Port Douglas/Cape Tribulation

The weather in Cape Tribulation was kind of overcast and rainy…hence, rainforest. We attempted to go out to the beach in the morning but it wasn’t even worth it. Jamie went jungle surfing through the rainforest that afternoon. Katy and I weren’t too interested/didn’t want to spend the money so we stayed behind and read our books the rest of the day. When Jamie got back we drove down and inland a couple hours to Yungaburra for the night.

Yungaburra is in an area called the Tablelands and there are a lot of waterfalls and things like that to see around there. On Friday morning we went to see the Curtain Fig Tree. From what I read on the plaque in front of the thing, apparently a fig tree started growing onto another really big tree and eventually overtook it and fell onto another tree next to it. The first tree rotted away and that just left the fig tree leaning on the other tree, which looks like a curtain. Super interesting, right? Definitely one of those things were you had to be there in order to appreciate it. It was pretty impressive in person.

Next we stopped at the Gale Cheese and Chocolate Factory for lunch…the highlight of the trip. I think if it were a cheese, chocolate and wine factory, I would have never left. Of course I got the cheese plate for lunch, ate the entire thing, and then got more than a few chocolates for later…or right then. Somehow I managed not to throw up.

After lunch we started our waterfall tour. I have seen SO many waterfalls on this trip and we don’t even stop at all of them, only the really famous ones. If we had stopped at every waterfall along the way on this trip, we would still be in the North island of New Zealand.

The rest of that day and all of the next was devoted to waterfall appreciation and various things in nature formed by volcanic gas. These included Millstream Falls, Innet Hot Springs, Crater Lakes, Millaa Millaa Falls, Zillie Falls, Ellinjaa Falls, and one more famous fig tree, the Cathedral Fig.

We got back to Cairns on Saturday afternoon and have just been hanging around. Katy and Jamie went on another tour today and I stayed behind to plan things for when Jessica comes. We have one more week here and then go to Darwin for a week to watch crocodiles eat meat off sticks dangling over the water. I hope I don’t die of boredom in the mean time. Just kidding, it’s not that bad.