No blog post posts for a week means two things - having too much fun/relaxing too hard and a lack of signal to publish one anyway (for some of the time at least). I've been doing more with my roommates too this week. Perhaps because I've been less fiercely independent or pehaps because I've just met some like-minded people. Maybe a combination of both. It's also been great to bump into people I've met at previous hostels which only comes with time - the guy in Brisbane from Port Macquarie, the girls on Fraser Island from Noosa, Rita in Airlie Beach from Sydney, the Whitsundays girls (Helen, Charlotte and Laura) in Cairns and now here in Port Douglas I met Vicky and Alice from Mission Beach. So best to retell my recent adventures chronologically.
Saturday 16th August 2014
With no great disappointment, I left the bad weather behind me in Mission Beach to complete my last leg on the now familiar and comforting Greyhound bus. I'd become quite settled in the routine of presenting myself the obligatory 20 minutes before departure time and checking the timetable for my next unknown destination so it seemed quite strange to reach my final destination of Cairns. I felt as though I was now on my own and posted these feelings on Facebook. Within minutes, I'd received a message inviting me down to the lagoon where 3 of the girls I'd met on the Whitsundays trip were enjoying the sun. It seems there's always somebody to meet or something to do while travelling! My new roommate, Amy and I scoured our guide books to discover the lagoon was just down one street. I think I mentioned in Sydney how the streets grid like - just like Manhatten and Cairns CBD was similar.
Arriving at the lagoon I noticed the display showing the air temperature read 30.5°c signalling that I'd reached northern Queensland. And this is winter!
Not one for lounging about in the sun for too long, together with a Calypo doing little to cool me off, I decided to investigate the nearby market stalls but I'd left it too late and they were packing away their wares. Nevertheless I continued along the esplanade to find a seemingly temporary stage and a backdrop announcing the Hillbilly Goats as well as a large plastic mascot at the side of the stage which seemed like it could bleet at any moment.
Hovering on the grass I guessed by the audience facing the stage that they were to begin at any moment so I got myself comfortable on my towel. They were a captivating band, particularly the double bassist who wore a pretty green dress with clompy black boots. After a couple of songs I discovered that the boots had taps on the toes and heels to provide a rhythmic introduction to one of the songs. To add to this enchantment she played the bones in the final song. I've taken a video and I'll see if I can add it at a later date.
Locals to Leamington will be familiar with Baggy Trousers Phil* and Cairns has their own similar character in this guy. You can see in this picture that the bottom of his beard is matted and his hair at the back formed a single paltylus-tail shaped dreadlock. He tapped his tambourines constantly throughout the set.
After a dinner at an Indian restaurant (I never learn that restaurant Chicken Tikka Masalas aren't very satisfying!) I chilled back at the hostel.
Sunday 17th August 2014
I filled the morning with a bus trip to a shopping centre to buy a new camera, more on that later. Amy, my German roommate, and I returned at the same time and decided to get coffee together and while we sipped and slurped we agreed to take a ride on the open-topped city sightseeing bus. Although there wasn't much to see it gave me some ideas for trips I wanted to book for my return to Cairns. The most memorable sight was this statue of Captain Cook. When it was commissioned, the councillor that signed it off thought the dimensions were in feet and inches. It wasn't until it was already constructed that he discovered that they were in fact in metres!
The immature part of also couldn't resist a chuckle at this road sign and apparently locals are quite protective over this particular knob! When people in power were keen to change the name to encourage tourists, demonstrators surrounded the knob, adamant that a knob is a knob and nobody can change the name!
Back in the centre we watched this fascinating fire show. While the performer's English wasn't great, he really played on it to create an entertaining show.
Monday 18th August 2014
A 7:25 pick up heralded the start of a trip up to Cape Tribulation - a jungle paradise. I've been meaning to capture these trains for a couple of weeks - along the side of the smaller roads which border fields there are unguarded train tracks which are used to transport crops. On the way to Cape Trib we past some sugarcane fields where the crops are used, amongst other things, to create Bunderberg rum and Bunderberg sugar, both of which are available locally. This was only the 2nd or 3rd time I actually saw engines or carriages on the lines.
To get to Cape Tribulation you have to cross the crocodile infested Daintree River. There's only one ferry (running continuously from 6am to midnight) with no bridges anywhere else along the river. We left our tour bus to use the ferry while we took a crocodile river cruise. The boat's guide explained that in this part of the river there were several female crocs and one alpha male measuring 4.5m! We were lucky enough to see him and the guide assured us that most tours don't get that chance.
A little further into our journey we stopped for an easy walk through the unbelievably dense rainforest along a boardwalk (the Aussies love a good boardwalk!) and from time to time our knowledgeable guide picked out fauna, filling us in on interesting names and facts.
Arriving at our hostel, our room was literally in the middle of the rainforest and through the bar area you ended up at the beach. It couldn't be more idyllic!
During the afternoon I was reminded of the positives of sharing adventures. I'd decided to take a walk along the beach to see what I could find and Macy, my American roommate joined me. If I'd gone alone I would've turned back much sooner than I did. The journey was like another remake of 'We're going on a Bear Hunt'. First, we came to some trees, we had to go under them. Then we came to some rocks, we had to go over them! Finally we came to a huge rock, blocking the whole of the beach and no, we couldn't go through it! I held my hands up and surrendered, no, I wasn't going over this one. Considering I would've turned back at the low hanging trees, I'd done my lot. I think we were lucky we decided to turn back when we did as we realised the sea was coming in and there was no way we would've found our way through the compact rainforest!
During the evening I got to know my other roommate, Alicia from Australia, over dinner.
Tuesday 19th August 2014
My day started unexpectedly at around 4am when I heard a rummaging sound. In a half asleep, half awake stupor, I tried to determine whether this noise was inside or outside our cabin. It seemed to be at the bottom of by bed! Waking myself up, I switched on my torch, sat up and shone it beyond the foot of my bed. There I saw Alicia's duffle bag shaking and a brown, furry creature furrowing. With a fleeting thought of 'How am I going to wake her?', I heard the words 'There's something in your bag!' emerging urgently from my mouth. Shrieking and adding her torchlight to mine, Alicia managed to scare the rat-like marsupial from out of her bag and under her bed. Next thing I saw it shoot under Macy's bed.
When we checked in, the owner had assured us that if we found one of these creatures in our room we were to fetch him and he would get it out for us. We were definitely not to kill it. Now, I'm not sure if he meant at 4 o'clock in the morning! Looking for company, I offered to find the manager's office with Alicia and after a little searching, she tentatively knocked on what she thought was his door and was met with a deep 'Holy sh*!, is that the door?!?!' Alicia apologetically explained what had happened - the apple in her bag had attracted the little critter and could he please get it out? To say he wasn't very impressed was an understatement! We returned to our lodge, assured that if the food was gone (it was now safely in the kitchen) then the little animal would soon follow.
I have to say I didn't sleep too well for the rest of the night as I was alert to every sound, including a couple more squeals from Alicia - I think she was quite shaken by the whole experience! After the other two went to see the sun rise I finally got a couple of hours more sleep. Lucky really as we'd decided we'd rent kayaks so I needed some energy.
With some good teamwork, we shifted a single and a double kayak from the rack behind the bar and heaved them onto the beach. Before I knew it I was paddling towards the endless horizon, it was really peaceful, if a little difficult, even against the calm waves.
Back in Cairns I'd invested in a waterproof digital camera after we'd had lots of fun with the Cool Dingos camera on Fraser Island. Our kayaking trip was the perfect opportunity to test it out. We'd agreed that we were only going to spend half an hour on the ocean so after a brief photo shoot, including the mandatory selfie, we began to head back to shore.
Again, it was lucky I wasn't alone (not that I'd go out to sea alone anyway) but the tide had disoriented me and I was all set to return to the wrong point on the beach but the girls soon pointed me in the right direction.
The afternoon was filled with lots of relaxation and I found the people around the resort, both staff and guests, to be particularly friendly. I struck up several conversations with fellow guests, mostly native Aussies/Kiwis holidaying in the area.
Wednesday 20th August 2014
After the furry fiasco of the previous night, I hadn't made it to sunrise but the girls confirmed it was beautiful. Macy was keen to see it again if a little earlier to capture the whole event so after an early night the previous evening, we got up at 6am to venture down to the beach. I was surprised that is was already a little light when we left the room and it was a little surreal to be sitting on plastic garden chairs on the beach watching the sun rise. As expected, it was glorious. Sunsets here are stunning but there's something more satisfying getting up early for this. The first photo also shows the moon but doesn't do the scene justice.
The morning followed yesterday afternoon, lazing around the pool with my book. Interestingly, Bill Bryson had also made it to Cape Tribulation so it was fascinating reading his anecdotes while I was actually there.
Our return journey began at lunchtime and our first stop was at Daintree Ice Cream Company where I indulged in a pot of Black Sapote ice cream which used a South American fruit tasting like chocolate.
Next stop was Alexandra Range Lookout which gave amazing views over the Daintree river and surrounding mountains and islands.
Then across the river on the ferry and on to Mossman Gorge where we had an Aboriginal talk. Smoke was created on the fire using paper-like bark to welcome us before the guide showed us how to make pigment using charcoal and clay mixed with water. Volunteers stepped forward for this to be applied to our faces.
Finally he took us down to the river where he showed us how to create soap by scrunching up leaves with water. It was fascinating!
Next we went for a swim in the gorge - no crocs here! - and I tested my underwater camera further. Not the most flattering photo but fun nonetheless!
By just after 5pm we had arrived at Port Douglas where I had to say goodbye to Macy when I was dropped at my next hostel, Alicia had left the previous day. The evening was spent walking into town, eating and shopping before my whole dorm was asleep before 9pm!
Thursday 20th August 2014
I had a lazy morning but received some lovely news from home before I walked a different way into town beside a train track. Exploring Anzac Park I took a few photos which show the typical Port Douglas views.
On my way back to the main street I came across this place:
A friendly, interesting and interested volunteer told me about a hearing that had occurred here which resulted in the only female hanging in Queensland. This rather creepy model depicted the two on trial.
In the room out the back I found a lighthouse light made by the same Birmingham company which had made the light in Bustard Head, 1770. What a coincidence!
The afternoon was spent back at the hostel, swinging in a hammock, reading my book. It's a hard life! In the evening I met up with Vicky and Alice in the bar, I'd first met them in Mission Beach and that day they'd been to the Barrier Reef. Excitedly I shared in the photos they had taken.
Friday 22nd August 2014
Today has been a lazy day, with a walk into town and a quick look at the beach. Much of the day has been this view while I write this blog!
In just under a hour I head back to Cairns where I have lots of exciting trips booked. I have a trip every day from Sunday to Thursday. I won't spill the beans now, all I will say is I'm very excited and can't wait to share the stories and photos with you in my next blog post. Till then, bye bye!
*For those unfamiliar with Baggy Trousers Phil, he seeks out all sorts of free live music around the area and dances in a, let's say 'unique' style, regardless of the genre of music. He's become an icon of the town.
Travel. It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
EDIT: Here's that video of the Hillbilly Goats I promised.
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