ROADTRIP ON THE EAST COAST OF AUSTRALIA. STAGE 4: FROM MAGNETIC ISLAND TO CAIRNS

The fourth and laststage of our roadtrip along the east coast of Australia led us to explore the north of the state of Queensland, between Magnetic Island and Cairns. Although we first reached Cape Tribulation and we visited the Daintree National Park. You know, killer crocodiles on rivers and beaches, wild cassowaries, green ants ... and lots of surprises ...

At the moment these are the main data:

Day 19Townsville (Magnetic Island) - Innisfail

After returning to our van and checking that everything was in place, we started our last stage of road in Australia. Although it sounds that we already have a bit of a morriña, in reality what we have is a crazy desire to reach Cape Tribulation, our limit in the north, and visit the Daintree NP.

But that will be the next day, today we make the first stop inIngham, a small town where we met Maria. She has worked at the Visitor Center for many years, but she is originally from Italy. It cost him to start with the Italian, but once he was encouraged, he told us a lot of things about how he lives in Queenstown, took away a little fear about crocodiles and invited us to take a walk in the park next to the building. And we liked it a lot, there are many different species of birds, ducklings, butterflies and kangaroos!

Highway A1 returns near the coast, where an island that forms the Hinchinbrook Island National Park rises. Obviously you can't go by car, but you can see it from a distance in theHinchinbrook Lookout, next to the road. Below, in Cardwell, there are beautiful aboriginal art statues next to the beach, and a big crab!

In Mission beach we will have our first meetings with the cassowaries. You don't know what they are? No wonder, it may be the rarest animal on the planet (not counting the fish from Lake Baikal, of course). The cassowary is an animal halfway between an ostrich, a dinosaur and an emu. It is huge, it has a body full of black feathers, a bright blue and red collar and a kind of split horn on its head. In addition to the neck, two testicles hang, making it even more rare. Not to mention his legs, piece of legs! Totally disproportionate. Inside they keep a nail that looks more like a knife, with which they attack. There have been (also recent) cases of fatal attacks from cascades to people. Ojito!

Well, in Mission Beach we only saw the signs that alerted us to this bug. From that moment I understood that it was not an imaginary animal, that it was real, and it became my favorite animal forever! Hopefully the 1,500 that are released in Australia will survive. They are in danger of extinction and here these things are taken seriously, so do not even think of hitting them, or waking them from napping!

By the way, on this same beach they also warn of the attacks of saltwater crocodiles. As you can see, we have entered the land of Crocodile Dundee, rather of Matt Wright.

So much Mission beach how Etty Bay These are two areas where these rare bird species are usually seen. As in the first we had no luck, we tried the second. We knew that at this time it was almost impossible (4-5 in the afternoon), but you know what? On the same road, looking to the left we pass a private detour to a house and, bingo! There was not one, but two cascades! And what we tell you now seems a lie, but it was as it was: we had a car attached to the ass and we could not stop, we were also in the middle of a curve. We hope to find a place to go around and, on our return, they were gone!

We swear it! Two casuaries just 5 meters from us! But they lasted half a second! One standing, the other lying down, with those blue and red faces, the balls hanging and the helmet on. Obviously we could not photograph them, but the memory will always remain in our memory. The guy is like this:

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On the beach of Etty Bay They can be seen, especially at dawn. We slept in the village of Inninsfal and we returned at 6 in the morning the next day but there was not even the tato! Well yes, some pretty green goats.

Day 20Innisfail - Cape Tribulation

This day was long and intense. But one of the coolest of the entire roadtrip along the east coast of Australia. Partly by the spectacular scenic road that passes through several castades. Is the Tourist Drive 15call Waterfalls Circuit. Then we will see the waterfalls, but first the landscapes through which this road runs are very beautiful.

The first waterfalls we visited were theEllinjaa Falls. The road, although quite slippery, becomes quite easy to the base of the waterfall. It's about 15 or 20 minutes on foot.

The following is theZillie falls, and watch out for this one. The road is much worse than the previous one, and with rain we would say impracticable. Also when you get down there is an area where you have to jump between rocks, with some danger. And then, it's not that it's better than the others. Having seen what we saw, we would have skipped it. Although you can always visit the viewpoint above, next to the road.

The third and most spectacular is theMillaa Millaa Waterfall. From the parking lot it is very close, and you arrive right at the base of the waterfall in front of it.

→ Here you have more info about the waterfalls.

Not far from there is a very strange tree: the Curtain Fig Tree. It is a fig of at least 500 years and gigantic, which are its branches and roots, it forms a kind of curtains that hug and protect everything that is next to it. There is a path on a wooden walkway between the jungle that surrounds it. It is before the town of Yungaburra, at the entrance of it there are some pools where platypus live, in case you did not go through Broken River (we told you in the previous stage, hehe).

At this point, you could get to Cains and finish the stage here, but we decided to go ahead, to make the strangest stretch of all the roads we drove in Australia (and see that the Nullarbor makes it difficult). Its about section between Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation and that goes through the Daintree National Park.

And it's so weird that you even have to take a ferry to cross from one point to another of the Daintree River, a river that by the way, is full of crocodiles. These we would see the next day, do not be impatient! The price for the round trip ticket is $ 27.

Across the river, the real interesting road begins. Curves, a cool viewpoint (Mount Alexandra Lookout), jungle, small rivers, signs that warn of wild animals (including cassowaries), and many spiders and snakes! Of the latter we did not see, but spiders so many that we could become experts!

This was in the accommodation where we stayed, the Cape Tribulation Beach House. Eye, it was not inside the room, but in the environment, that is in the middle of the jungle and next to a wild beach. The accommodation consists of several wooden cabins, with a bathroom inside and quite cool. Of course, prepare for a disconnection, because here no free WiFi (and you better not want to know the price of the payment). Be part of the YHA chain of hostels, here you have more information about the accommodation.

On this entire road there are only a couple of resorts: Thornton beach Y Cape Tribulation. But you can't consider people. In addition there are several beaches (eye with crocodiles) and hiking options. Unless you are an experienced adventurer (at the level of Frank de la Jungle), we advise you to hire a tour.

Day 21Cape Tribulation - Cairns

We were clear that in the Daintree National Park We wanted to see crocodiles in their natural habitat. Apparently it is one of the best sites in Australia. So we started to investigate and we found some discounted tickets on the bookme website, for $ 18 each (the normal price is $ 30). The tour was withBruce Belcher's Daintree River Cruise, we went with Bruce himself in the boat and the truth is that he is an expert.

The tour lasted just over 1 hour and we saw several crocodiles: one impressive, male, almost 5 meters (here he is called Scarface). A somewhat smaller female sunbathing and crocodile babies who almost wanted to take them home. They have quite strict rules so as not to disturb crocodiles and, apparently, they have it very well organized to be as intrusive as possible.

On the way to Cairns we wanted to go through the Mossman Gorge, the place must be very cool, but to get there you have to leave the car at the Visitor Center (more than 2 km) or walk that whole stretch on foot to the park entrance (with this heat of course) or take the bus that costs $ 9.80 (allows you to take it as many times as you want).

→ Here you can download some maps of Mossman Gorge

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We go ahead and make our last stop at Port Douglas, a beautiful town where its beautiful chapel stands out St. Mary's by the Sea. It is a good place to rest for a drink, a coffee or at least a bit of shade.

The day, and the roadtrip, comes to an end. We left the campervan in the Apollo office of Cairns and we say goodbye to the Australian roads. In Cairns we stayed 4 nights, the last in the state of Queensland that so much, really so much, has surprised us! Here we leave you everything to see and do in Cairns.

Video: Australia East Coast Roadtrip (May 2024).