Its one of Australia’s greatest destinations, and for good reason. There is the Great Barrier Reef, the mountains and the rainforest, the sugar cane, but… The thing the tourism industry doesn’t want to highlight is the rain. All that rainforest and sugar needs water and it comes from the sky, regularly! After about 2 weeks of showers, with occasional rain highlighted with downpours it felt like we had journeyed to a different planet when we hit the northern end of the Bloomfield Track to be drenched in sunshine!
Of course a little rain didn’t stop us at all. Touring around from Mission Beach we checked out Paronella Park, an extraordinary castle and gardens built in the rainforest in the 1930s. Now its a bit of ruin but perhaps even more stunning now the rainforest is taking over.
A trip out to the Great Barrier Reef was essential and we enjoyed some good conditions for snorkelling. Charlotte was straight in to it and Aurora was slow to start but soon excited to be snorkelling around the coral. There were some huge giant clams, probably over 100 years old.
The time in Cairns was not wasted either, with shopping, repairs, washing and reorganising to do. A mystery hole in the trailer water tank was located and repaired, a major service on the Toyota and we were soon ready for the next stage of our journey.
Crossing the Daintree River we headed up to Cape Tribulation and an awesome came on the beach. It was low tide and so the beach was wide and flat, perfect to get the bikes out. Exploring the beach on a bike with rainforest one side and the reef the other was one of those incredible experiences that has you grinning from ear to ear. Of course the rain returned for our last wet night under canvas for hopefully some time. Driving the Bloomfield Track these days is usually pretty straightforward, but after a fortnight of rain we discovered it still keeps you on your toes. Descending the Donovan Range the dirt road had been cut up to a slick of deep sloppy clay so we were in low range 4WD and taking it easy. However the weight of the trailer started pushing the vehicle forward and without any traction there was no backward pressure to engage the trailer brakes. The Toyota started slipping sideways and heading in to the ditch with the trailer threatening to jackknife, a gentle correction and we were ok for a few seconds before we started to slip sideways to the opposite side. The only option left was a touch of throttle and drive through it, this did the trick of straightening the rig out, but it was still long and sketchy descent through the clay before reaching the firm gravel beyond.
At the North End of the Bloomfield track is Wujal Wujal and Cedar Bay National Park and the remote rain forested granite peaks of Mt Finnegan, Mt Boolbun South and North and some steep and wild country. I had been lucky to spend a few months waling through the backcountry of this region in 1991-92 when I Ied a geology survey group as part of and ANZSES Expedition, sort of like Outward Bound for scientists. Pulling in to the Lions Den Hotel at Helenvale I was pleased to see that the place had retained is original pioneering architecture (i.e. its a corrugated tin shack). The roads are much improved now so there was plenty of traffic, back in the early 90’s it was very much a backwater. This time I did enjoy a great cultural experience as as one of the few New South Welshmen in a crowd of rabid Queenslanders’ for the second State of Origin match. Great to see everyone get to together, from Aboriginal Countrymen, Grey Nomads, Miners, Truckies and randoms like me, heaps of fun.
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