We ended up camping in Ravenshoe for two nights because the mechanic, Nigel (who spent nearly two hours on our car but only charged us $50) could not fix our windscreen wipers. He did, however, refer us to Volkswagen in Cairns and rang them to explain our problem. It was Friday evening and raining so there was no point in moving on right away. We camped at the Tall Timbers Roadhouse which was lovely. There was a river with platypuses near our van but they hid when we tried to find them.

Our plan to drive to Cooktown and beyond was thwarted by the windscreen wipers’ issue so, instead we drove to Cairns. What a beautiful drive it was through the Atherton Tablelands. Coming so recently from the red dirt, the green of the tropical rainforest was just incredibly lovely and quite a refreshing change. The road itself had a canopy of beautiful trees for much of the way. We pulled up at Malanda Falls to stretch our legs and for morning tea at the lovely little Cafe there.

The scenery was actually breathtaking. The road was narrow, enclosed by the greenery, but it full of twists and turns for a very long way. John had to focus really hard on driving and I began to feel car sick. I just wanted the road to end. It was actually a huge relief to book into the G’day Caravan Park in Cairns which was only a few minutes from the Volkswagen mechanic.

Everywhere we have been on this trip has been impacted by covid19 and the lack of staff. Nothing was any different in Cairns. The car couldn’t even be looked at for three weeks. All we could do was book it in and continue our journey.

To drive to Cooktown meant going back the beautiful, winding road and I couldn’t face it. My stomach was still recovering from the previous day. I don’t think John was keen on driving it again either. Doing a big trip like this means having to be flexible so we took off towards the Daintree with a plan to visit Cooktown later. On the way we stopped in Port Douglas. John had stayed there years before and remembered it being lovely with an amazing golf course. Port Douglas is lovely. It is certainly aimed at tourists with lots of white hotels and apartments overlooking the beach. The main street was busy with people having coffee and browsing the souvenir shops. Lovely as it was, it wasn’t for us. We found The Tin Shed with an outdoor cafe on the water. Then we took off for the peace and quiet of the rainforest.

I did the Cape York Peninsula in 1989 when my son, Kyran was just two. You needed a 4wd and a lot of nerve in those days to drive further than the Daintree ferry. John was turned back from the ferry around the same year because he only had a 2wd. We were interested to see how things had changed in over thirty years.

The ferry was just as we remembered it.

The road from the ferry was all bitumen. I was afraid the area would have become too touristy and commercialised but, while there were ice cream shops, cafes and accommodation, I was pleased to see everything tastefully done to suit the beautiful surroundings. We found our way to Cape Tribulation to camp ‘where the rainforest meets the reef’ and it was just as lovely as I remembered it. The camping ground (which didn’t exist in 1989) blended with the rainforest and was bordered on one side by the beach and the other by the National Park.

We had a great couple of days here. We wandered along Myall Beach to a boardwalk which took us through the rainforest. This was a bucket list item for John, and it met his high expectations. It is hard to describe the beauty of the rainforest – the stunning trees and root systems all on display for us to enjoy. I took these photos on my phone but I hope they capture some of just how lovely it is.

We left the van and went to have a look at more of the Daintree area which is just gorgeous. We took another walk – this time at Jindalba. Once again, a boardwalk was provided which blended well with the environment.

After so much walking we decided we deserved a special ice cream from the Daintree Ice Creamery. Wow! Such choice. John chose Mango Kulfi and I had Coconut, Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Sauce. They were delicious.

Our last stop was at Thornton Beach, yet another deserted beach. We had noticed the amazing shapes the Bubbler Crabs were making on all the beaches here.

Naturally we don’t swim in the water here because of crocodiles and stingers. There are beautiful waterholes nearby but we didn’t want to swim. At this beach a large crocodile has been spotted regularly for the past twelve years.

We had purchased a return ticket on the Daintree Ferry but decided to take the rougher road through Bloomfield to visit Cooktown. It may not have been the best decision. There was a sign saying ‘4wd vehicles only. No caravans or trailers’ but we were assured by a few people that the road had been graded and was fine. In fact there was a caravan behind us and a large touring bus in front of us – and we loved its name!

So we felt fairly confident travelling this road although the van in front pulled over to let us to go first! The drive turned out to be very scary! The creeks we drove through were fine; the sand, mud, stones and potholes were manageable; but the steep (27%) declines and inclines on the narrow road were horrendous and when our brakes locked and we slid down a long, steep hill with a sharp drop down the mountain beside us, that was not fun. Thankfully, we survived to tell the tale but it reinforced our decision that we have done enough adventurous driving and we will stick as much as possible to the bitumen from now on.