Friday, April 3, 2009

Camping our way up the coast (Mar. 25/09 - Cape Tribulation, Australia, mileage 170km)

Today marked the start of a phase of our trip that we had both been really looking forward to since we initially started planning the whole thing a year ago. We had reserved a campervan from one of the many rental places in town, which we intend to drive all the way down Australia's east coast to Sydney between now and the end of April. We took the city bus out to the rental place, and after spending two hours battling with credit cards to figure out why they figured my card was stolen, it took a 45 minute walk in the hot sun to make an $8 phone call to straighten it all out. We were finally introduced to our van and shown how everything works. It's a pretty sweet setup - double bed that converts into a table and couches, with a mini kitchen under the rear flip-up door that comes complete with a small fridge, sink, cookware, and camp stove. Oh, and it has purple hippy flowers and butterflies painted on the side - very classy! We were pretty happy to go to a real grocery store and stock up on everything we'll need to be self sufficient as we travel.


There was a definite feeling of freedom as we hit the road out of Cairns, with no firm destination and everything we need following along behind us. The east coast is apparently full of campsites, so we intend to stay sometimes at a proper campground and sometimes at a wide spot in the road where we can use public showers and stuff at the many beaches down the coast. Before we take off for Townsville and points south, we decided to go a little ways north for a couple days to check out some of the rainforests and national parks that look to be especially pretty up there. So north we went, past turnoffs to countless beaches before veering off to check out the touristy town of Port Douglas. A bit ritzier and much smaller than Cairns, the town is set on a pretty stretch of beach more than four miles long. From there, the road went inland and passed through long stretches of sugar cane fields, set against rainforested hills and complete with cane trains that still haul it away after harvest. We took a little detour at Mossman, where a trail just within the boundaries of Daintree National Park takes you into the cool forest and along the banks of a pretty river in Mossman Gorge. A car ferry over the mighty Daintree River (pulled back and forth by a giant cable pulley system) marked the start of the more "wild" half of the drive up to Cape Tribulation and the end of the paved road. Big signs at the riverbanks warn of saltwater crocodiles, which are abundant in this neck of the woods. We saw a headline yesterday that said a little boy was eaten by a 5 metre male crocodile here just last week. Note to self: no swimming in rivers!


Beyond the ferry crossing, the road wove in and out of Daintree National Park, enclosed by thick vegetation and wet from many stream crossings. Signs warned to watch out for cassowary birds, which are strange creatures endemic to this part of Australia. They're straight out of Jurassic Park: big body, long neck, blue and purple head with a black horn on top, and nearly six feet tall! We'll definitely keep our eyes open for those guys. Countless beach turnoffs left the main road, which we will check out tomorrow since we have to come back the same way. It was late afternoon, so upon arriving in the tiny town of Cape Tribulation, we found a campsite and were happy just to get our van sorted out and remember how to cook an excuse for dinner with our new get-up. It had been over four and a half months since we had cooked our own food! The whole process of driving on your own itinerary, stopping where and when you want, and cooking and eating real food really feels good after so long in less developed countries. Let's hope we're still this enthusiastic about it three weeks from now!

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