Wonga Beach - Port Douglas- Cape Tribulations

  Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Sunday, April 5, 2009

05.04.09: After our flight to Darwin, we took a connection to Cairns. There were bodies on the floor everywhere in the airport waiting for the very early flight.  We went to the Wicked campers place (as advised by Trent and Renee). We had to laugh when we were given the Marilyn Mason "rehab is for quitters" van. I had in mind hippie flowers and smiley faces. Well, looks like we are going to look like Goths for the next five weeks.

Cutey Koala

We drove Marilyn to Wonga beach, north of Port Douglas. There, we equipped ourselves at the local supermarket (phone and battery charger, as we don't have electricity) and did our food shopping for the first time in ages. That night, Sean cooked some yummy spaghettis bolognese and we drank two bottles of wine. I was quite drunk when we went to bed. The minivan was a furnace with the Cairns heat.  Next on our list: a fan!

none

06.03.09: After breakfast, we drove to Port Douglas, which is a nice little town on the coast. There is a lovely church just by the harbour. We drove to one of the lookouts and the view was amazing. The coastline around here is quite incredible, and the nicest cost drives in Queensland. We also visited the habitat sanctuary. We saw our first koala! I was so excited! You really want to take one with you!! We learned about other local animals like the kangaroos. (we were told at the van rental not to avoid animals on the road.

in Cape Trib

There is even a reminder sticker on our dashboard: "kangaroos - run the f*ckers down!!!"  We also saw a crossaory. It looks like an ostrich crossed with a turkey with a hammer on its head. It looks super scary and is actually really mean. If you meet one, you are supposed to walk back slowly! They are apparently getting really rare and are essentials to the survival of the rainforest. This sanctuary was great because you could approach all the animals, except reptiles. Twice a day, one guy was presenting the reptiles. He was in the middle about telling us stuff about the baby crocodile he was holding when it suddenly peed and pooped on him!

Robinson Crusoe

After the sanctuary we drove to the Mossman gorge. People really love the outdoors here! We often see people running or cycling and they swim pretty much everywhere! People are really helpful as well. It is really nice. we bought a fan and it is changing our lives in the van!!

crickey!

07.04.09: We drove to Cape tribulation. Around Daintree, you need to take a ferry to get to the other side of the river. Well, a ferry is a big word, it looks more like the ferries we were taking in Bolivia! The other side of the river is covered with rain forest. It is beautiful. The nicest places were when the the forest was meeting the ocean. We did a few walks on the beach and the forest. In the evening, we managed to watch the 1st episode of the new series of House!!