After we’d been to Melbourne, we hopped on a plane up to the tropical and, thankfully, very warm Cairns. I make it sound easy… it wasn’t, due to some mix up with our tickets, we only just made the flight!
Cairns was to be our home for a night before we started our tour of Australia’s East Coast. Our first destination was to be Cape Tribulation. Before booking our trip, I’d never heard of Cape Tribulation so it was exciting to be heading there. I’ve since learnt that it’s the furthest north place you can take cars in the Daintree Rainforest! And, it’s freaking beautiful!
On the journey up, we stopped at Mossman Gorge and learnt all about the rainforest and aboriginal culture. It was actually really interesting. The one thing I took away from the visit was do not touch any of the plants in the rainforest. They will either kill you or cure you!! It was also the first time I heard about cassowaries. We didn’t see any but I became fascinated by them!
We did a Ngadiku Dreamtime walk so a guide took us into the rainforest and explained different parts of it such as the plants, how to make shelters, the tree to look for if you’re lost and meeting points. The Daintree rainforest is 140 million years old so it’s pretty impressive! It’s crazy to think that some of the trees, plants and rocks date all the way back to prehistoric times. It is like literally walking through history.
We also had the opportunity to go swimming in the Mossman river. The water in the river is said to be the second purest water in the world!
Before leaving, we sampled some tea and damper. Damper is a traditional Australian food that is popular with indigenous Australians. It’s made from flour and water but other ingredients can be added and can be cooked in the ashes of fires.
Our accommodation in Cape Trib was the Cape Tribulation Beach House. It’s in the rainforest but metres from the gorgeous and surprisingly quiet beach. The beach was actually paradise!
We stopped at a supermarket (probably a Woolworths) to stock up with supplies. We cooked our own food that night and bought PLENTY of alcohol! Some of the group went jungle surfing whilst the rest of us lazed around. I now kinda wish that I had done jungle surfing but next time…
Cape Trib beach was one of my favourite places that I’ve ever been. It was my second favourite beach (the first being Whitehaven beach) and I think the fact it was so quiet, not to mention beautiful, contributed. It was such a lovely afternoon relaxing, sunbathing, watching the waves and sunset!
Later on, after dinner, we all got pissed and played drinking games as a bonding exercise. It’s always a good ice breaker to play I have never and Truth or Dare with a group of strangers! I learnt a lot about my fellow travellers that night! It was also fun watching someone run naked down the hill! I think we may have stolen his clothes! Some of the jungle surfing instructors turned up and joined in the fun! They certainly kept us entertained for a while! It was a fun night!
The next morning, with sore heads, we took a walk along the beach to a lookout point then headed back towards Cairns.
On the way back, we stopped to take photos of the road signs and I also saw two of the biggest spiders ever! They looked seriously dangerous!
Our final stop before arriving back in Cairns was Port Douglas. Port Douglas is a lovely town, quite upmarket. It has the beautiful 4 mile beach so plenty of space for sunbathing! We ate at The Courthouse Hotel where I had the most amazing chicken burger. It had cheese and pineapple and salad on it. It was seriously good. I’d go back just for another burger. Port Douglas is also where I now want to get married after seeing the lovely St Mary’s By The Sea. Apparently there’s a 2 year waiting list. Not a problem! Gives me time to find a husband!
Emily's adventures 