Day 56: Cape Tribulation
We had a gentle wake-up with the sunrise in our orchard cabin, with a caddy of delicious hot coffee delivered to our porch by our hostess, Maren. After packing up our, we went out to the dining patio for our brekky: toast with homemade exotic jams, cereal and a basket of rare, tropical fruits.
I could get used to room service!
Igor LOVES fruit! Custard Apple, Longan Berries, Starfruit, Papaya, Pineapple, Guanabana and Pummelo
Another rainy morning in Cape Tribulation
We took a morning stroll on Myall Beach, where the rainforest meets the ocean – normally quite stunning, but the visibility was too poor in the rain.
Looking up Myall Beach
Looking down Myall Beach
Warning signs for “Things That Want To Kill You” on Australia’s beaches
Checking out the Golden Orb – a large rainforest spider – from a safe distance. They say if you go for an early morning walk in Daintree, make sure to walk second on the path, so the first guy can “clear” all the Golden Orb webs for you!
More bugs! Lots of green stick bugs just hanging out on the leaves
Igor exploring the mangroves – he would have crossed, but Lindsay was (rightfully) wary of crocodiles and turn us back
The rest of the day, Lindsay was on a mission to find a cassowary – the heaviest bird in Australia. Similar in size and shape to an emu, the cassowary has a horn and bright blue & red coloring on its head. There were signs all over the road warning drivers to slow down due to rent cassowary crossings, and our farmstay hosts told us that the best place to see them was actually the road, as they are not afraid of cars. So we (slowly) drove as far north as we could in Cape Tribulation, along a 4WD road in our little Hyundai hatchback until we hit Emmagen Creek, with a constant lookout for our giant bird. No luck so far.
Searching for the cassowary
Emmagen Creek crossing. We watched a 4WD with a snorkel exhaust nearly get swept away during a crossing – the extra rain in the past week made the water especially strong. Even Igor agreed that this river was too much for us.
We headed back down south toward the Cape Tribulation ferry, stopping at hiking trails along the way in hopes of finding our bird. The rainforest was stunning (the Dubuji trail was Lindsay’s favorite), but no cassowary. Remembering our long a fruitless search for the kiwi in New Zealand, we decided to throw in the towel, and find ourselves a place to stay on the way back to Cairns.
Beautiful plants in the rainforest
Cape Tribulation Point from Cape Tribulation Beach
Cape Tribulation Beach
The amazing trees on the Dubuji Boadwalk Trail
Our itinerary had moved around a bit in the last few days, so we had to book the night’s accommodation on the fly. Igor found a “secret deal” on his Booking.com account and got us a room at a 4-star resort in Port Douglas for half off – nice! We ran into town to pick up some groceries & sparkling wine for a picnic spread on our pool-view balcony. The hotel manager even gave us free drink vouchers for the bar on check-in, so we ended the night with an extra dose of bubbles and a game of pool.
Catching the sunset in Daintree Village before heading south, where high-speed Wifi waits!
A luxurious dinner spread fit for a 4-star resort
Free drinks? Don’t mind if we do!
We played just one round of pool, which took us about an hour. We officially suck at pool. But let the record show that Igor sucks more, since Lindsay won!