Mossman Gorge QLD





We visited Mossman Gorge again after 7 years and were surprised to see how popular it has become since our last visit. There were very few people here on our last visit but this time around there were people everywhere. We were told 300,000 visited last year. There is now a Visitors Centre at the entrance & café run by the local Aboriginal people. There is a shuttle bus which takes you 2 kms to the Gorge. Part of the admission fee is used for upkeep on the area. It is the world's oldest rain forest and the Mossman  river has the 2nd purist water in the world. We did a lovely 3.5 km walk up into the mountains. It seemed wetter here as we saw mosses which we didn't see in the Daintree. Last time we walked in the rain which was quite slippery but sunny this time. Some people swam in the river but it wasn't that hot walking in the rain forest. We were pleased to see some bright blue Ulysses's butterflies near the river.

 

 

Mossman River

Clear waters of the Mossman River

Huge oak trees

Rain forest at Mossman River

Salt water pool at Pinnacle Caravan Park, Wonga Beach

The Pinnacle at Wonga Beach - One of our favourite caravan parks

Mossman Gorge walk

Mosses growing in the shade - Mossman Gorge

Mossman Gorge walk

Suspension bridge  - Mossman Gorge



Mossman Gorge



Enjoying the Mossman  River

Daintree Rainforest QLD

We enjoyed staying at the Pinnacle caravan park at Wonga beach which was ideally located about 10 mins drive to the Daintree River Ferry & 20 mins drive to Mossman Gorge visitor centre. It is a very quiet park, a short walk to Wonga Beach, a small cove with coconut palms. The park had lovely shady trees & lots of birds. It was surrounded by rainforest which reminded us of staying in the Daintree, which we did 7 years ago. It also had a lovely salt water pool which was in the sun so one of our favourite parks.

We had a sunny day for our trip to the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest. Our previous visit, with Laura, was on a cloudy day. We caught the ferry and spent a relaxing day. We saw lots of signs warning of cassowaries but didn't see any.  We did  3 lovely  board walks, all with  different scenery, and had time for coffee at a café surrounded by the rainforest and locally made ice cream at the ice cream café gardens. The ice cream was flavoured with locally grown tropical fruits, eg: banana, coconut & chocolate pudding plant, and was delicious.

View from lookout to sea & Daintree river.

Daintree River, where the rainforest meets the reef.

Walking the board walk

Lush rainforest

Tree ferns

Huge trees and creepers

Palms & people share the boardwalk here

Huge tree palms up to 2 metres wide

View of Cape Tribulation

Peaceful Wonga Beach

Cooktown QLD

Cooktown is a small town beside the Endeavour River, named by Captain Cook. His ship, The Endeavour, was damaged when they hit the Great Barrier Reef  and they had to beach and repair the ship at Cooktown in  June 1770. The Endeavour's anchor, & one of its 6 cannon's, is in the Captain Cook Museum, an old convent. Cooktown is surrounded by rainforest covered hills and at the foot of Mt Cook. It grew in size due to a gold rush and still has some of the old pubs. We enjoyed locally caught wild barramundi and prawns. There is a great coffee shop right across from the Captain Cook memorial with views of the river bank where you can sit  and enjoy the warm weather, without glass!

There is a great 360 degree view from Grassy Hill of the river and ocean. The Botanical Gardens are lovely and shady on a hot day.

We stayed for 3 days which was very relaxing. We enjoyed the warm weather which reached 27 degrees every day. We enjoyed a swim in the pool every day. It was warm in the evenings too. The Big 4, Cooktown Holiday Park was set amongst beautiful trees and ferns, but our site was a bit close to the road to the Industrial area, which had work starting early in the morning. 

We swam in the caravan park pool which was lovely. Hard to believe it is winter up here. It was our most northerly town to visit, and tropical with palm trees and frangipanis.



Cooktown wharf

Cooktown wharf  and croc warning



anchor from The Endeavour

Captain Cook landed at Cooktown after hitting the Barrier Reef

View of Endeavour River from Grassy Hill



Looking down at Cooktown

Cooktown by the Endeavour River

Enjoying the warm weather

Statue of Captain Cook in main Street

View from Grassy Hill out to sea

 

Red Ginger plant in Cooktown Botanic Gardens

Croc spotting by the Endeavour River

Musical instrument  ship by Endeavour river

 

 

Atherton Tableland



It was a 3 hour drive to from Mission Beach to Atherton even though it was only 180 kms. This was due to travelling over the highest peaks in Qld, on roads like the Clyde mountain for about 2 hrs. We also came across lots of road works. Saw lots of interesting crops growing:  Bananas, avocadoes, tea and more sugar cane. Unfortunately there was no where to stop and photograph them. Lots of signs of things crossing the road: tree kangaroos, cassowaries, sugar trains, and cattle.

We enjoyed the quiet Woodland, van park, also on edge of the rainforest, but it went down to about 8 degrees, which felt cold in our van.

 "life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain." With this view we completed the waterfall circuit drive and walks, near Atherton, the next day. We have to expect rain in this part of Qld.

 

The Crater, volcanic crater, in Mt Hypipamee, National  Park.

Dinner Falls

 

Millstream Falls _ widest Falls in Australia.

 

Millstream Falls

 

Lots of these signs around Mission Beach & Atherton area

 

Spectacular Milla  Milla Falls 

 

Milla Milla Falls

 

Zilla Falls - in the rain

 

Ellinjah Falls -also in the rain!

 

On the waterfall circuit - the scenic route

 

 

Walking in the rainforest

Mission Beach

Mission Beach

 

We stayed at Hideaway Caravan Park, just across the road from Mission Beach. Mission Beach is a  beautiful sandy beach, lined with coconut palms and is where the rainforest meets the sea. " Hideaway " is a lovely, quiet, park on the edge of heritage listed rainforest, so we heard birds singing. It also has a sheltered  pool  and was warm enough for a swim. We loved the coffee & view from the café right on the beach front.  We saw council workers cutting coconuts for hazard reduction on the beach  so we collected a fresh coconut! It had lots of soft fruit & juice, & was delicious. We are looking forward to coming back here for 6 days later on.

 

Flowering sugar cane, near Mission Beach

View of Dunk Island from Mission Beach

View from great café in Mission Beach

Walk along Mission Beach

Freshly picked coconut from Mission Beach

Only cassowary we saw at Mission Beach