Cape Tribulation

Fri, Nov 27, 2009
Cape Tribulation

Today is the day after Thanksgiving here although it’s still Thanksgiving at home. We thought a lot about our families and our blessings yesterday, on what was Thanksgiving Day for us. At one point in the day we were at a stop in the Daintree Rainforest and as we came back from a waterfall lookout, we encountered a wild turkey in the parking lot. Jeff and I were the only ones there… just the two of us and a turkey.

We arrived here last night, well after dark. We drove for quite some time through an agricultural area where they must be growing sugar cane – miles and miles of it. Then we started driving through coastal rainforest which was pretty thick, but still patchy where we were close to the ocean. Just as the sun was fading, we drove into the deep rainforest and it was like driving into a tunnel. The foliage is so dense and arches over the road where vines have tangled the tops of trees together that you only catch occasional glimpses of the sky. It was almost as if the jungle was absorbing the light. It gives a person an eerie sense of isolation, and provides a better understanding of how the indigenous people could believe there were spirits all around them.

We got here in time for dinner which was surprisingly good considering this is an inexpensive hotel/hostel that is frequented by backpackers and travelers on a budget. After a few beers and a super chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (it is incredibly hot and humid here) we felt considerably more relaxed. The last part of our driving had gotten a little stressful as we realized we were running dangerously low on gas and we had a ferry crossing that we hadn’t anticipated and had no idea how late the ferry would be running.

We are staying in the Daintree Rainforest in what is known as the Wet Tropics World Heritage Site, which, according to the desk manager, is the oldest and largest rainforest in the world – even bigger than the Amazon. At the beach, where it meets the ocean, it abuts the Great Barrier Reef. It’s the only place in the world where two World Heritage sites meet. Because it was dark when we got here, we really didn’t have any idea of what it looks like, but we already knew it’s very noisy. We had our windows rolled down and the car was filled with the sound of frogs and crickets and birds birds birds. There is one noisy fellow here that sounds to me just like he’s saying “Hello Cocoa Puff! Hello Cocoa Puff!” He woke us up this morning – him and about a hundred other birds.

We’ve got a pool and there are nearby swimming holes that are said to be quite nice. We are just steps from the ocean but we were warned there are crocodiles that live around here AND it’s the beginning of “stinger” season – an innocuous name for poisonous and often deadly jellyfish.

One of our stops yesterday was at the Tjabukai Interpretive Center just north of Cairns. We watched an aboriginal dance program and got to try our hand at spear and boomerang throwing which was pretty cool. I was surprised how high the boomerang flies into the sky. I never really knew what they hunted with it… I always figured it was kangaroos. Nope… they hunt roos with spears. The boomerangs are for hunting birds. There might be 10 or 20 hunters together and as a flock of birds passes overhead, they all toss their boomerangs into the flock. Odds are good at least a few of them will bring down a bird, and the boomerangs that miss return to the thrower. Ingenious.