Is this Jurassic Park??

Day 1 (Saturday)

The plan was to fly into Cairns, pick up the camper van, grab our surf boards and start the adventure south. We flew in half an hour early which put us at 4:15 am. Thankfully we decided to sleep on the first seats we saw because there were noooo seats as soon as you left the secured area. Just before 8:00 we hopped in a cab to grab our camper. Everything went really smoothly and we had our “hippie camper” named Sheldon, groceries, and surfboards in less than an hour. Our plans changed a little and we headed north to hit Mossman Gorge followed by Cape Tribulation. This extended our whole travel by a couple hundred km.

First we sung by Port Douglas to put our feet in the water. We were in a large cove called 4 mile beach. On a short hike we were able to see sea turtles down below. After a quick nap on the beach, we continued north.

Mossman Gorge was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was a national park and only cost $4 to take a bus to the entrance of the main hike. There was an hour hike and then we swam in the river. It felt like we were in Hawaii. The scenery was very tropical. It was a blue bird day and the humidity wasn’t too bad. The river was clear as can be and there were huge boulders lining the side. If fairies existed, they would TOTALLY live here.

We entered the movie Jurassic Park when we headed to Cape Tribulation. It got more humid, there were no houses anywhere, the plant growth was very thick, and you could feel an animal was always watching you. To get to Cape Tribulation, you have to take a ferry across the river. The ferry runs from 6am-12pm so if you need to leave between those times, you are… oh how do you say it… completely screwed! While driving up to the beach, we pasted a cassowary eating a smashed creature in the other lane. I couldn’t help by think… WE ARE IN JURASSIC PARK! The beach was beautiful, but there was no swimming due to crocks and jellyfish. Yicks! There was even a bottle of vinegar tied to the beach sign incase you were dumb enough to test your luck. 

Since our adventures were straying from our original plan, we decided not to stay in Cape Tribulation but head south. As vague and non-specific as our plan were, we could spend that night anywhere but wanted to at least get below Cairns. At about 10:30 we pulled into Bramston Beach. The camp ground host was asleep by the time we parked so we woke up at about 6 am and left before the host was awake. We reparked at the beach and continued to sleep for free. This way we didn’t get fined for parking at the beach all night, and we didn’t have to pay for the campsite… We’re thinking like true travelers!