Cape Tribulation

We flew to Cairns and on the way we decided that we would rent a car and head straight up the road to Cape Tribulation. We got a lovely Mitsubishi Lancer which was automatic even though we did not ask for it but it turned to be handy when driving on some of the unfamiliar and windey roads with frequent speed changes.

The drive to Cape Trib was stunning, with the coast line and the rainforest looking for our attention.
We stopped in Daintree and asked about accommodation. We booked into PK’s, which is apparently the backpacker central. We were basically staying in a portacabin. There is a lot to do in Cape Trib, night walks in the rainforest, diving, canopy climbs, kayaking. We decided just to do a couple of dives.

There was only one company operating out of Cape Trib, the rum runner, so we booked on with them. We were a bit dubious as the trip is organized as a snorkeling trip with diving as an added option. This meant we did not really get to check out the gear or the instructor or any of that. Also it felt very expensive after Asia, very.
On our first evening we went to a lovely restaurant called Whet. The owner asked me what had happened to my nose. After I explained I asked her about her pregnancy and due date and she said she thought she was ion labour. Cool as the breeze she was, served us all night and was still there after we left. They had a kind of cinema there, which was as expensive as the real cinema. We saw the very exciting, and yet surprisingly crap, Journey to the centre of the earth. Terry even fell asleep in the middle but that could have been the recliner.
The next day we hopped on the Rum Runner and off we went to dive the Great Barrier Reef. How exciting. They had no stinger suits left to fit me and the wet suits were all 5 millimetres so I dived in my bikini which was apparently pretty cool of me. I know I was pretty cool when we swam through a thermacline. The trip was pretty good, very relaxing. We organised our dives with our dive guide, Sam.

The dives were good and we were with a nice group. There was one really irritating guy who kept picking stuff up. Mainly sea cucumbers, but still they are living creatures too. He was really bugging me so of course my buoyancy went mad. Terry had to hold me down a few times. Terry’s mask kept fogging up so had to keep taking it off and clearing it so I had to anchor him so he did not float away or bang into some reef. This sounds bad, but the reef was not all that to be honest, which I was surprised at. We did go to the reef where Steve Irwin died. We saw no stingers though.
After a big feed we headed back to shore with a complimentary glass of wine in hand. A nice end to the trip I thought.
That evening we had dinner at the camp ground and ended up drinking with some of the lovely people we dived with and three of the crew from the rum runner. It was a good night with some sneaking off with drinks to do a spot of night swimming. I do not know how the crew got up the next day to go to work, that is all I am saying.

The next day Terry and I went on a couple of walks through the rainforest and tried to spot a couple of Cassowarys, but to no avail. Then we hoped in the car and headed back to Cairns.