Port D, Cape Trib and Mossman...

Monday 14th August

Hello Port Douglas! My last visit was in 2003 when I came here with Leece, her sister Nic and Nic’s then boyfriend Lloyd. Wow, how much has happened in 3 years and how quickly that time flies! I had a great time then and was interested to see how much I remembered fro the visit! In the event, Port Douglas is much the same as I recalled, except somehow an Irish bar had found its way onto the scene but that aside, it was still the beautiful and quaint Port Douglas I remembered!

As I was heading up to Cape Tribulation the next day, we just booked into a caravan park and had an early night, but not before a trip to four mile beach for a quick run as I didn’t think I’d be up for it in the morning! To my dismay, there was an old couple running along the beach, both of whom overtook me! I must be losing the touch. It was good though as the spur helped me run for a good 45 minutes during which I managed to run down the lady and overtake her. Alas, the old chap was too fit and I couldn’t catch him – well done fella! There’s hope for us yet!

Cape Tribulation and Mossman Gorge

The drive up was very refreshing and memory lane came back at the ferry crossing the Daintree as Leece, Lloydie, Nic and I had done a day tour up here – crossing the self same river! Once you’re over the river, the road performs a series of switchbacks and sharp climbs/descents which Harriet struggled with but we got to the YHA in the end. I thought the place sucked – miles away from Cape Tribulation and the toilets weren’t all that. We did see a canoe trip on the sea which took our eye but thought we might find a better place to stay further up – which we did in JJ’s. On the up, we passed this sign, which was there when I was here last but the reminder to watch for the Cassowaries was still good!


I was also looking at the end of my travels in Queensland as I’d gone as far North as possible with Harriet and now it was time to head to the red centre from Townsville. At the last though, on the way home, a Cassowary crossed the road in front of us. These are large, flightless birds that can stand up to 2m high. They’re in the same species group as the Emu but are characterised by a large bony protrusion on their skulls and colourful gibbets and necks. Like the Emus, the males carry out the majority of the child rearing and so, the lone bird we saw was probably a female. I was driving and didn’t get a piccie – sorry folks – but an actual sighting is a pretty rare thing so I was well chuffed to see it!