40. Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Community

Monday 29 September

Wujal Wujal means ‘land of plentiful water’ and is on the Bloomfield Track 60 kms south of Cooktown. Wujal Wujal was previously known as Bloomfield and later the Bloomfield River Mission. Originally founded in 1886 by Lutheran missionaries, the community became too difficult to administer due to its isolation and the missionaries of the time withdrew. The community opened again in 1957 and was administered by the Hopevale Mission Board. In 1979 the name was changed from Bloomfield River to Wujal Wujal. At the 2006 census, Wujal Wujal had a population of 326. The people are Kuku Yalanji.

Wujal Wujal

Visitors are warned not to bring any alcohol into the community as part of the Queensland governments aims at tackling aboriginal alcohol abuse.

Wujal Wujal artists Glen Williams and Doreen Creek worked with teacher Ross Franzi to create the tiles representing the communities’ cultural past and their future.

In 1980 the Aboriginal Council came into being, with the area regaining its traditional name, Wujal Wujal. The community has an Indigenous Knowledge Centre "Binal Mangka Bayan" (which means house of knowing things). The centre provides access to books, magazines and other educational material.


Wujal Wujal Crossing

Getting to Wujal Wujal is by an unsurfaced track road which is only suitable for 4WD's due to the gradient of the terrain and the numerous streams and rivers which cross the path at regular intervals. The road is unpassable when there's heavy waterflow.


Wujal Wujal Falls

The community at Wujal Wujal is thought to have existed on the site for thousands of years and in their eyes the waterfalls are sacred. Visitors are only permitted access to one waterfall as the other falls are only for the eyes of the female members of the community. There have been cases where non-aboriginal women have built a strong relationship with the community and been granted access to the falls however the Aboriginals insist that the other women be naked and coated in a layer of saliva from the aboriginal women.


Map

38. North To Cooktown

Monday 29 September

It is just after 8.00am and the journey to Cooktown begins. Country Road Coachlines, a locally owned an operated company travels between Cairns and Cooktown - offering two routes, the inland service and the coastal service. The inland service is a same day run, but I chose the coastal route as I wanted to travel along the famed Bloomfiled Track. This is an overnight service, going Cairns to Cooktown on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and returning to Cairns on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Allan was our driver and he had a great sense of humour.

I had a migraine and most of the way was spent lying across the seats on the bus - self-inflicted I know. I really should have gone to bed earlier the night before, but you know how it is - you're on holiday and don't want to miss a minute of it. Ah well, c'est la vie!

Raintree's Cafe

Our first stop was at the Raintree Cafe about 9.00am for a bite to eat and a cuppa. I bought an egg sandwich and a cup of coffee for $8.00 which was just what was needed after an early start to the day. Allan was really good and didn't mind if you wanted to linger a bit to finish that last smoke, or make a quick dash to the loo.


Outdoor Dining Area

We sat here in the outdoor area - all the smokers congregated here, plus it was much nicer sitting outside with lots of greenery around. The timber tables were indifferent shapes and the air was warm with a faint breeze.


Daintree River Ferry Crossing

I awoke to the sound of the ferry and we waited out turn to cross. TGhe time was a little after 9.30am.

Route Map

This shows the coastal route from Cairns to Emmagen Creek and part of the Bloomflied Track.

34. Port Douglas - Four Mile Beach & Sunday Market

Sunday 28 September

Another wonderful day today - went down to Four Mile Beach at 8.00 this morning. Headed down Warner Street, turned right at Owen Street, then left up Mowbray passing some lovely red hibiscus on the way.

Hibiscus in Mowbray Street

It was a lovely walk and the sand was very clean and the water lovely and warm. I was surprised at the number of people out and about already.

Four Mile Beach

This is the premier beach of Port Douglas. From the main Port Douglas district, you can walk to the beach in under 5 minutes and then continue to walk along the sandy beach for hours under the tropical sun.

Facing North

4-Mile Beach begins at the northern rocky headland - great for children to explore and play with the small crabs that make the beach their home.


Facing South

Then the 4 miles of beach unfold in a gentle curve that continues as far as the eye can see, without a hint of development - the accommodation and houses are neatly hidden behind the swaying palms.

Then it was time for the Port Douglas Sunday Market which is held every Sunday at Anzac Park at the end of Macrossan Street between 8.00 and 1.30pm.

Anzac Park

At the mouth of Dixon Inlet is Anzac Park, also known as The Old Stinger Enclosure due to it originally being a man-made rock wall protecting a sheltered swimming beach from box jellyfish. The area behind the rock wall has since been filled in and it is now a very pleasant area of parkland with rock faces dropping off to the water on three sides.

Anzac Park is a great place for family fishing with plenty of room for children to run around in, playground equipment, picnic tables, beautiful big shady trees, easy parking, and a stones throw from the centre of town, and the Courthouse Hotel.

Sunday Market

Each Sunday a market is held in Market Park, which adjoins Anzac Park Port Douglas.
Bordered by Dickson Inlet and Wharf Street the location is picturesque with the mountain ranges and Coral Sea in the background.

Established almost 20 years, Port Douglas Sunday Market provide locally made hand crafted goods of every description.

In 1998 Council decided that the Port Douglas Sunday Market would be a "Cotters Market", thereby ensuring that goods offered for sale were made by the stallholder or their immediate family.

There were many arts and crafts, jewellery, clothing, and fresh produce as well as dried fruits and nuts. I bought fruit $5.00, three tomatoes, two peaches, a pineapple ($2). That was the best pineapple I've ever tasted. Also macadamias ($6), liquorice, dried paw-paw, cost- $14.00.

After this it was time to head to Coles for three small bottles of champagne ($13.00) for my trip to the Low Isles.

Port Douglas Click on blue marker for photo. You can also enlarge the map.

View Port Douglas in a larger map

29. Great Barrier Reef - Fish Feeding & Underwater Observatory

Friday 26 September

Fish feeding was conducted at the snorkelling platform.

Quicksilver Platform Map

Fish feeding was conducted at the snorkelling platform. The above map will give you some idea of the layout and size of the pontoon.


Splashing the Water

Fish

There were many fish, some of the very large and although the photos are blurry, I've still included them here.


Underwater Observatory

After 1.30pm, when lunch is finished, I went to the underwater observatory, which is quite large, in/under the bowls of the pontoon.

Rather than posting lots of fish photos, I've selected the best and made this collage. If you look closely at the middle photo on the right hand side, you'll see two snorklers in the far right corner.

Afte this, I went back and sat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was a wonderful feeling. The only posting box on the GBR is on the Quicksilver pontoon - any letter/postcard you post there is stamped "Great Barrier Reef" - I posted four. Wanting a souvenir, I bought a hot pink cap with "Quicksilver, Great Barrier Reef" on the front, at $20 I thought this a good buy.

At 3.00pm we departed Agincourt Reef for Port Douglas. Afternoon tea was served - tea and coffee with dry biscuits and cheese. A reef video was shown. The sea was rougher heading back and there were some brown paper bags in evidence!

We arrived back at Marina Mirage, Port Douglas at 4.30pm after a real fun ride - the boat went up and down and listed to the left - I loved it!

I sat with Jenny till her bus came - it was late and arrived at 7.05pm. Walked to Coles and bought smokes. Had a lovely meal for tea - dinner was grilled barra, salad and boiled rice only $10. Richie cooked it specially for me as I like barra. It was the best.

Quicksilver Cruises Great Barrier Reef

Here's a video of the Outer Reef cruise.


Map of Great Barrier Reef Click on blue markers for photo, you can also enlarge the map.

View Agincourt Reef - Port Douglas in a larger map

27. Great Barrier Reef - Agincourt Reef

Friday 26 September

Today is the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) cruise. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system. Composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, its stretches over 2,600 kms over an area of approx. 344,400 square kms. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. The GBR has been a World Heritage Site since 1981 and is classed as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.


I walked to Marina Mirage. The sea was very rough and choppy (I already knew this previously) 25 - 30 knots and boarded the Quicksilver catamaran at 9.30am. The Crew advised everybody take two sea-sick pills - a crew member was giving them out. I did tell the lady I never get sea-sick and didn't need them, to which she replied, it was going to be so rough I would be advised to take them. I thanked her, accepted the tablets and chucked them in the bin later.

I may not be able to swim a stroke, but I am blessed with an iron stomach. While most of the passengers were decidedly "green" with some so pasty-looking and quietly looking like death warmed up, I had a ball. The return journey was rougher and I knelt on the front seats and watched as the sea rose up and down and up and down and the boat dipped up and down. That was fun.

On The Catamaran

The sea was so choppy, I had to hold on with two hands for this photo otherwise I'd have fallen over.


Map showing cruise route

Quicksilver goes to Agincourt Reef which is in the Outer Reef - a trip of around 90 minutes. We had morning tea and shortbreads on boarding and the boat left at 10.00am. A half an hour later there was a Marine Biologist presentation shown on the television screens followed by a snorkelling demonstration.


Quicksilver

We arrived at the reef at 11.30 and hopped onto the pontoon. The semi-subs departs every fifteen minutes from the rear of the platform, and I did this first and saw the famous coral.

The Pontoon

Lunch was at 12 noon and a veritable feast it was too! There was a hot and cold buffet - meat, chicken, prawns, pastas, salads and tropical fruit. I had two chicken drumsticks, sliced corned beef and ham, potato salad, with tomato wedges and lettuce. The pineapple slices were delicious. A glass of red wine completed my selection.


Stinger Suit

I wore bathers and hired a stinger suit -$5, and sat in the water of Agincourt Reef - I enjoyed that immensly.

Agincourt Reef

The GBR. Agincourt Reef is a series of many smaller reefs. It has at least 16 different dive sites including Point Break, Three Sisters, Horseshoe Reef and the Fish Bowl. There are pieces of a Taiwanese wreck featured at The Wreck and giant clams and Maori wrasse appear at all the sites. Some of the fish there are yellow-striped barracuda, lionfish, drummer, unicornfish, clownfish and their host anemones in the shallower sections

25. Port Douglas - Accommodation

Wednesday 24 September

The Foaming Fury Shuttle bus didn't arrive and the girls at the YHA (Cairns) rang them, but they did not have my booking, so they then rang Parrotfish who knew nothing of it either. It turned out that when I made the booking, it was with the previous owners - Parrotfish had been sold and lists hadn't been passed on.

Shuttle Bus

A shuttle with Krystal Shuttles was organised for 12.30pm - Jeff was the driver. We set out and had to stop at the airport, but the clients didn't arrive, so we headed out to Port Douglas. Jeff's boss rang - he had to return to Cairns to collect two passengers. They were not there either.

It was starting to sound like the comedy of errors. We finally arrived at Port Douglas at 2.10 pm.


Parrotfish Lodge

The Internet Cafe and the outdoor dining area outside the bar. You get free breakfast, and the dinner meals were very well priced - $10. Richie was the chef, he was from Wales and hoping to get a sponsor. He was a very good cook and always cheerful.

Parrotfish Lodge

The lounge was on the first floor with an open air plan, and dorms were on the first and second floors. The outdoor pool area was on the small side with a few tables and chairs.

What the outdoor section may have lacked in comfort, it made up for it with the great location - right in the heart of town and a mere 3 minute walk to Macrossan Street.

The whole place was very clean though and the dorms were cheery and bright with very comfortable beds. Bathroom facilities were excellent and modern.

The new owner, David, upgraded me to a 4 share with en-suite because of the shuttle stuff-up, which I thought was nice of him. After settling in, I went to Coles and bought some stuff.

24. Cairns - Accommodation

Wednesday 24 September

Today I am off to Port Douglas. During my time in Cairns, I stayed at Cairns Central YHA in McLeod Street. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a hostel in Cairns. It has excellent facilities, well run and scrupoulsly clean. It is also right in the heart of Cairns. Cairns Central is just opposite about a minute's walk to your right.

The North Side

These are the dorms.

South Side

These are the single and double rooms.

Pool and Spa

In the right-hand section is the spa.

Pool

If you enlarge the picture, you an see the kitchen just behind the red plants at the end. My room was the one at the end.


Water Fountain

This little fountain was always trickling and made the sweetest sound. It was very relaxing listening to it.

In the Billiard Room

Where I am sitting was in the "Billiard Room" - undercover but no walls. The billiard table is to my left.

Below: Click on blue marker for photo. You can also enlarge the map.

View Cairns Central YHA in a larger map

23. Atherton Tablelands - Waterfall Circuit

Tuesday 23 September

The last item on today's agenda was the waterfall circuit. A lovely drive and well worth doing. I have included both vertical and horizontal shots here to give some idea of the grandeur of these falls.

Millaa Millaa Falls

This is the photo you will see in all the tourist brochures and is the one all tour companies stop at. It is perhaps the most well known and is symbolic of the Tablelands, which is why I photographed them with the red flowers in front. I had to wait around 25 minutes to take this as there were people swimming in front of it.

Millaa Millaa Falls

Zillie Falls

The white gushing water travels at an incredible speed.


Zillie Falls

Ellinjaa Falls

This was the last in the circuit and to reach these falls it is necessary to go a long way down - down many steps. You could hear the waterfall long before you saw it.

Ellinjaa Falls

Below: Two photos I took along the way.

Another Wicked Camper

This van was parked near one of the waterfalls. Since seeing it, I have used this as my motto when travelling.

Dairy Cattle

These two cows crossed directly in front of my car.

Below: A map of the waterfall circuit. Click on the blue markers to see photos. You can also enlarge the map.

View Waterfall Circuit in a larger map

18. Atherton Tablelands - Gillies Highway and Strangler Figs

Tuesday 23 September

Today I'm off to the Atherton Tablelands, and I'm going via the Gillies Highway. There are easier roads, but as soon as I heard of this twisting, winding road, I just knew I had to take it - I love winding roads. The Gillies HIghway is famous for its 200+ corners in 20 kms of road!
Below is a map showing the route I took.

Atherton Tablelands map

I drove down to Gordonvale then turned on to the Gillies Highway, from there I started the gradual climb through the luscious rainforest. The Gillies Highway ascends the mountain ranges starting at the small town of Gordonvale (30km south of Cairns). Over the next 30 kilometres you climb some 600-1000 metres to the Atherton Tablelands encountering spectacular lookouts along the way which enable you to take in the view of the valleys deep in the Great Dividing Range.


View from the Gillies Highway

The temperature drops and the air becomes fresher. This route offers spectracular views, especially from Heales Lookout.

Morning Tea Stop

This is one of the places I pulled over the side of the road where I had morning tea - I always bring along my Thermos flask.


Atherton Tablelands Hills

When you reach the top of the range, the rolling green hills of the Atherton Tablelands stretch out before you. After driving through Gadgarra, you take the right turn off through the Danbulla State Forest to get to the Cathedral Strangler Fig.

Cathedral Strangler Fig

The Cathedral Fig is a massive strangler fig tree - one of the most impressive sights in the rainforest along the Danbulla Forest Drive which runs around Lake Tinaroo, and is about 5 kms from the Gillies Highway. It is the same species of tree as the Curtain Fig Tree (Ficus virens), but through different growing pressure has evolved to display a different habit of the commonly called strangler fig.

Its massive system of buttress roots is surrounded by a boardwalk, and it is over 500 years old. It has the reputation of being the best place to hear an early morning bird 'singing' in the Atherton Tablelands.


Cathedral close-up

Many species of animal can be seen seeking shelter in and around the Cathedral Fig Tree including: Papuan Frog Mouth, Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Emerald Fruit Dove, Pale-yellow and Grey-headed Robin, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, many species of reptile, Possums and Tree Kangaroo.

Click on the blue marker for a photo. You can also enlarge the map.

View Cathedral Strangler Fig in a larger map

12. Mossman Gorge - Car Hire and the Gorge

Monday 22 September

Today I pick up the hire car and it's off to Mossman Gorge, I caught the local bus up to Sheridan Street - about a 15 to 20 minute ride to Cairns Older Car Hire - I'd booked the "Backpacker" with aircon @ $30 a day, (without aircon it's $25) but they'd stuffed up somehow with a double booking. Mind you, I booked the car over six months in advance, anyway, they organised another one and upgraded me to a $45 vehicle for free. I waited for what seemed an age - then discovered the car was a manual.

Back to the office. They were going to give me a Sirion - problem was it was not there. Eventually I was given a red mazda and was out of there by 10.00am.

In spite of their error, I would recommend them to anyone wanting a car whilst up in Cairns - they had the cheapest prices and were very good to deal with.

Below: A map showing Mossman Gorge. If you click on the blue marker you will see a photo. You can also enlarge the map.

View Mossman Gorge in a larger map


Below: A Wicked Camper.
There are many "Wicked Camper" hire vehicles and all are brightly coloured. This one was parked near where I parked at Mossman Gorge.

Below: Crystal clear waters.

I drove to Mossman Gorge and had my trusty Thermos and morning tea with me at one of the picnic tables there. I found Mossman Gorge rather disappointing because it looked just like Victoria (my home state). I met a Melbourne couple who said the same thing. Later I drove to Daintree Village expecting to see a "village". It was a nice drive though even if there wasn't any village in evidence.



Big Boulders
This is the picture you see in all the travel brochures for Mossman Gorge.