Mossman Gorge to Cooktown

 The beautiful serene 3km walk through the rainforest by the gorge.

 A kookaburra.

 The harbour of Cooktown with 30 degrees and humidity.

 Cooktown Beach but you can't go in the water because of saltwater crocodiles!

 I had a couple of beers here in the evening with some colourful locals.

 Captain Cook, who landed here on June 17, 1770.

The harbour outside my window.

Monday June 27^th

I was up early and listened to the unbelievably loud calls of a flock of yellow crested cookatoos in a tree by the hotel.

After breakfast I checked out and then drove into Port Douglas to get a few shots of the town in the daylight before beginnng the drive back to Cairns. Then I set out for Mossman Gorge. It was a half hour drive and I arrived before the crowds. I parked at the information centre and decided to walk the two kilometres instead of taking the shuttle. The road passed sugar cane fields before entering the rainforest. I love rainforests the smell of the damp earth and sounds of the birds and the lushness of the forest. When I got to the actual park I took the short hike on the elevated track along the Mossman River. It was basically a river rushing over boulders. But for me the highlight was a three kilometres walking trail loop that wound through the rainforest past innumerable types of trees and vines. I saw no one and loved the solitude and ambience of the forest. I read the signs about the incredible biodiversity of the trees and plants here. Then I walked back to the centre.

I decided to take a different route back to Cairns which instead of following the coast would go more inland and up over the mountains in a longer loop. But when I got to a fork in the road my FOMO kicked in and I decided to drive north instead to Cooktown. The road north out of Daintree yesterday went to Cooktown (the site where Captain Cook first landed to repair the Discovery) but I was disappointed that it was off road only, so I didn't go there. So I was happy to find a different route. The drive took about three hours and wound around the coastal mountains and through the drier interior to finally arrive in Cooktown. Just outside the town was Black Mountain National Park which contains a couple of bizarre mountains which are very different from the other mountains in the area because they are made of thousands of black boulders. Apparently there are species of reptiles, frogs and birds that are unique to this environment.

Once I got to Cooktown I drove around the small community and discovered the harbour. I walked around looking at the fishing boats and watching people fishing from the pier. I had lunch at a fish and chip kiosk by the harbour and it was so hot sitting in the sun that sweat was running off my head into the paper wrapping on my meal!

I drove through town to the local beach, which is another lovely beach with warnings about crocs. I walked its length in the hot sun before returning to town. I walked the length of the main street checking out the colonial era buildings and the statues commemorating Captain Cook's landing here in 1770.

Overlooking the harbour was a lovely motel so I booked a room. I spent the last part of the afternoon lounging by the small motel pool before updating the blog about the last two weeks of school.

In the evening I walked to the other end of the town to the local old Cooktown Hotel and the Top Pub. I enjoyed a couple of beer while watching and listening to the colourful locals. There were three aboriginals (one with a missing hand) and three whites with lots of tattoos and few teeth. The accent here is particularly difficult to discern. I asked the bartender how bad the crocs were in the area and whether or not you could use the beaches at all. He said that people who wanted to go for a swim would take their dog with them and any croc in the area would take a splashing dog before a person. I watched the rest of a local rugby match on the hotel TV before returning to my room for the night.