Day 35 - Valentine's Day road trip

Today started at 08:30 for us as we were way too tired to get up for the scheduled 06:00 departure we’d planned (only so we could watch the sun rise as we drove.)

We fuelled up and made for a place called Palm Cove that someone had said would be a nice place to have a quick drive around. We did just that as there wasn’t much to this place and then moved along the coast to stop two.

We also pulled in at Rex Lookout: a spot alongside the highway offering nice views back down the coast.

Stop three was Port Douglas where we wandered around the town and shops for a bit before spotting signs for another lookout (Flagstaff Hill Lookout.) This offered yet more good views so Corrie was away with her itchy trigger finger once more.

Shortly after we drove to Mossman Gorge where we did a river walk and sat watching people having a morning swim there. We got peckish here and decided to have a crisp sarni each; we were soon getting harassed by a couple of bush turkeys that seemed very put-out when we left just a few crumbs for them to clear up!

A little further up the coast we reached the cable ferry crossing where we bought a return ticket and were safely transported to the other side. Walu Wugirriga Alexandra Range Lookout Point was next which had more nice views to take in, including where Daintree River meets the sea and views from Snapper Island to Port Douglas.

Stop six was Jindalba Boardwalk where Corrie, once again, had a close encounter with nature as she just missed walking straight into a very serious looking fellow’s web on her way to and from the toilet! This was a Nephila Pilipes and we now know that, although as big as a hand and scary looking, they aren’t poisonous… phew! We did the boardwalk here where we also spotted a Boyd’s Forest Dragon clinging onto a tree. Unfortunately for Corrie, who was now a nervous wreck after her close shave, we also saw many more of the large black and orange/ yellow spiders here too!

Stop seven was the Floravilla Ice-cream Factory where we chose to sample just one of their many, no added colours or preservatives etc, flavours of ice-cream. We had the triple chocolate one and this was delicious.

A tactical stop eight was just up the road at the Daintree Ice-cream company. Here we had a four scoop taster selection including: passion fruit, pineapple, black sapote, and wattle seed. The passion fruit and pineapple ones were gorgeous but the other two just reminded us of liqueurs, and not particularly nice ones at that.

Stop nine was, get ready for the wrong choice of spelling thanks to all the conflicting maps and signs, the Marrdja Boardwalk where we saw much more of nature’s fascinating creations. At the end of this walk we looked out onto Noah Creek for a while trying, and failing, to spot crocs…. Probably a good thing though.

We then headed to Dubuji Boarwalk where we saw: yet more spiders and the biggest one of the day, little pigs snuffling around for food, and a few orange legged scrubfowls.

Our final stop was at Cape Tribulation itself where we admired its stunning beach and the waters that were so tempting if it weren’t for the crocs and jellyfish in there! We also strolled down to the lookout onto the beach; Danny had a slight panic as we heard load rustling in the trees and very loud pig squeals which, thankfully just happened to be lots of pigs fighting and not a crocodile chasing after them!

After a great day of sightseeing we made the two and a half hour journey back to get some food and sleep.