The Cassowary is an endangered bird found in the Northern tropical region of Queensland

On your drive up to Cairns, you begin to notice that the trees get taller, and there are sections where the forests are thicker. If you continue along the coastline to Cape Tribulation at the Daintree National Park, the trees become more tropical. You’ll soon find yourself surrounded by dozens of different types of tropical plants and wonder when it all changed.

It was on this drive from the start of the ferry crossing to my stop at Cape Tribulation Camping that I really wished I had someone to share this experience with. At one point, I saw a cassowary along the side of the road and I wanted so badly to tell someone but there was no one around me to share in the excitement.

I had seen life-size sculptures of the cassowary in Kuranda and at the ferry crossing, but seeing one in real life and in the wild is something else altogether. I wonder if the makers of the movie ‘Up’ were inspired by the bird. It’s body reminds me of an emu, but its head is like a turkey with a dinosaur spike and its feet look dangerously heavy, huge and like they also belong on a small dinosaur. It moved very slowly through the bush and away from the highway when more cars started slowing down to watch it.

And then when I saw the brilliant blue butterflies come out, again I wished there was someone to tell! They have postcards with these butterflies at most of the local tourist shops, but none of the pictures are even close to capturing how amazingly bright and brilliant they are. At first, I thought a feather from a tropical bird was falling from the trees, but then I saw the sunlight reflect off the wings. The butterfly fluttered about through the trees and was this bright blue speck dancing around the dark green tropical rainforest that enveloped the road. I saw three or four just on the drive to the campgrounds.

When I got to the camping ground, I changed into my bathing suit right away and headed for the beach. The water at Cape Trib is warm. I had wanted to go for a swim, but the beach is shallow for meters and meters. Instead, I alternated between sitting and floating in the waters.

The water at Cape Trib is clear enough to see right through and most of the bottom is just sand. So, I decided I’d go through a walk / wade through the waters towards a mangrove-like area. When I was a few meters away, the ground under the water began to look patchy and I figured it was just rocks and some seaweed. As I was walking though, I spotted something swim right in front of me less than a foot away… If I had been just one step ahead, I would’ve stepped right on top of a stingray!!! My whole body froze for a split second. And then I promptly turned around and headed back to the clear waters.

Cape Tribulation is beautiful.

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Big Barramundi Garden Restaurant at Daintree Village

On my way up to Cape Tribulation on Tuesday, I made an unplanned stop at Daintree Village. I had thought that I needed to go through the village to get to Cape Trib because the only sign that pointed to Cape Trib pointed in the direction of a ferry terminal and I didn’t know you had to cross a river to get there. This is what happens when you don’t follow a map.

Travellers — please see the note on the bottom on how to get to Cape Tribulation from Cairns.

Daintree Village consists of a small handful of restaurants and stores, and is primarily a meeting point for the various river tours in the area. I didn’t feel like going on a river tour because I was already melting in the heat even with the air conditioning on. If this is Queensland’s “Winter/Spring” I don’t want to know what their Summer is like! I did feel like getting something to eat though since I hadn’t had breakfast and all my food had gone rotten from the heat.

Mmm… CROC!

I decided to go to the Big Barramundi Garden for lunch mainly because they have a giant fish in the front (these tricks work on me). I’m glad I did though because they had CROCODILE BURGERS!! Normally I’d have a little bit of hesitation about eating animals like crocodiles because they’re not exactly abundant. But, (and this should make all you endangered animal activists out there *cough cough* Sara *cough* feel a little bit better) I noted that there was a crocodile farm about a half hour before Daintree.

The croc burger was de-lish! And no, it doesn’t taste like chicken. It has a different flavour and texture that I quite like. The meat was tender, moist, had a very slight chewiness to it, and it was lean. It’s hard to describe the chewiness of it because “chewy” and “rubbery” makes it sound bad when really the slight chewiness and rubbery bite to it was very pleasant and very very slight. There was one chunk that had an obvious section of croc fat and I was worried it wouldn’t taste good, but it didn’t taste fatty at all! I’d eat croc again.

Tips for Travellers on Getting to Cape Tribulation

There are two routes you can take to Cape Tribulation from Cairns. One takes you over a river on a ferry along the coastline ($11 one-way or $20 return), and the other is longer and takes you all the way around the inland route, past Mount Carbine, Lakeland, Cooktown’s detour and down through the Bloomfield Track (no ferry).

1. 

   Ferry Crossing Terminal

   You can only take the Bloomfield Track if you have a 4WD vehicle. There’s a sign posted just past Cape Trib that says so. Your car rental company might have restrictions that say so too (Wicked Campers does).

2. If you only have a 2WD or it has recently rained (the Bloomfield Track is sometimes closed when it gets wet because some parts are subject to flooding), the only way to get to Cape Trib will be over the river on a ferry.
3. If you have a 4WD and you’re going to go past Cooktown or want to take both the inland and coastal route on your way to and from Cape Trib, it’s recommended that you take the inland route up, and visit Cape Trib on your way back down. The inland route is paved highway which makes it easier for your car to go up and it’s supposed to be less scary coming down the unpaved Bloomfield Track. I think it’s a bit scary either way.
4. Why take both the inland and coastal routes? The coastal route up to Cape Tribulation is a must because it’s stunning. The inland route has some great look-out points and is the safer option to get to Cooktown or further North. Plus, if you take the coastal route all the way up to Cooktown, you’re not going to want to take it back down again. It’s like being stuck in a vibrating machine for two hours.