The trip up to Cape Tribulation

Lazy Crocodile!
see all photos »

After a weekend mooching around Cairns, we decided it best to head north in to the rainforest. The place most people had recommended was Cape Tribulation, where the Daintree Rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. We booked on a 2 day trip with Foaming Fury, with activities to do on the way there and back and an overnight stay in Cape Trib.

We were up early to be picked up at 8am and then we had an hour and half journey up to our first stop. For those of us who weren’t asleep it was quite a nice drive. Sometimes the road clung to the coast, other times it weaves through vegetation which changes suddenly from bush to rainforest just after the Daintree River.

Posted by George

All four of us on the Mardja Boardwalk.
see all photos »

Our first stop off was a Crocodile Cruise on the Daintree River itself. We all boarded a ‘flat-bottom boat’ which we were told would tip if we all rushed to one side. Fortunately for us if this did happen a chance of being eating by a croc was slim as most of them were upstream, it being breeding season. But this also meant that our chance of seeing a croc was low (the whole point of the cruise surely!).

Our expert guide wasn’t confident of seeing any, but he was soon proved wrong when he spotted a metre long male saltwater croc resting on the river bank. These deadly beasts have killed in this area before but not usually when this size. The stories told by our guide certainly made me glad we hadn’t come when there were a lot of big crocodiles in the area! On the way back up the river to our pick-up point we saw a bigger crocodile, about 2 metres. Though they weren’t fully grown, you do appreciate the size of these animals and wonder how much damage the larger ones could actually do. Our guide has seen a 7 metre croc flip a boat before!

Frisbee at Cape Trib.
see all photos »

We were now in rainforest territory and after a short drive we stopped off for a short boardwalk through the rainforest in the pouring rain. The Mardja Botanical Walk took us into the rainforest were we saw many species of flora and fauna. Our geography lessons with Mr Robinson came flooding back to us as we were informed on buttress roots, mangroves and the various canopy levels of the rainforest.

Soon after that we reached our accommodation at P.K’s Jungle Village, apparently the liveliest of all accommodation in Cape Trib. A series of dorm rooms surround the main hub of activity, the bar area with pool table, classic old school air hockey table and café area. We had a decent lunch there before heading down to the beach. Though overcast, we couldn’t actually believe that we were the only ones on the vast beach. The scenery was breath-taking with just a strip of sanded between the rainforest ending and the Pacific Ocean beginning. And after a few pictures and Frisbee throwing, we headed off for our jungle surfing…