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Ang and Zo take on the world
We headed for Cape Trib (another early start!), leaving behind rainy Cairns. Our tour driver was good at pointing out all the sights along the way, although he had a rather strange obsession with nudity: not failing to point out the nudist beach (which he informed us he would not be found on... BUT could be found in the trees behind, armed with a camera! Eeeew! He also mentioned about a nudist hostel, for which he advertised an ongoing job vacancy as a receptionist :/ No ta! We stopped off at Mossman Gorge and took a trek in the rainforest, having been warned to not venture off the path in case of brushing against the 'stinging tree', which injects minute cylinders (like splinters) into the skin, which cause ongoing pain (even a shower or gust of wind is enough to aggravate cause immense discomfort!) for up to a year after contact! Along the boardwalk, we saw a stunning fast flowing river, which we were told can rise about 2m within 30 seconds during a storm! Since it was a 5hour drive, a toilet stop was called for. The first cubicle: a routine bug-check commenced... a HUGE spider on the ceiling was found! As Zoe continued taking pictures, Angie edged away from the spider, only to let out a huge gasp... An even bigger spider was the cause (at least double in size, probably larger than the average human hand!)! We decided our bladders could do with strengthening, so chose to wait. Next we went to Daintree Mangrove Animal Sanctuary, where saw Cassowarys, snakes and a sugar glider. Walking past an algae covered pond, we wondered what was so fascinating... a lump of meat was thrown and the huge jaws of a 5m long croc snapped out of the water and grabbed the food. Roaming free where some beautiful friendly kangaroos and wallabies, which we got to stroke. Continuing on our drive, we were reassured that although there are many deadly snakes, spiders, crocodiles and wild pigs roaming the rainforest, we were more likely die from being hit on the head by a falling coconut than be attacked by any of said creatures! The tour guide also told stories of how Cape Trib was a rule unto itself, with police only having a form of authority very recently. Apparently the police would cross the Daintree river and be shot at by the unwelcoming locals. Cape trib is still very lax on rules concerning the law - the police dare to cross the river once a week. The look outs at the edge of rainforest by the daintree crossing instantly warn the locals when the police are coming, who proceed to put on their best behaviour.
Arriving at our hostel in Cape Tribulation, we headed straight for the beach (which was only a stone's throw away) and found ourselves hunting for falling coconuts! We were still more conscious of the threat of crocodiles lurking in the undergrowth! After finding a coconut, nicknamed Bob, we found ourselves a nice spot on the sand and rested. Surrounded by beautiful scenery and blue sunny skies, we should have been immersed in tranquility. But with the fear of potential crocodiles in the rainforest behind and killer box jellyfish in the sea ahead, we felt slightly on edge! Heading back to the hostel, we jumped into the pool to cool off and had a game of volleyball with some of the other people from the hostel.
We were on the fence about whether or not to drink that evening, as there was little else to do, but there weren't that many people around. Being encouraged over a game of cards by some friendly Irish lads, we gave into temptation; ending the night on the beach around a camp fire.
A very (!) unwelcome early start to the day, with no sign of a hangover, we set off on our separate morning activities. Zoe headed off for the Great Barrier Reef and Angie went horse riding (see our individual blog entries for details). Meeting back up at lunch, we shared experiences and then headed for a local waterhole (Emmagen creek). Stopping at a nearby shop to take shelter from a rain storm, we met a local midnight walk tour guide called Matt, who showed us the way to the swimming hole. Mentioning our interest in the midnight walk, he told us we could tag along for free. We said gracious thankyou's and see you later's and then wandered on to the waterhole, assuming he would leave. He didn't. After telling us of his previous nights antics (involving the waterhole, girls and not many clothes), he offered to take us on an earlier tour to see the mud crab's that he had caught and that he would cook us for dinner that night. Although the offer was very tempting (experiencing local traditions and cuisine would have been amazing), unfortunately the saying "There's no such thing as a free lunch" kept reiterating in our heads. And with a distinct lack of policing within the area, we politely declined. At the waterhole, a rope was suspended from a tree, which strangely seemed to be calling us to swing on it! In an attempt to convince Angie that it wasn't too cold, Zoe tested the water temperatures out first by going for a quick swim. But breathless gasps of "its... not... too..... c-c-cold" were somewhat unconvincing. The only way in was the quick and irreversible way: the swing. Angie took the plunge first, followed shortly after by Zoe.
We had already agreed to have a quieter night and so returned to the hostel bar for a relax. The benches weren't particularly comfortable to sit on (we were missing sofa's!), so we chose to lie on them and rest our eyes for a while. This peace was suddenly interrupted when Zoe turned her head to face away from Angie, opening her eyes to find herself almost nose to nose with a strange local man! These interruptions from the locals became a reoccurring theme of the night...
First we met Kane, a fire dancer and qualified dive instructor. He had spent the majority of the week getting drunk, due to most of his trips being cancelled as a result of bad weather at sea. He brought over a huge Hercules moth (bigger than Zoe's hand) which he knew was dying. We asked how he knew. His only reply was "because I know it is dying". We left it at that. Then Matt came over and continued to work on his bone carving in the shape of a seahorse. In the background, we had noticed a rather child-like man - running around, hanging from beams and throwing himself under waterfalls from the rain off the roof. Later, he came over to introduce himself as Brendon. In asking what he does for a living, he smiled (bearing no front teeth), looked over to Matt and asked him "should I tell them?" We exchange wide-eyed looks, raising our eyebrows in a cross between curiosity and worry. It turns out he had lived in the bush for 6 years of his life, living off the rainforest with his only companion, his dingo. One day, he decided to up and leave his family home with no warning. All his family and friends thought he had been eaten by a crocodile. He built his own house from black palm trees and large leaves. For dinner, he caught wild pig, crocodile or fish and made rice which was flavoured from the bums of the green rainforest ants, which apparently taste like citrus. He told us the sad story of how he lost his dog in a wild bore attack and in an attempt to save it carried the dingo to civilisation. unfortunately, the dog could not be saved and died in his arms on the journey. Bewildered and lost, he sat on a beach with its body; oblivious to the concern of passers by. Four days later, he said his goodbyes to his only friend and released the dog to the sea. He then met some people from our hostel, who taught him a little on how to fit into civilisation again, although he chose to return to the rainforest. He still hadn't informed his friends and parents of his safety. Brendon was covered in scars, each having their own intriguing story rooting from various attacks. He taught us how he caught his food and kept trying to demonstrate these techniques on Zoe, to which he seem to have taken a disturbing liking :( He went into great detail of how to cook crocodile tail which i offered to treat us to but unfortunately we had to leave the next day. Talking to him was so informative and eye-opening, we were left speechless when we said goodnight.
On our journey home, we tried some local Daintree ice creams: Jakfruit, sour sop, wattleseed and raspberry was the order of the day. And it was YUM! We went on the Daintree river to look for crocodiles, where the following day we read in a local paper that a child had gone missing through a suspected crocodile attack. Then we were warmed up with some refreshing Daintree tea! This was a welcome treat for us tea totals ;)
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