May 9, 2001 - Wednesday - Cape Tribulation
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| Mangrove Forest on the way to Cape Tribulation, Australia |
The bus picked us up at 9 and off we went. We drove for a while and stopped at the Daintree River at about 11. The two buses got out and go into the ferry for a short cruise. The cruise lasted 45 minutes but we didn't see anything interesting except for a snake that didn't move and a small 3 feet croc that didn't move either. Methinks they were fake.
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| Mangrove Boardwalk - Cape Tribulation, Australia |
It was raining for most of the cruise but it was ok for the most part. We headed up north again and continued to drive until we got to a boardwalk that meanders through some rainforest and mangrove trees. The walk took about half hour but they were rushing it. We hopped on the bus after that and continued north to Cape Tribulation. We checked in and I sat around and cooked some lunch before heading down to the beach to have a look around. I got to meet this two Brits in my dorm - Tom who looks a little like Pacey from Dawson's Creek and Kelly.
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| Cape Tribulation, Australia |
The beach was pretty much a long far mud flat with old reef sticking out during the low tide. I started exploring the tidal mud flats for a while, not finding anything interesting until I saw a small 3-inch long box jellyfish with a foot long tentacle trailing behind it.
May 10, 2001 - Thursday - Cape Tribulation
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| Mud Skipper in brackish creek - Cape Tribulation, Australia |
We didn't get up til late today. I got up at 9 while the others didn't get up til close to 11. I ate a brunch and then headed down to the beach to go to Emmagen Creek. It took a few hours because I was constantly stopping to examine the old coral pools but I still didn't see that much life there.
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| Mangrove crab in tree stomp - Cape Tribulation, Australia |
I managed to spot 2 Moray Eels and a red Stone Fish but nothing else really exciting. I found a small creek and thought it might be Emmagen Creek so I carefully stalked through the area looking for crocs. I didn't see any but I saw some really nice mangrove crabs and mud skippers. By this point, Tom and Kelly met up with me and we walked to the creek, which was just around the corner.
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| Bush Turkey - Cape Tribulation, Australia |
The lush rainforest was pretty nice but it lacks life. There was more life in the rainforests in Costa Rica and the Amazon. I didn't even spot anything interesting and passed Tom and Kelly and the fat Brits on the way to the waterhole. I headed back after that and it was a tiring climb on the hills.
May 11, 2001 - Friday - Cape Tribulation to Port Douglas
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| View point from Cape Tribulation, Australia |
We got up today and checked out by 10. Tom and Kelly went to the beach to lay around. I went on a short walk before deciding that the lookout wasn't worth my time so I lay on a huge tree trunk and listened to the lapping sea and slept for a while.
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| Mossman Gorge - Cape Tribulation, Australia |
We left the hostel after 1:45 and headed to the other two hostels to drop off and pick up people. Then we stopped by a lookout and then to Mossman's Gorge. It was pretty but not as lush as I thought. I didn't get a chance to explore too much of it though, since we only had 30 minutes there.
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