Port Douglas and beyond

  After living it up with the reptiles in Innisfail, we pulled in late at Port Douglas. We weren't that impressed with the camp ground...or should I say the slab of concrete we were offered, so we kept on going to Wonga Beach. Man! Only 20 minutes further up the coast and it was peaceful and so spacious. Daniel was stoked because it had a pool, but best of all no crowds.

 We liked it so much we stayed for 3 days, it was good to regroup and get a few jobs done, like washing. The couple who ran the park were very friendly and gave us some free ferry passes so we could visit the Daintree which we did.

Daniel and the Boyds Dragon.

Waiting for the Daintree ferry.

 The Daintree was fabulous, although it was raining, it didn't hinder us at all. We are by now well use to this wet QLD weather! We spent a couple of hours walking around, taking it all in. It was amazing and quite fitting to see the rainforest in the rain. The highlight was Daniel's encounter with a Boyds dragon, something he was very keen to spot.
 After the Daintree we did a bit of sight seeing around the area before getting ready to leave the next day. James was carefully watching the rain as we were heading out through the Bloomfield track and it gets cut off in heavy rain. We didn't want to get to Cooktown via the highway with all the grey nomads.
 It rained all night and started to clear in the morning as we were packing up wet again! The way through to the Bloomfield track was beautiful, again passing the Daintree and all the surrounding rain forests. The road was also very busy with 4 wheel drives coming and going and at one stage we got stuck behind a convoy of 5 4 wheelers all driven by oldies....you can imagine what James was thinking!!

Yes, we crossed this cheered on by fellow campers!

 We got to the Bloomfield river causeway crossing around midday and we had to stop. The water was rushing over the top at quite a speed and no one was wanting to cross. Pretty soon the south side looked like a car park! We decided to wait and if need be, camp over night. Next to us were Two friendly older ladies wanting to visit one of their daughters who lived on the other side. They were happy to camp along side us. The water was still high and no appearing to ease, so we waited, by this time most people had turned back. Around 4, a local turned up and he had to cross still he waited about an hour before he went through. He got through fine and had told James that Ivan would work as an anchor to the car so we should be OK to cross. By this time the water had eased somewhat but it wasn't for the faint hearted, in fact, I nearly s#*t myself! My hands were shaking I couldn't hold the camera. James had it all under control and easily got the car and Ivan through with no trouble. I must admit, I was in awe of james' skill and have total faith in his judgment.

 After I caught hold of my nerves we headed out to the Lions Den. This place is a must for any one who travels this way. It is an iconic Aussie pub filled with with memorabilia of travellers stories.Out the back is lovely camp grounds and the serve a pretty mean Pizza too. With a gold coin donation, we also put our mark on the wall.

 The next morning we saw some of the people we met from yesterday and they told us that those two lovely ladies tried to cross the river and unfortunately got swept off the road. They were able to cling to some rope and get out safely but the same can't be said about their car and belongings. It upset us very much, as we didn't think they would attempt the crossing. At least they didn't get hurt. It just goes to show you what inexperience can do.
 It was time for us to move on again, we are now not far from Cook Town but instead of heading straight there, we detoured to Archer Point, a beautiful but very windy spot. At least it was not raining.