Day 10: Camping (part 2)

The night of camping was absolutely gorgeous. We didn't even have to zip up the tent, it was the exact perfect temperature! The only strange thing was the wild turkeys that would walk by the tent and rustle to bushes. There also was the matter of our campsite neighbors whose children ran around naked... "crazy Victorians" as Phoebe would call them - any Australian tourists she claims are Victorians (as in being from the province of Victoria in southern Australia.

When all of us were ready to go, we headed for breakfast at the Beach House, which was reputed as the best restaurant near by. It was apart of a cabin campsite up the road. The food was delicious but the dining experience was not without its problems. The cash register was broken, when our orders were brought out (after a super long wait) they were wrong (luckily we were served more expensive meals than we ordered, but still charged for the cheaper meal), then the waitress spilled my drink all over the table and floor... poor girl was flustered.
After breakfast we began the journey home to Mossman. Along the way we came upon a Thompson Creek sign. YAY! Thompsons are represented in Australia! Below the Thompson sign was a Horse crossing sign that had been turned into a Unicorn... awesome!

Along our journey we took a walk through the rain forest yet again. I seriously feel like every rain forest preserve I walked through was a completely different world. Even through it is all the Daintree Rain Forest, I still feel like each section holds its own character and uniqueness that your can't find anywhere else.

This vine was once wrapped around a tree, but the power of the vine sucked the life out of the tree until it became dust. Not the vine is hollow... beautiful nature

Liam, Phoebe, and I

Liam and Phoebe kept telling me how I needed to have the most delicious tropical ice cream! We stopped at a stand one the way up to Cape Tribulation, but the plantation we stopped at on the way home was supposed to have the best ice cream. We ordered the seasonal sample bowl, which had Mango, Wattleseed, and Jackfruit. It was actually super delicious. Phoebe had been serving me Wattleseed tea throughout my visit and in ice cream form it is just as yummy.

the banana crop was wiped out by a cyclone that hit this area of Australia just months before my visit. So any banana trees are considered VERY precious.

Another quirky Australian roadside attraction was a memorial to a WWII bomb that was dropped near a tiny house. It is the site of the only civilian casualty in this area of World War II. It was dropped by a Japanese aircraft.

Yee-haw!!!

A lady always rides side saddle

The story

And on that note, our camping adventure was over...

Day 8-9: Winery & Camping (part 1)

On Day 8 Phoebe and I had an errand running day to prep for camping over the weekend with Liam. We stopped in to a little winery not far from Phoebe and Liam's house to try their Mango liqueur. There were lots of other flavors and I was willing to try them all if I had to.

 

interesting hanging flower vine

The next day Liam, Phoebe and I got ready to embark upon our weekend of camping at Cape Tribulation. We started the day with breakfast at Junction in Mossman town center, and I had the most delicious eggs Benedict.

We then moved on to complete our drive. It was a gorgeous drive up the coast to Cape Trib. There was a beautiful canopy of trees above us the whole time and the winding roads through the rain forest were truly majestic.

on the road... that's right, I'm on the left side of the car...

side mirror pic

our courageous driver

Along the road there were plenty of look outs to stop and take some pictures. Beautiful views of the ocean.

Karate Kid!

We also stopped along the way at the Daintree Discovery center. The Daintree rain forest is one of the largest rain forests in the world and is home to some of the most unique plant and animal life. The discovery center was a collection of exhibits and sanctuaries for some of those plants and animals.

the walkway high above the rain forest floor

camouflage

a smaller tree growing on a larger tree

tree hugger

Australian seeds and berries... the blue fruit is for Cassowaries to eat.

Phoebe and a Cassowary statue

Cassowary love

there is an actual fruit called Idiot fruit

The Thunderbird is also known as the "demon duck of doom"

After the Daintree Discovery center, we crossed a rive on a ferry boat and then continued our journey. For lunch we stopped at a cafe along the side of the road. It was seriously the worst lunch I think I have ever had. I got a Chicken sandwich with Avocado, which was mostly gristle and browning avocado. For the first time I sent a meal back at a restaurant. My second meal, however, was no better.
After lunch we sought directions to a Blue water hole, but alas the directions we were given were not very good and we got a little lost and never found the hole. Instead we continued on to our campsite to regain our barrings and then continue to explore.
One thing we kept seeing along our journey were signs for speed bumps and Cassowary crossings... then near our campsite, we found this sign:

someone turned the speed bump sign into a dead Cassowary

When we got to the campsite we set up camp. Phoebe and Liam only had a two man tent, so Liam borrowed Karla (their roommate's) swag to sleep in. It was supposed to have structured poles to allow it to pop up, but they were not in the package (turns out Karla had no idea there were even supposed to be poles), so Liam basically had a glorified sleeping bag to sleep in.

Liam in the swag

Phoebe in our little tent

After we had our tent all set to go, we took a short walk through the rain forest (literally several steps) to the beach. I don't think I have ever seen such a breathtaking open beach. There were no people and it stretched for miles!

Cape Tribulation. Named because Captain Cook's ship, upon discovering Australia, had quite an unfortunate time here.

 Jumping beach pictures

We changed into our swimsuits to get some sun and spent some time reading on the windy beach

After a little bit of relaxing, we decided to ask the campsite if they new where this blue water hole was. It was the strangest thing, when we asked the lady at the front desk if she knew where it was and in an oddly quick response she said, "no". Not "no, I'm sorry I can't help you" or "no, we get asked a lot, but I can't tell you", but just simply "no" as if she didn't want to talk about it cause it was too painful. haha. I don't understand exactly what was going on, but Liam and Phoebe and I found it to be the creepiest and most hilarious conversation. This was the first of many off exchanges with the local people in Cape Tribulation.
We did find a small secluded creek where we hung out for a bit. We had leaf races (which I proudly won)!!

the rock Liam is standing on looks like a turtle!

Go leaf!!

We had dinner at Whet, a restaurant near the campsite.
When we got back to the campsite it was late at night. We walked out onto the beach to take a look at the stars before heading to bed. I cannot describe to you how incredibly beautiful it was out there. This was one of the best moments of my entire time in Australia!! It was like I was standing in the middle of a planetarium. It seemed almost fake. Since there were no town or city lights for miles and the ocean stretched on to infinity, you could see the starry night sky dipping into the ocean along the horizon. The moon was not yet out and so I could hardly see steps in front of me. All I saw were stars and I swear I could see every single one of them. I don't think I will see anything so beautiful in all on my life!!