15. – 18. November

As we haven't decided what to do in Cairns we are exploring the country a bit more – and are going to the Daintree National Park where we're going to stay close to Cape Tribulation. We just stopped briefly in Port Douglas, took the ferry to cross the Daintree River and booked some local tours.

We booked a campsite within the Daintree National Park; the National Park has one camp site: Noah’s Beach. This is the cheapest option to camp. As this camp site doesn’t offer showers we could finally use our solar shower. We just filled water into a black bag, placed it into the sun so the water can get warm and then we had our camp shower. The camp site was so close to the beach we could hear the waves rolling onto shore. We had our breakfast at the beach together with the crabs.

We ended up taking a snorkelling tour from Cape Tribulation – the Reef is closer than in Cairns so you should stay longer at it. The tour was ok – although I’m not sure if we spent more time at the reef than on a tour departing in Cairns – but we were probably less people on the boat. We had to get into a beach-buggy first which carried us to the main boat. Then we headed out to see – to the MacKays Reef probably 20km offshore. We did two snorkelling tours and Tom belonged to the lucky one getting close to a turtle. I just saw a lot of corals (different shapes and colours), several fishes (small, colourful, big, eating coral, fighting each other), sea-urchin, sea-stars. Some in our group even saw some rays. We didn't wear a stinger or wet-suit – just our swimmers but the water was nice, clear and warm. To get into the water we had to get off the back of the boat – down the little stairs and then jump into the water. The lunch was ok although not much choice and no seafood at all. On the way back we set sail but I guess this was just a show as the engines were running all the time. In the end I liked the tour (probably as I didn't get seasick) but the boat could have been in a much better shape.

The next local adventure was horse riding through the rainforest and along the beach. We went to the staples and got a horse assigned (Tom's was Big Chief and I got Topaz). Then we got into the saddle and off we went. Topaz was the only female horse and she was not really fond of the males so I had to keep distance – much easier said than actually done. We were all riding in a line, most time just at walking pace  but we also tried faster movements. My horse belonged to the older horses so she was happy to walk but didn't really want to go any faster. We were lucky to do the beach trip as it was close to high tide and sometimes they can't access the beach then. After the beach we went back into the rainforest to their waterhole somewhere on the farm. That was amazing. We had morning tea and then our dip into the water – cold and clear. We even fed the fishes – they like crackers and came so close you could have catch them with your hands. Then we came to the final stretch and it happened what has to happen – I fall off the horse. Don't laugh, it's not funny and did hurt. Luckily I just scratched my underarm and bruised my hip so I was a bit worried about the coming nights.

Then we did a Night Walk through the rainforest – most rainforest is on private land so you've to pay to see any part of it. We got picked up and driven to the property and started to walk. The walk was around 2h through the rainforest. Unfortunately we didn't see much wildlife – just a cane toad (they are really ugly), some spiders and two Boyh-Dragons – and of course we saw the trees. They guide explained a lot although we're not sure if he really knew what he was talking about (the wild pig is a pest but the cane toad not???). Just a few days ago one big tree came down and took several others with him so there is a hole in the forest and new trees can grow into the canopy. At this place we saw some luminescent fungi – just visible in darkness.

Then it was time for our last Cape Tribulation adventure – jungle surfing (www.junglesurfing.com.au). This is organised by the same guys as the night walk we did earlier. So back to that property and get fitted into the harness and the helmets. Every helmet had its own name – Tom was James Bond and I was Barbie, other names were Borat, Harry Potter, Tarzan, Nemo etc. Then we walked to the first platform, got attached to the lines and it started. The first line was actually going uphill so we couldn't surf but had to get winched by the guys – was quite hard work for them. The other lines were all downhill so we could slide down powered by gravity. On some line you actually had to go with a partner but not together in one harness just directly behind each other. In the end it was fun although not good as zip-lining on Kauai (Hawaii).

Now we left Cape Tribulation in direction Cooktown via the Bloomfield-Track. This meant around 80km gravel road through forests and mountains along the coastline. We even had to cross some rivers and one should be tidal.

At the first crossing we stopped and walked to the safe swimming hole but didn't go for a swim. The second crossing was refreshing as we had to check and see the depth and path. Apart from that and some steep ascents and descents (low gear is a good idea to go quite slowly) the track was not so difficult – let see what I'm saying when we're returning. Just before Cooktown we stopped at the Black Mountain lookout. If you look at the Black Mountains you think the whole mountain did burn – completely black. But actually the visible stones which are covered by a fungi are responsible for the black appearance.