I left Cairns to drive a Camper Van a little further up North to Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation. I wanted to go to Port Douglas because everyone said it was a nicer, quieter version of Cairns. I can tell you one thing for certain, Port Douglas is nothing like Cairns. It is a beautiful, picturesque place but there is so little to do there that after a day I was twiddling my thumbs. However, I judged to quickly and not long after I arrived a Carnival to celebrate 30 years of something or other started and the town quickly filled up.
Whilst in Port Douglas I visited the "must see" Wildlife Habitat and true to form, it is definitely a must see place. It is not a typical Zoo or Wildlife Park, the Habitat tries to create the most natural environment possible for the animals that it holds and most of these animals have been rescued or adopted in cases where it is not possible to either rerelease them or leave them in the wild. For example, a wild Crocodile who was going to be put down as he was seen as too dangerous to be left in the wild or Koalas who have sexually transmitted infections are treated and neutered, and then adopted. You can get up close and personal with the animals without feeling as though they are miserable and trapped. The Kangaroos and Wallabies mooch around freely and come hopping over to say hello if they are interested but have room to drift off into the distance if they do not want human company. The birds fly around your head and dive into the water or snatch insects from trees and it feels as though you could almost be in the wild. There are photo opportunities with Koalas, Snakes and Crocs as well as free WiFi so you can send them to your family. It is at the Wildlife Habitat that I met Elizabeth, a French student, who was also finding Port a little bit quaint!
The map of Port Douglas I was given!
Another hidden gem in Port Douglas is the non-denominational church St. Mary's by the Sea originally opened in the year 1881. It is one of the oldest buildings in Port Douglas and was recently transported to a new site after a long restoration program. It now only holds weddings and christenings and is extremely sort after, this is because on a lovely, sunny day (unlike in my photos), through the magnificent glass alter window you can see views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the coral sea. The stained glass windows are also filled with depictions of ornate tropical flowers making it one of the most picturesque churches left in Australia.
St. Mary's by The Sea
You cannot swim off most Australian beaches due to the poisonous Jellyfish that roam the waters!
Port Douglas is also renown for it's Sunday Markets. The stalls are all run by local tradesmen and women and all the products have to be sourced in Australia. My friend Elizabeth and I trawled the rows looking for goodies and probably spending money that we didn't have!
I had some feathers put in my hair
At the Carnival there were many tradition sports being portrayed - such as jousting!
Whilst up in Port I took a day trip up the SkyRail into the mountains to Kuranda Village. You sit in a cable car above the dense rainforest and take in the view. There are two stop of points to take Rainforest walks but anyone that knows me will know that there is no way that I would do any unnecessary exercise - let's not joke. So I headed straight to the top to where Kuranda village is, this is supposedly a traditional mountainous market - however, I found it a bit of a tourist trap and wouldn't recommend that you go. Although on the plus side, they did have good mint choc chip ice cream.
Up next in my little (actually quite big) campervan, was heading up to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest roughly 100km north of Cairns. This area is a Wet Tropics area - the clue is in the name. It's wet and tropical. The mosquitoes are the size of hamsters, the humidity is high and it rains all the time. Hence the area only having a population of 330. It is pretty much impossible to farm there so the only source of income is fishing. Essentially there is nothing to do there except eat pizza and get eaten in return by mosquitoes or crocodiles. What was my reason for travelling all that way? The Daintree Rainforest. It's ecosystem is one of the most complex on earth, it's plant diversity and structural complexity is unrivalled. There are animal species living in the rainforest that have remained unchanged for the last 110 million years and are not found anywhere else on earth. For an area which takes up 0.1% of Australia's landmass it holds the largest plant and animal diversity on the continent. Safe to say... it's pretty impressive. I decided to go on a horse back tour of the forest rather than the traditional 4x4 tour and it really paid off for me. Not only did I have a great time in and amongst the nature and get to see crazy animals like wild Cassowary's, my guide even after years of travelling the same paths was still as enthusiastic about the land as she was when she first started. She was full of facts and stories about the ancient aboriginal land and yet east to chat a good old chat to. I guess that most of the people who live in the area are eager for a good update on the world seeing as there is no mobile or internet connection! This resulted in me being able to get some work as a guide at the company for the remainder of my time in the cape as they were one man down. This was a great and fulfilling opportunity, and my understanding of the Australian Ecosystem deepened, it was also really fun to work with the girls and get closer to horses again.
Cape Tribulation headland
Finally, only my way back to Cairns to drop off the Camper I snuck in enough time to visit the Cairns Northern Beaches. My favourite was a little beach village called Palm Cove. Full to the brim with local fishermen and quaint shops, it has also been named Australia's capital for Spa's. It's a shame that I didn't have the time or the money to stop in for an afternoon - I would have loved a massage! The beach itself was beautiful and I was lucky enough to get fresh fish from the beach BBQ for dinner before sitting down with the townsfolk to watch the full moon. A great way to end my extra week travelling north of Cairns.
I headed back to Cairns on the afternoon of the 19th and that night took the night bus down to Townsville! The next step in my journey! Hopefully it wont be too long until I can fill you in about that too!
Lots of Love,
Clementine x
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