Daintree
Skip to Cape Tribulation
I hired a noddy car and took off out of Port Douglas going north. The first crossroads was Mossman...
Mossman Gorge is one of the most visited spots in the Wet Tropics.
Part of the Daintree National Park, the gorge is the traditional home of the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people.
You can take a swim in the gorge or take a 1.5 mile walk in the park.
The water is rushing here, the rocks are slippery and it's freezing cold!
Leaving the rainforest, I headed back to the coast and Cooya Beach (a strange little place).
The esplanade at Cooya (not at all like Palm Cove)
Cooya Beach cottage
Next stop was Newell Beach, only 20 minutes north of Port Douglas.
Tide's way out here today. The sand's so hard you could land a 747 on it.
This beachfront land was for sale - AU$775,000.
Click here to view the house next door.
(top) No parking problems when shopping in Newell Beach.

(right) Coconut lined pedestrian access in front of holiday homes and rentals.
(top)
A beach house I could afford.

(left)
The view from my beach house (public land that will never be built on).
There's an inlet at the south end of town which has developed a sandbar restricting boat traffic.
I found quite a few sea beans here in the wrack at the mouth of the river - lots of Dioclea.
Driving north, I found my favorite place...Wonga Beach...I could have stayed forever.
The best place to stay in the Daintree is the Daintree Palms Beach Resort!
The property used to be a coconut plantation and the grounds are full of colorful birds and wildflowers.
The view from the bar (above) was so relaxing, I had to have a few "stubbies" of XXXX and chat with a Tree Frog, who had permanently adhered himself to a Margarita glass.
(above) Baramundi swim in the pond outside the bar.

I had a bit a rain while I was here, but that didn't stop me from combing the beach for rainforest beans...
(above)
Matchbox Bean Case
Matchbox Beans, Sea Purses, etc.
Burny Beans and some rocks
Morton Bay Chestnut (aka Black Bean)
Shipwreck debris buried in the sand
High Tide on Wonga Beach
Using Wonga as a base, I made a day trip to Daintree Village.
This is crocodile country here on the Daintree River.
This was the first place I saw a Ulysses Butterfly (below).
Next...Cape Tribulation...Click here to continue the journey...
Click here to back up