cape trib adventures

happy sunday everyone. i have returned from an adventure to cape tribulation in northern queensland. after cape trib, the road continues north but it is a four wheel drive track and somewhere up there the road end - 1400 kilometers before you actually reach the tip of the york peninsula. weird.

this whole area is world heritage rainforest - specifically the daintree. it is beautiful and very very green. even mission beach where i was, also a rainforest, was not as green as this.

i took a day trip package and stayed overnight in cape trib - mostly it was sitting in a big van and driving around with interesting commentary.

oh let me start the day right. i woke up 6am and wandered around cairns (pronounced cans) possibly hoping to purchase a new digital camera. no luck on the camera. while wandering a man asked me about my flip flops with the toe guard. then we talked about feet - then he wanted to see my feet. then i got a free foot massage. and he offered to give me a pedicure when i got back into cairns. interesting.

back to the van. i sat next to sheila from washington dc - only the second american i have met in my travels adn one from close to home. we did a guided rainforest/mangrove walk and met some nasty inhabitants of the rainforest - the hairy mary a type of wait-a-while palm. very prickly. i impressed our guide with all the random information i have absorbed bc i of course knew all the answers to her questions. duh.

we went on a crocodile cruise and saw only one croc - maybe 5 feet long, but as we were reminded - they are wild animals. then we took the ferry over the daintree river and there was a lady selling bananas. i got mine for free bc i wanted a brownish one and inadvertently picked one from the trash pile... they all looked good to me.

blah blah. the reason i was staying the night up in the daintree was i wanted to do a night walk in the jungle and an exotic fruit tasting. i found out that the place i chose to stay was nowhere near those two things and so i was feeling a little stupid for taking the time and money to come up. but it all worked out beautifully. i satyed at the crocodylus yha on cow bay that was absolutely beautiful and secluded. i borrowed a bike and went to the beach - now when was i last on a bike? who knows. karen the reception lady suggested it to me since i was tired of walking and nothing is close to where the hostel is. i liked riding. i thought i heard karen mention free breakfast (she did but it was included in some tour), but she told me i could get free dinner if i did the dishes in the little restuarant. wow. i like doing dishes. so i served people their dinners (called out numbers and delivered plates), cleaned off tables, and dried dishes for an hour and half and got free dinner, dessert, and commentary from two hilarious ladies. they were sad i was not going to stay more than one evening.

then i went on a night walk with possum. possum has a fabulous white beard and thinks everything in the rain forest is great. :) i would go again if i were there. i am a MASTER wildlife spotter. seriously i was embarrassed by how much i spotted in relation to everyone else. i found cane toads, spectacled frogs, a couple of birds, a bearded dragon and some spiders and bugs.

the next morning i biked to the daintree discovery center and absorbed even more information about cassowaries, rainforest, and bush tucker (tropical edible fruits). the hill was killer but all the tour buses that passed me honked which made me keep going. after that i coasted down the hill and down the road to the daintree ice cream company. they only make ice cream there, only sell it there, and only sell in a four scoop four flavor cup. the mix today was wattle seed, passion fruit, mango, and macadamia nut. all delicious. i biked further down the road to a fan palm walkway that was stunning (i hope my disposable camera photos turn out), had lunch and made the long trek back to the hostel. i was hot and tired by the time i got back so i made a quick dip into the pool and read my book until the bus came to get me. we went to mossman gorge (a place to swim but no gorge in sight - the gorge is 6km up the trail) and port douglas (where WICKED ice cream company is - banana, mint chocolate, and macadamia - yum) and then back to cairns.

so even though i was originally bummed - it worked out well. and bike riding is fun for a while - although it makes you sore in interesting places.

so i am back in cairns (remember it is said cans) for two days. tomorrow is a bumming around/tacky shopping/mailing box home/buying new camera (~600) day. then i am going back out on the reef and then flying to adelaide.