The pacific pull was strong. The ocean was calling once again. So after a quick shower, scrubbing off the 35km’s worth of hiker’s cheese, we jumped in Maria to make some ground before sunset. We made it to Virgin Rocks – a camp spot just outside Emerald. It was here we learnt that cooking on all 3 gas burners takes an amazingly long time when it is about 5 degrees.
Passing through the towns Springsure and Gindie we cruised on through Emerald and a whole heap of nothing much, predominantly BIG mining country. Tom Tom was keen to visit one particular mine site but we had other ideas. As we turned east we passed through Capella, Cleremont and Nebo. Just outside of Mackay the lush tropics welcome you with horizon to horizon sugar cane.
We had a couple of tropical QLD boxes to tick – reef and rainforest. So after a 1 night stop over at Ball Bay (just north of Mackay) we arrive at Airlie Beach. Famous for backpacker orgies and box jellyfish this is also a popular launching pad to check out ‘The Reef’. Aw yeah and the Whitsundays. We decided to move on though as the water looked pretty murky, the sky cloudy, and there were more crusty sunburnt backpackers than in a Bundaberg tomato farm slave camp.
Since the reef was priority number one on the bucket list we moved on and checked out Reef HQ in Townsville for a little education on all things Great Barrier Reef. Reef HQ was very informative and within an hour or so you can upload with more information than can be retained about the reef, ogle at the impressive tank set ups and be glad to get the hell out of there if you visit in school holidays like we did.
Hooking up the coast we pull in to Bramston Beach for some shut eye next to a croc infested swamp, yup officially in croc country. Being assured that the crocs are pretty placid in winter we take a pleasant early morning hike through the nearby wetland hoping to spot the fabled 18 footer that resides there. Jumping and joking around with calls of ‘watch out’ and ‘there he is’ we snapped a few photos of the wetland but the croc king was most elusive.
At Cairns we were pointed in the right direction for our reef experience we were seeking so we headed to the most northern place on the coast a 2 wheel drive could go - Cape Tribulation. Hugging the scenic coast road Maria leaned into the cliff side bends of the World Heritage Captain Cook Hwy. I don’t have a habit of rating roads but this one gets 5 stars with its scenic vistas of the aqua Coral Sea.
There’s a vehicular ferry you need to cross and then you are officially in the Daintree Rainforest. The scenery reminded us of our Central American journeys but this was tropical Australian! The road winds around the edge of jungle clad cliffs giving you cheeky vegetation framed glimpses of white sand beaches and brilliant aqua waters.
Cape Trib’s various places to camp include the beach front National Park campground (which at $5pp is the cheapest) but if you’re not organised chances are it will be booked out (with screaming kids during holidays). Another option is PK’s Jungle Village – and we just managed to sneak into the last spot. PK’s has all types of accommodation from camping, dorms and bungalows. From our campsite we could hear the onsite bar facilitating a QLD troweling of NSW in the State of Origin - Wow, the QLD Bogans just loved it. Also from our campsite is a short 2 minute walk through a mangrove board walk to the white sand, palm jungle fringed Cape Trib Beach. Doing yoga on the low tide flats of the east coasts beaches has been no doubt one of the highlights of the trip thus far. Cape Trib beach was no exception with peaceful sunrise and sunset sessions.
Another plus was that the only Cape Trib reef tour operator “Ocean Safari” is just across the road. After checking out the options of tours from Cairns we went for “Ocean Safari” as it’s a smallish boat (max 25 people) and the reef is only 30km from the mainland at Cape Trib as opposed to 100km from Cairns.
Ocean Safari’s took 20min to get out to the first spot, a coral fringe around a sand cay called Mackay Reef. And wow, pristine coral of every shape, size and style you could imagine illuminated in every colour of the rainbow. Fish stocks seemed a little sparse (compared to previous snorkles in the Red Sea, Bay Islands Hondurus, Samoa, Indo…) but it was definitely the most impressive coral either of us had ever seen. To top the Daintree experience we did an unguided scramble/hike up Mount Sorrow to get a lookout over the reef and experience the rainforest. The locals will tell you that it takes 6-7hrs and don’t begin the walk after 10am. That’s rubbish. It took us a leisurely 3.5hrs (6-9:30am) and hikers a good 20yrs older were also doing it under 4hrs.
With the tropo QLD bucket list completed it was time say goodbye to the east and split towards the west. Actually, we were just glad to get out of there alive. I mean keeping an eye out for crocs was one thing, but then the other eye for electric ants!!!
