23rd September 2008

The drive from Port Douglas to Wonga Beach hugged the coastline, giving views of long deserted white beaches right up to the roadside. We stopped at Mossman to walk around the weekly market & also went up to look at Mossman Gorge. When we were there 20 years ago it was 'au natural', now it is blessed with boardwalks & viewing platforms. Interesting trees in Mossman, arching over the road, their expansive branches are all covered with a form of fern, making them look 'hairy'.

We have now been in Wonga Beach for 3 nights, the 'spring' weather is hot, with daily tops of around 30 degrees & of varying humidity. Great for lazing & swimming, something we've been doing a bit of.

Wonga Beach is a few kilometres short of the Daintree Ferry, the only means of crossing the Daintree river to access the real deal true blue Aussie Jungle, the world heritage listed Daintree Rainforest, the oldest continuously existing ecosystem of it's type in the world! We are using Wonga Beach as our base from which to explore the Daintree, rather than taking the bus across the Ferry. Yesterday we explored the 'near' Daintree up to just north of Cape Trib(ulation), just to where the road ends & the 4wd only 'infamous' Bloomfield Track begins. This continues for around 75kms, a scar bulldozed through the virgin forest to Cooktown around 20 years ago, despite very active protest against it on environmental grounds. It was this protest that made the Daintree  known around the world. The track however *is* there,  & is an alternative to the more roundabout but easier route which leads north from the Atherton Tableland, inland from Cairns. This is about 3 or 400 kms. We have planned our assault on the Bloomfield, phoned ahead to book some accomodation at the Lions Den Hotel, a bush pub somewhere near the northern end of the track. Cooktown may be interesting, but it is the Daintree experience we want. We go tomorrow morning & are both a little apprehensive. Everyone we have spoken to tells us differing stories about the track. Eg, we have been told the number of creek crossings is 1 to 13, depending upon who is doing the telling. The sources that are hopefully the most reliable suggest 3 or 4. There is talk of 'killer hills', two sections where the slopes vary between 1 in 5 & 1 in 3. Many have suggested the track 'easy', but a few have raised eyebrows at our plans. MrsTea is not a highly skilled rider, & if we can't manage, we'll turn back.

24th to 30th September 2008

We have returned 'home' to the bus in Wonga Beach after what has been a brilliant 5 day 'holiday' away on the bikes. We caught the Bloomfield Track in excellent condition, making all our anxiety about the route superfluous.

Going north we only had two creek crossings to test us. The first, Emmagen Creek was about 12 inches deep, the second at Woobadda creek a little deeper, with a couple of hidden rock slabs to make life a bit more interesting. MrsTea crossed Emagen Creek unaided, but I rode both bikes across Woobadda Creek, sustaining nothing worse than a wet foot. The infamous hills were indeed steep,  the steepest public 'road' in Australia apparently. The first climb up the O'Connel range, was a smooth 1 in 5 & easily overcome, the second up the 1 in 3 Cowie Range was also easy, although going down the other side was made more 'interesting' with ruts & potholes around it's steep off-camber bends. After crossing the Bloomfield River (on a dry concrete causeway), we stopped to eat our packed lunch at the Bloomfield Falls, just outside of the Aboriginal township of Wujal Wujal, before continuing on through the tiny townships of Ayton & Rossville, before arriving at The Lions Den Hotel. The ride through the Daintree had, as expected, been magnificent, made more interesting by a few 'critters' that crossed the track in front of us. (An exceptionally long snake, no idea what sort, Lace Monitors & a huge wild boar). The Lions Den Hotel is an interesting bush pub, with accomodation in either air conditioned dongas or non air conditioned 'Safari Tents'. We chose the smaller & cheaper donga. The croc free swimming hole behind the pub was welcome. The Baramundi (at $22) served at the pub was most disappointing, given that it wasn't cooked right through, a symptom of inexperienced pub staff. Although the pub itself is 'historic', the staff constantly change. The young Irish couple had only been there for a few nights, & were planning on remaining for another couple of months only. Perhaps by then they will have learned how to cook frozen fish!

It was whilst at the pub that we discovered that the 'festival' we had heard mention of, was in fact the Wallaby Creek Folk festival, being held on a private property called 'Home Rule', set amidst the Daintree rainforest, about 15 kms south of the Lions Den, and just 3kms out of Rossville township, via a single lane track. It was being held the following weekend & sounded too good to miss. Having to ride back to the hotel each night didn't seem appealing, so we decided to camp at the festival. Problem was we had no camping gear with us, it was all back at the bus. So off to Cooktown we rode, to see what we could come up with. Our time in Cooktown was short, just an afternoon & overnight, but we were able to buy a couple of cheap foam sleeping pads, some string & a cheap blue tarp which combined to give us (uncomfortable) shelter at the festival. (Sleeping bags would have been good, but we ended up sleeping fully clothed instead). Cooktown was an odd place which perhaps deserved more time than we gave it. Some folks were exceptionally warm & friendly & in similar numbers there were those who were quite the opposite, surly & withdrawn. Then there was the unknown scumbag who stole my motorcycle goggles. My fault I guess, leaving the helmet & goggles sitting on the bike whilst we shopped. The wind. Well we had heard much about how it is windy in Cooktown & it was good info. Never been in such a windy place, especially up by the lighthouse. The road leading up to the lighthouse was as steep as anything the Bloomfield track had thrown at us. We stayed at the Youth Hostel - 'Pams Place' for a reasonable cost & ate out. The Pizza made by a chap with waxed moustache & beard was excellent, a pizza dough acrobat! We rode back to the festival the following day, stopping along the way to marvel at the dark & foreboding 'Black Mountain'. A mountain of boulders - natural, not man made. The views of the bush looking from Black Mountain toward Cooktown were stunning. 

We had met 'Pam' in Cooktown, an elderly lady who was performing with a group of belly dancers at the festival. She remained a 'constant' during our weekend there.

'Home Rule' is a wonderful property, wish I knew more of it's history. Normally it is possible to camp there for $8 per night, or stay in one of the few cabins for $20 per night. For anyone contemplating going to Cooktown, regardless of whether the inland route or the Bloomfield track is taken, Home Rule is a must visit place. Access from the north (Cooktown) would be easy for motorhomes the size of ours (during the dry season anyway).

It was here that we really experienced the Daintree as we had hoped to. The property's water supply is gravity fed from the impressive Wallaby Creek falls. A walking track follows the pipeline up & down hills through the jungle, & takes around an hour to walk. This is no National Park walk, complete with boardwalks & arse covering signs, this is the real deal. Just us & the jungle. To top it off, below the falls is a beautiful, although chilly, swimming hole.

Back at Home rule, the grassy site is augmented by both swimmable dams & the croc free Wallaby Creek. The festival was most enjoyable with a great variety of musos playing until well past midnight each night. Sound quality was excellent. Food stalls did us proud. The weather was beautiful after the first day, during which it poured with monsoonal like rain. Several times we heard locals expressing surprise - " Geez, it's never rained at the festival before". " Geez, this is as heavy as during the Wet".  Readers will be pleased to know, that despite me having been chucked out of the Cub scouts at the tender age of 7, that our temporary tarp shelter kept us dry. Sleeping bags would've kept us warm too, but you can't have everything eh!

That rain made the ride 'home' after the festival  more interesting as creek levels had risen. The concrete causeway across the Bloomfield River now had a foot of fast running water over it. A short distance from us was a large croc sitting out sunning itself. We didn't spot it but were told about it shortly afterwards, by others we met on the track. Several creeks that had been dry on the way up now had water in them, & the two main crossings we had survived on the way up were now deeper. I rode both bikes across the Woobadda creek, getting both feet wet in the process. MrsTea crossed via stepping stones close by. When we reached the final crossing at Emmagen Creek, there was an audience of around a couple of dozen others, a guy on a big trail bike, looking nervously at his first creek crossing, & a bunch of ‘rubberneckers’ who had driven up the (gravel) road from Cape Trib & reached the edge of their comfort zone. With their video cameras in action I rode straight in, & got across ok. (Phew!) MrsTea arrived shortly after I'd dismounted on the southern side, hesitated for no more than 5 seconds, before 'giving it a go', despite the 'intimidation' of an audience (or perhaps because of!). Thankfully she made it across in style, & without getting wet. (Her bike is only started with an electric start, no kick starter, making the possibility of a 'drowned bike' quite a serious issue). Phew! She got off her bike, in front to the crowd, grinning, & asked me loudly "What happened to the steep hills on the way back then?" Clearly she was feeing pretty chuffed with her performance on the bike, very different to the apprehensive MrsTea who had been on the bike when we left a few days earlier. How proud can a bloke feel about ‘is sheila ? :-)

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