Cape Tribulation, Port Douglas & Magnetic Island

On Monday we went up to Cape Tribulation; on route we stopped off at the Daintree river and went on a crocodile river cruise for an hour. We sat anxiously with our arms firmly inside the boat expecting to see the dangerous saltwater crocodiles we have heard so much about (3 people have been eaten by saltwater crocodiles in Australia this year alone), yet we only saw a tiny baby crocodile. We learnt that baby crocodiles only have 1/100 chance of surviving the first two years of their lives because of the slow rate in which they grow and the hazardous environment in which they live (fun fact for you all). After this our next stop on route to Cape Tribulation was a guided walk around a section of the Daintree rainforest; here Alex and I walked around fairly amused by the number of people taking photos of leaves and bark (perhaps we aren’t the greatest nature lovers?). When we arrived at Cape Tribulation we staying in a lovely little hut in the rainforest that was minutes from an opening to Cape Tribulation’s stunning beach.

The following morning we were picked back up by our tour guide to head to Port Douglas. On the way we made another stop to a National Park and there an Aboriginal man gave us a brief talk. He showed us some of the weapons and hunting tools used by his tribe and also showed us how they make paints, soap and scrubs from the rainforest’s rocks and leaves.

Following this we arrived in Port Douglas. We decided to head down to the beach and cook ourselves some dinner on the beach BBQs. Being on a ‘backpacker’ (a term I like to use sparingly, especially as I cleverly brought a backpack with wheels- no heavy lifting for me), this BBQ merely consisted of $5 sausages. Clearly we looked tragic as an Australia family soon invited us to join them in their BBQ festivities, so we dined on a feast of fresh fish that they had caught themselves early that day.

After a pleasantly chilled day by the Lagoon in Cairns we headed south to Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is very picturesque; heavenly tropical, turquoise waters and many isolated bays dotted around the island. We quickly created a long list of things we wished to do here, only to discover that such paradise comes at a very hefty price tag; we quickly aborted our to-do-list.

We went to the Koala Sanctuary where we were able to hold koalas, which was delightful. We also held a variety of other animals including a smiling turtle, lizards, cockatoos (I quickly made my fear of birds known so opted out of this one), a baby saltwater crocodile and snakes. Alex had promised to hold a snake despite his great fear of them, as I’m sure you can imagine this was very amusing.

In the afternoon we decided to rent a 4x4 for the day to explore the multiple bays on the island. We caught a bus and then trekked to ‘Budget island rentals’ only to find ourselves at some grubby garage in the middle of nowhere; it looked like something from a horror film. Eventually we found an almost decent looking car rental place, yet having left with the intention of hiring a beasty 4X4 we drove away in an automatic (which we had never driven before), tiny, white Daihatsu.  We named her Daisy. Alex’s 4X4 adventure will have to wait until another day.