Cape Tribulation, Daintree Rainforest and Atherton Tablelands

On the 15th (Saturday), talking to people in the hostel, I found a British couple, David and Haley, who were interested in renting a car with me and spending 2 days travelling around the Cairns region. Being the only one over 21, I was the driver. As you can imagine, driving on the left side of the road was a new experience (as was renting a car for the first time...). On Sunday morning, we took off. We drove north to Mossman, and its crowning feature, Mossman Gorge. This is a section of the Daintree Rainforest Parklands and has a spectacular swimming hole, tons of very large fig trees, and untouched rainforest. Birds, salamanders and fish were seen. After taking a quick dip (fairly cold) we got back in the car and drove north, crossing the Daintree river on the cable ferry and through narrow, curvy, and densely forested roads to Cape Tribulation - the most northerly part of Queensland you can reach on sealed roads. The weather didn't allow us to stay on the white, expansive beaches for very long, but I can imagine the combination of rainforest at the waters edge, fringing reef off shore and great beaches quite spectacular on a sunny day. After having a lunch break we drove south back across the ferry and through Mossman. We stopped in Port Douglas for the night. I slept in the car while David and Haley rented a double room at the Port O'Call YHA. At night in the car the forests were alive with animals and their sounds (I had the window cracked - it is the tropics). We left early to hit the Atherton table lands - inland, between the outback and the coast. We made our way down through Mareeba, Atherton and to Milla Milla. In the area there are lots of waterfalls and lakes. We visited the Malanda, Milla Milla, Zillie anmd Ellinjaa Falls. I swam below the Milla Milla falls. Swimming under falls over 100 feet high was pretty cool. We also went to Lake Eacham, a crater lake formed by volcanic action, superheating aquifers which then exploded. The last place we saw was Lake Tinaroo, formed by damming the Barron River in the 50's. We drove back to Cairns through Gordonvale. The road through the forests definitely qualifies as top 5 curviest roads I've ever been on. With our little car, I had a lot of fun driving the endless swichbacks and tight corners. Today (the 18th) I returned the car and got my dive medical done so i'm ready to go for tomorrow. Next post: diving and what the heck am I going to do with the rest of my time?