Bridget's MAF Journey: A weekend in Daintree

Daintree National Park was the destination for my second weekend 'mini-break', exploring a bit further afield from Mareeba. Being school holidays, there was no Friday afternoon kids' club at church. So on my most recent fortnightly Friday off work, I hit the road for a 2.5 day weekend 'where the rainforest meets the reef'.

Friday

About 1.5 hrs drive north of Mareeba is the Daintree river, which can only be crossed by car ferry - there is no bridge. The river is also home to many crocodiles and there are a range of options of boat tour companies who will take you for a cruise to go looking for them. I opted to take a one hour cruise with Bruce Belcher's outfit, which actually turned out to be more like 1.5 hrs. Initially I was a bit disappointed to find that the boat was reasonably full as there was a tour group of about 10 people who were on a day trip from Cairns, but they disembarked on the other side of the river, leaving a family of four and me on the boat for the return journey. Going out we had seen a couple of baby crocodiles and the snout and eyes of their mother in the water, but on the return we saw some more that had come ashore to bask in the sun.

'Lizzy' the basking crocodile

Daintree river ferry

After crossing the river (sitting in my car, on a boat - a weird feeling) I drove to check in at Lync Haven and then continued on to Cape Tribulation. I had booked a night wildlife walk so intended to while away the time with a few shorter walks in the area before having wood-fired pizza at the Cape Trib campground for dinner. Unfortunately the only wildlife we saw on the night walk was of the arachnid or sleeping bird variety, so that was a little disappointing, but then if you want animals to be in a predictable location you should visit a zoo instead.

Horse riders on the beach

Saturday

I hit the road early on Saturday in order to embark on the Mt Sorrow trail before the day got too hot. Even though the temperatures were cooler as I climbed, and there was a refreshing breeze at times, I was still completely drenched in my own sweat well before reaching the summit. Although the views were amazing I was somewhat distracted by the many many leeches that were all trying (unsuccessfully, thanks to my choice of clothing and deft ability to remove them) to make a meal out of me. I grabbed a few photos and then retreated back down the track to a leech-free area to have my lunch.

Alternative Mt Sorrow lookout point
(the one the signs say not to go to)

Amusing defaced road signs
(click picture for higher resolution)

Sunday

After my big walk on Saturday, I took Sunday morning at a leisurely pace - checking out at 9:30 and driving up the road a bit to do another short walk through the mangroves, before driving back south. I stopped at Thornton Beach on the way. Re-crossing the river, I picked up some lunch in Mossman and got back to Mareeba in plenty of time to get ready for afternoon church.