Cape Tribulation & Cairns

Cairns, Australia, 26, 28-30 April 2008

Cape Tribulation, Australia, 27 April 2008

In Cairns Peter Pan's had booked us accommodation in the Bohemia Resort. Another good choice on their part. In keeping with our hectic Ozzy schedule we were up early next morning for our overnight trip to Cape Tribulation (C.T.), so named because it was here in 1770 that Captain Cook ran his ship onto a reef and this was the beginnings of his tribulations. A good man for naming stuff was old Captain Cook. On our way to C.T. we saw a few Kangaroo's in the wild and we stopped off to do a little salt water crocodile spotting on the Daintree River. Our guide was excellent and it wasn't long before we were looking at a healthy 4 meter long specimen. One girl on the boat dropped her camera in the water and actually wanted to dive in to get it. Now let's be clear, the camera wasn't floating, it had sunk immediately into these crocodile infested waters. I think we have a new contestant for the Darwin Awards.

Unfortunately our guide wouldn't let her out of the boat. Pity, it would have made for great video footage. C.T. is an area of lush thick rain forest that runs right down to the coastline where it meets beautiful sandy beaches. It is like a little piece of paradise hidden away in the north east corner of Australia. We enjoyed walking along the beaches and generally taking it easy, all the while keeping our eyes open for the elusive cassowary bird. We never did see one but there were lots of other birds along with spiders and ants to keep us amused. I, Dave, even licked a green ants bum and got a tangy shot of citrus. Great in the olden days to keep the scurvy at bay.

This spider was outside our room!!!!
Next day we watched the sunrise then had a walk on the beach & were collected at 1.15pm, by a clearly hungover "guide", and had a leisurely trip back to Cairns stopping off at Alexandra lookout, Mossman Gorge and Port Douglas.

As there were a few indigenous animals that we did not have the good fortune to spot in the wild we decided that a trip to Cairns zoo was in order. It was a great day out and again taken at a nice relaxed pace. We fed kangaroo's, patted cuddly koala's, held baby crocodiles and shook the hand of a rather large wombat. Good wholesome fun for all the family.