Reefs and Rainforests:
Far North Tropical Queensland
I was pretty pleased when I eventually left Cairns; it’s the type of place that is able to suck money out of your wallet without you realizing. Chatting with some people in the hostel, they casually mentioned that some of the hostels in Port Douglas run a free shuttle bus, so I would not have to wait around for a lift…
The drive to Port Douglas is a pretty stunning one, but still just a little peep into what the rest of the Far North Queensland coast would have to offer, such as rainforests and stunning deserted beaches. Port Douglas is a town dedicated to holiday-makers, most of those being really rich holiday-makers who are able to afford their own yachts, or to stay in exclusive beach resorts, with private golf courses and all the other facilities that the rich seem to expect when they are away from home.
However, despite the money involved, Port Douglas is a great place, really beautiful with a great beach, cool little bars and generally a great tropical atmosphere. It also has one of the best Sunday Markets I’ve been to, where vendors sell local arts and crafts, and there is a great outlook over the ocean.
The main reason for the trip up north was the opportunity to take on some serious rainforests and the beaches of Cape Tribulation, a world heritage site. There are no regular bus services into the Far North, so the choice was between catching a tourist bus or the local charter service. Due to the fact that I wanted to be in the area for more than three days, I opted for the local bus – along with drivers who thought that they were in F1 racing cars, despite the winding roads and the dramatic drop-offs into the ocean.
First place I stayed in Cape Tribulation was Crocodilus, a hostel right in the middle of the forest. It’s totally amazing: Crocodilus has made a huge effort to be as "eco-friendly" as possible, which meant that you had to get used to frogs in the showers, and the largest selection of bugs that I have ever come across.
The highlight of the stay was a nighttime forest walk, totally beautiful, and I saw lots of spiders, lizards, snakes and many other creatures that I am unable to name.
The best bit of the tour was turning off all the lights and sitting in the forests in total darkness, just listening to the sounds; it really made everyone think about the way we are going about screwing up the planet. The forests in this area of the world are estimated to be over 130 million years-old, and are some of the best examples of low-level tropical rainforests in the world. Many facts and figures were mentioned about the forests, but one in particular stands out: One hectare of rainforest has more species of plant and animals living in it, than the whole of Europe put together.
My next stop in Cape Trib was the world-renown PK’s Jungle Village (if you’ve stayed there, you will know what I mean). The atmosphere was totally different, with a definite emphasis on drinking and having a good time, but it also gave me the opportunity to enjoy yet more miles of deserted white beaches, fringed by pristine rainforests.
It seems that with the start of the wet season, however, many people would prefer to be anywhere else rather than in the far north.
After a few great days in Cape Tribulation, it was time to get back to Port Douglas and do some diving, which I had been looking forward to for some time. Despite not having dove since I qualified nine years ago, the dive masters on my boat were more than happy to let me have a go (under close supervision, to begin with). I would love to say that the weather was picture-card perfect, but that is far from the truth; it was blowing a gale, and with the constant drizzle things were not looking their best.
Diving is like riding a bike: you don’t forget. The dive was amazing, despite the far-from-perfect visibility. After a few moments I remembered why I loved diving so much. Gliding along in a totally alien environment, looking at all the fish and the reefs, is truly a stunning experience.
The highlight of the three dives was the final one, in which the dive master and I dived into the open sea and swam into the outer reef system. We spotted three white-tipped reef sharks, and a couple of huge turtles who glided past us without a care in the world.
The trip back to Port Douglas is supposed to take two hours, but due to the worsening conditions it took over three, with huge swells crashing over the side of the boat. Six of us sat up by the driver and got even wetter, while we made comments such as, "Have you seen The Perfect Storm?" and "Titanic, that was a great movie, wasn’t it?" This had to be one of the more memorable boat trips I have taken.
After a trip back into Cairns I paid a quick visit into the Atherton Tablelands, yet more world heritage rainforest, with an abundance of waterfalls. Then it was time to move on, this time to Mission Beach.
I was supposed to stay only for two nights, but the hostel, The Treehouse, is the type of place that hooks you in and makes it very hard to leave. It was so relaxed and homely that I stayed five nights instead. Most places you feel guilty if you do nothing all day, but the Treehouse is totally the opposite. It has a stunning swimming pool, and with its large collection of hammocks is the ideal place to chill and recharge the batteries.
It was also here that the wet season really started to show itself. As a result of the back end of a cyclone further north, it didn’t stop raining for a solid two days. Time to move further south, and hopefully catch some good weather…
I’m now in hot and sunny Airlie Beach, waiting to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands, so its fingers crossed that the weather here continues to be better than it was up further north. I have also booked a trip to Fraiser Island, the biggest sand island in the world, and also an ideal place to do some serious off-road driving and camping – this should be a great laugh…
Some people have been asking me about my Christmas plans. Where will I be? What will I be doing? Well, I still don’t have any totally solid plans, but I hope to be in Byron Bay for Christmas and New Year. Unfortunately, I can’t find a place that will take a booking yet, so I may have to end up sleeping on the beach – again, fingers crossed…
As with all good travel, plans change. After looking into various flights home, I discovered that for only an extra $50 I can fly in and out of different Asian cities on my way home, so now I have incorporated flying into Singapore, then heading into Thailand from there. I now have just over a month left in Australia, and I must admit that I’m really looking forward to getting to Asia, and meeting a bit of a challenge in my travelling.