Curtain Fig has grown this way as the original host fell into an adjacent tree. The strangler roots continued to grow from the slanting host and stayed here long after it died and decomposed.

Next up was the nice meandering drive around the waterfalls circuit. This is a short (16km) loop road which passes some of the most picturesque waterfalls on the tablelands.

	Millaa Millaa are the first falls on the circuit. It's a nice quiet spot and looks like the pool below could be a good swimming hole (unfortunatly time didn't permit trying it out).
	Zillie Falls follow Millaa Millaa on the waterfall trail. Unfortunately there wasn't really a route down to the base of here so this is about as good a view as you can get.
	Park up above Ellinjaa Falls and take the 200m trail down to view them. Worth the minute effort wouldn't you agree?

And as if all that wasn't enough why not stop by Mungalli Falls on the way past too?

Mungalli Falls is not on the waterfall circuit road, but is very close by. Although we didn't trek to the bottom of the falls for a shot this terrapin was spotted swimming in the pool above them.

Oh well - that was that I guess. By now the schedule of the evening flight was creeping up on us and Carins airport was beckoning. Still, there was yet more dramatic scenery on the way back there.

The view from Heale's (sp?) lookout, taken from the Gilles Highway on the way back to Cairns.