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The End of the Line

Now heading north from Townsville, we were coming into the climax of our trip up Australia’s east coast.  The last major settlement along the coast was Cairns, the most famous jumping off point for one of the Natural Wonder’s of the World - The Great Barrier Reef.  Almost immediately after hitting the highway, the open dry savanna land around Townsville filled with lush greenery pushed all the way up against the sea.  The Daintree Rainforest - one of the oldest in the world - had begun.  About halfway along the 4 hour drive to Cairns we came up and over a large pass and there spread out before us was a fantastic panorama of the massive Hinchinbrook Island.  As much as I would have liked to do it, I had to pass on the Thorsborne Trail due to time.  Perhaps another trip.  By the time we arrived in Cairns and got dinner and accommodation sorted out it was nearly nightfall.  Not that it mattered much as to be honest there really isn’t much going on in Cairns which was a bit of a disappointment.  

Hinchinbrook Island

The next day we booked our tour to tour out to the Great Barrier Reef and at the suggestion of a very helpful woman at the information center we decided on a tour leaving from Port Douglas (another hour north) to the Agincourt portion of the reef.  From there we headed up to check out the beaches north of Cairns and took a stop at Palm Cove.  The town is definitely a quaint little beachside hamlet and caters well to the tourists that make up its lifeblood.  The beach itself, much like nearly ever beach we’d encountered north of the Gold Coast (sans the Whitsundays area) left something to be desired and we didn’t spend much time there before moving on.  The road from Palm Cove to Port Douglas was beautiful and hugged the coast the entire way.  It made me reminisce of driving Highway 1 in California and more than once we were enticed to stop and snap a few photos.  Port Douglas turned out to be a bigger and busier version of Palm Cove - quaint, pleasant and filled with restaurants and tourists.  A place we may have been able to enjoy were we not budget conscious backpackers :p.  A drive to the top Flagstaff Hill provided a more enjoyable experience of Four Mile Beach than the beach itself.

Palm Cove

Highway between Palm Cove and Port Douglas

Four Mile Beach from Flagstaff Hill while we were there

Four Mile Beach from Flagstaff Hill photo taken from Google - maybe we were there at the wrong time?

Since we had some time to kill before our tour to the reef we decided to head north until we hit the end of the line - Cape Tribulation.  Cape Tribulation is the popularly known as the place where the sealed East Coast Highway ends, as well as the place where the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef meet.  To get there you have to travel another 2 hours north of Port Douglas and cross the Daintree River on the car ferry.  The area north of the river is largely undeveloped rainforest with a small community living in the area.  It’s also one of the last habitats in Australia for the elusive cassowary as well as the home to an incredibly diverse array of creatures and critters. Oh and did I mention a high density of saltwater crocodiles?

As soon as we approached the ferry terminal to cross the river we were handed a crocodile warning telling us not to swim or go near the water’s edge on pain of possible death.  Fun! We stayed overnight in the rainforest on the far side of the river and I took my time walking along some trails hoping to catch a glimpse of a cassowary or a croc while enjoying the ambience of the exotic plants and trees around.  Kayleigh for the most part decided to forgo any unnecessary movement in this hot and steamy wonderland.  I don’t blame her.   

Daintree Rainforest 

Daintree Rainforest mangroves

Alien flower - cover your face! 

Wonderful 

Eel 

Cape Tribulation - Standing here I was closer to Papua New Guinea than any of Australia's capital cities

If Cape Tribulation sounded like a great place to swim think again...

 

Magnetic Island

Just before leaving Bowen our car started to make some weird noises and we called for a mechanic.  Turns out the noise was our cracked radiator hissing in despair.  To make things better, we couldn’t bring the car in for repairs until we spoke with the central rental office which had closed less than an hour before for the day, so we filled the car up with water best we could and made our way to the nearest holiday park.  The next day the garage and rental office had to co-ordinate the location and transportation of a replacement radiator which wasn’t to arrive until the following day, but something fantastic did come out of it for us…they put us up in a nearby motel! Yup, all the creature comforts we’d been missing on the road were suddenly at our disposal, Wi-Fi included!.  I had no idea how much I’d missed a kitchen sink until then! We set sail about midday the next day, clean from a hot water shower and computer loaded with podcasts.  I guess life is all about balance :)

From Bowen we plunged even deeper into Far North Queensland, arriving a few hours later in its regional capital of Townsville.  Townsville itself isn’t much of an interesting city - it’s most notable characteristic is the large red sandstone hill rising precipitously just beyond the city center called Castle Hill.  Like most of the cities in the far north it doesn’t have a natural beach of its own.  It’s built on the back of the mining and military money flowing into the area, and aside from the newly redeveloped waterfront area (known as the Strand) there isn’t much to the place.  Most tourists are only here for one thing - to get out to Magnetic Island just 8 km off shore.  We fit the description and we happily obliged.

Castle Hill from the Ferry

We got off to a bit of a late start, but luckily the ferry ride is just 20 minutes from Townsville and we arrived in no time.  Magnetic Island is quite the idyllic little island getaway - slow-paced and friendly and all that exotic Australia flora and fauna we know and love.  Geographically the island is a bit different from the other islands along the Australian coast, as it’s mainland origin is made pretty clear by the granite formations along the various bays and coast.  It had me thinking I was on the shores of Lake Tahoe as the blue waters shimmered and gently lapped onto the beach from which granite boulder and pine covered headlands stretched out into ocean, embracing a little piece of it to make Alma Bay.  We had a fine spaghetti lunch with some delicious pumpkin sauce in the nearby village before we took the bus to the far eastern end of the island.

Alma Bay

Alma Bay

From the island’s main settlement at Horseshoe Bay we took a hike over a low saddle and down into the remote and wonderful Radical Bay.  Coming down onto the beach felt like something out of a movie, with brilliant blue skies, swaying palms and exotic parrots singing overhead.  There were perhaps less than five people total on this big, quiet, rainforest backed beach and as we laid our towels on the sand under the shade of a nearby tree the sense of relaxation enveloped us and we spent most of the remainder of the day there.  

Approaching paradise

Radical Bay

Radical Bay

 Of course we weren’t able to make our return to the mainland without spotting some wildlife.  As we waited for the bus to take us back to the ferry terminal we caught our first glimpse of rock wallabies in the wild - two hopping across the street and into someone’s yard and another two in an empty lot across from the bus stop grazing at the edge of the forest.  Just another magical day on a magical trip.

Grazing Wallabies