After my early night the night before, I didn't wake up until like 7 this morning which gave me a solid 10 hours sleep which was just what I needed. I was debating last night whether to hike up Mount Sorrow today, or whether to walk down to Emmagon Creek which was a 7km walk. I opted for the creek in the end because apparently the mountain is a 6 to 7 hour round trip and I only had 6 hours till the bus picking me up. There was also a requirement to declare you are going up the mountain which made me think that I was likely to get lost!
After a swift turnaround from waking up to getting ready, I checked out the hostel and started following the road down the creek which apparently has a rope swing and is good for swimming. Shortly after leaving however the heavens opened although I managed to find shelter under a tree whilst the shower passed over. En route I picked up a bag of Rambuttan to eat along the way which were these red fruit's covered in soft spikes, which when peeling away the skin had a grape like flesh round a seed. They were really nice, and the bag was massive!
Continuing along the road, it soon became a gravel track and I found out that the road was constructed in the 80s to create a more direct link to Cooktown. The only other route goes round the Daintree! There were protests when constructing however as the locals felt it was destroying the rainforest. When going along the undulating gravel track only accessible by 4wd, I only saw one car! About an hour and a half after leaving I finally arrived at the creek which was yet another crocodile risk zone. The road continued on through the creek. From here I followed what I thought was the path to the swimming hole but after getting stuck several times on those vine things the path turned into swampland. I therefore headed back to the main creek.
When getting back to the creek I noticed someone had been doing shooting practice on the crocodile sign, and when doing the return walk back to hostel, passing this fig tree en route, I realised that the real path to the swimming hole was in fact opposite the fig tree. It was too late when realising however to go back and I continued through the now sunny rainforest road back to the hostel. There was occasional opening in trees en route which gave me some brilliant views of the coastline and beaches below the undulating road.
When returning to the hostel, this time munching on some pomegranates, I caught up on another blog while I had the chance. I then headed out to do the Dubaji boardwalk which I was going to do last night. It was jammed full of plants and wildlife such as crabs and butterflies, and when completing the short walk I emerged at the beach. It was interesting reading all these information boards going round which gave me an insight into the rainforest, mangrove and swampland environments I passed through. I did however get a foot full of swamp water at one point though as the path was flooded!
Prior to leaving Cairns yesterday we were instructed to be outside PKs at 1 for a pickup to do the second half of our Cape Tribulation Connections trip. By half 1 we were still waiting, but eventually our new guide arrived. Apparently our new driver who was aboriginal was a really bad timekeeper, and that soon became evident! After picking up the day trip passengers from Cape Tribulation beach where they were having lunch, we headed back for Cairns through the rainforest the way we came. En route we stopped at the Daintree ice cream shop where I got a pot with coconut, banana, passionfruit and wattle seed ice creams inside. They were all really nice except the coconut which I naturally dislike anyway. It was annoying because that was the scoop right at the bottom!
Continuing through the rainforest, we made a swift crossing across the Daintree river on the car ferry, although our guide told us about some previous human fatalities due to crocodiles on the river which wasn't so nice. By now we were safely out without having to worry about any landslides stranding us! The next stop of the day was further down the road to see the Mossman Gorge. When arriving in the small town which had lots of little shops, we parked up ready to be transferred by shuttle bus to the gorge. Upon arrival I viewed the waterfall formation by viewpoint, before heading downstream to go for a swim in the river. The current was really strong however so I stayed more by the rocks to avoid being swept downstream, in the cool waters.
After finishing swimming, we had afternoon tea where I just ate all the chocolate biscuits, before getting back on the shuttle bus to Mossman for the minibus. When re boarding we continued driving south, where are guide took a slight detour to give us a driving tour of Port Douglas. Like Cairns, this small town has grown rapidly in recent years due to tourism. It was also interesting to see all these palm trees which were apparently transported from Cape Tribulation in the 80s. All in all it was a modern town with plenty of shops and tourist facilities.
It was then one last push for home, stopping at the rex lookout once again to watch my final Australian sunset! On the way back in our driver kept telling us all these aboriginal stories about how hills were created in Cairns. It sounded like waffle in the end because he spoke for so long! Luckily I was the first drop off when arriving in Cairns which meant I didn't have to hear anymore about how this hill was actually a woman crying!
After checking into the hostel, I headed straight into town where I got myself a subway for dinner. I also went into Woolworths for one last time to get some supplies for the flight tomorrow. On the way back to the hostel I found this night market which sold these help yourself Asian food stalls where you could fill a dish. It made me wish I went for dinner here! I also got a reminder of Thailand as these people were selling massages amongst other things! By the time I got back to the hostel time was getting on, although I managed a quick Skype session before packing my bags which only took a matter of minutes! Once again the football was on at night which made things interesting, but I eventually opted for some sleep.
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