Installment 12 - Mission Bay, Cairns, Daintree

We set off with the vague notion that Cairns would be our destination, but soon realised that we wouldn’t get there until 4 ish on Friday, which wouldn’t leave much time to find a garage, and then nothing would get done over the weekend, so we elected to head for Mission Beach. ‘A haven set amongst a rainforest.’
We cruised across the peninsular stopping to read most of the ‘interpretation’ boards but as we got to the Great Dividing Range the sky turned black and we drove into a veritable monsoon. Having seen no real clouds, let alone rain since Pemberton over 2 months ago it was a bit of a shock.





Slinking down to Mission Beach we booked into the first backpackers we could find, Scotty’s - a fun hostel. It turns out that it hasn’t stopped raining here since February when the cyclone hit and the devastation everywhere is still obvious.
We are now officially on the East coast and the demographic of those around us changed quite significantly. We are now clearly the oldest people and swamped by huge numbers of Pommies and French people along with the usual German and Irish contingent. A swimming pool sat in the middle of the dorms and rooms, surrounded by sun lounges and straddled with a volley ball net, and had it not been for the absolute downpour of rain it looked like the place would live up to its reputation.



I knew of 2 people that lived on the east coast, one from uni that lived in Townsville and was into diving last I heard, and Lee’s sister who was running sailing charters in the Whitsundays. It seemed appropriate to try and make contact, but an email from Robin informed me that Andy R was now living in Tasmania, and a text from Lee told me his sister is now in Boston. Hmm, these transient types.
The rain let up enough for us to look at the rainforests and at the second location we got lucky and spotted a Cassowary. We’d been told that it was very unlikely we’d see one at all so our detour was rewarded.
Scotty’s had a long list of exiting activities and figured under the damp circumstances rafting would be the best option. I was pretty dubious as my previous experience 12 years ago in Nepal was a pretty dull affair.
We got picked up by a mini bus and shuttled to the top of the Tully River, where we were assigned to our boat, “The Dugong”. A few drills later and off we went. The river was flowing madly and Reese our guide was taking great delight in making it as bumpy a ride as possible. This was not at all expected. We were shown the art of launching water into the faces of other rafters and took every opportunity to engage the other rafts in open combat. On a couple of the really rough parts we lost someone over the side and it was a real scramble to get them back in whilst being thrown through rapids delightfully named “The Killer” and “Double D-Cup”. Siobhan and I were at the front and didn’t stop laughing the whole day.
We finished the day in the bar and already there was a CD of photos and a DVD of the day waiting for us. Pretty slick. So we clubbed together with Mick and Lisa with the intention of meeting them in Cairns and making a copy.







We rolled into Cairns for repairs and I called Mick from rafting as he’d offered to give us advice about where to get the work done, and he immediately said he’d come over and take a look for himself. On inspecting the hole in the radiator he suggested we bought some steel resin and had a crack ourselves. Leading us to Bunnings he pointed out the resin and some sand paper, and then took us over to the part of town where we could find a garage for the welding. Most of the garages either wouldn’t do the welding or were booked out for several days, but we chanced upon a panel beater who took a look and suggested that if we took the bull bar off ourselves, he’d do the welding. I think he thought we’d go home and do it, so when I said OK we’ll do it here by the road he insisted we bought the car into the workshop and gave us a corner. Siobhan and I got the bar off, and the PB’er did a really splendid job of the welding. On asking how much we owed him he picked up and empty carton of Carlton Middies and pointed.
“One of these mate, cold, very cold.”



The following day we took the radiator out and with a couple of calls to Mick and the help of the trusty Haynes manual got it sealed up and back in.



So, all repairs done for the price of a slab of beer and the bottle of Southern Comfort we’d given Mick.
Northern Queensland mate, ‘s how they get stuff done round here.
We checked out the backpacker nightlife briefly, but left before the pole dancing competition started, a sign of age methinks.
Heading up the coast to Cape Tribulation, we crossed into the Daintree rainforest on a chain link ferry, encountering a family of Cassowaries on the way.





Early the following morning I climbed Mt Sorrow for a view then we spent the day snorkelling. I got roped into a beach soccer match, where I truly disgraced myself - apparently fitness is no substitute for any modicum of skill. I took a couple of good marks though.
Just down the beach a salty crocodile was sunning itself, and while we watched it, a bunch of fish got out the water and started walking around on the banks of the river. Bit unexpected behaviour by fish, but they seemed content.




The next day we headed north along the famously steep road to Cooktown taking in an impressive waterfall at Wudjal Wudjal. Cooktown had a really good crocodile and snake display including a section on the (and this is for you Mr Newell) feared (inland flying) Taipan snake. Turns out we’ve been living with them for the last couple of months. A rough road north-west across a couple of rivers took us to a campsite in Lakefield NP. We shared this expanse of grassland and lake with an abundance of wildlife and once again no signs of anyone else.



This is as far north as we’re going. Originally we planned to go to the top end, but we’ve only got about 4 weeks left and most of the east coast left to cover. This crossed with the harshness of the track and the unseasonably late wet weather means we decided to turn south.
A long day of driving took us all the way down to Lucinda, the jump point to Hinchinbrook Island. This island is in the Great Barrier Reef, and as only 40 people are allowed on the walking track at any time it is usually full months in advance. Luck however was with us, and we suspect the awful weather contributed as we managed to get a spot.
A small tinny took us across to the island in about 15 minutes. I’m not sure how much business they are getting at the moment, but the boat owner seemed to be taking advantage of our fares and took his entire family for a day out. We stepped off and headed north up the beach and into the jungle.



After a couple of hours we got to a waterfall and cooled off for a swim. Continuing onto the deserted beach at Sunken Reef Bay it was time to get out the fishing rod. Using a bit of bacon I managed to catch the same fish twice, but because of its size (small) I ended up throwing it back, but not before accidentally dropping it down a crack in the rocks and having to rescue it with some pliers. Oops, there are clearly tricks to this lark.





We ended up sharing the beach with a small guided group of sea kayakers which seemed like a good way of seeing the island. The next day was overcast so we set off late and sauntered over to the next beach via a really nice waterfall and plunge pool complete with swing ropes.







A fair bit of the camp ground was taped off due to crocs, but it was Cane toads that seemed the real peril here. There were 4 people at this camp heading in the other direction, and we wondered exactly how many people are actually on this island. We made the next days hike slightly longer and it included wading waste deep through a swamp and some exciting cliff traverses, the guide book also advised us not to dawdle at one river crossing due to the estuarine crocs. We didn’t dawdle.









We eventually got to Nina Bay, a kilometre long sandy beach lined with coconut palms and after collecting water from a miniscule flow at the south realised we had the place to ourselves.
I won’t do it justice describing the severe mountain back drop against the sunset, instead I implore you, go there now.



An early sunrise and we climbed Nina Peak for an incredible view of the island and then dropped down to the pickup point.



We got a real shock swimming in the sea to cool off, when about 4 metres away what I thought was a human head and Siobhan thought was a surf board popped up. It turned out to be a Green turtle, and must have been around 2 metres in length.
The ride out was 70 bucks and we were dubious about why it should cost more than the ride in. A similar tinny turned up at the Mangrove jetty and dropped some hikers and day trippers off. We eventually boarded the boat which took us out to a large catamaran with complementary tea, coffee and biscuits. The biscuits alone would have been enough but we then headed out to another spot where the day trippers were dropped off and we were taken to 5 star resort at the other end of the island. Despite stinking of Deet and sweat we were effectively given the keys to the resort for 3 hours. A cold beer from the bar, a bit of a snorkel and we even took out a couple of canoes that were lying on the beach. Result.



Eventually the day trippers sidled back and we got a ferry to Cardwell were we caught a ride back to the car and headed off to Townsville.