It was quite an adventure but all good things must come to end. We only had a handful of things to see before getting back to Cairns. And our first stop was Mossman Gorge.
Mossman is a small town just south of the Daintree Rainforest and the gorge there is quite famous. A gorge is basically a canyon or a narrow valley between a mountain range. When we arrived it looked like it was going to rain. But thankfully the rain held off and we got to explore the park without any troubles.
We decided to take the nature walk first before getting into the river and swimming. The trees in the park were absolutely beautiful. Especially the fig trees. They wrap themselves around older, dying trees and use them as a base to grow around. They look like pieces of art, the way they bind themselves around the other trees.
The walk wasn’t very difficult. We saw a variety of different plants and each had a small plaque that described them and their usefulness to the Aboriginal communities that use to live in the rain forest. Even small bits of Aboriginal history and folk lore were included.
The river itself was quite large and everyone was excited to take a swim. I didn’t feel like getting in the water so I found a nice rock to sit on and I meditated. I just observed my friends. I’m extremely grateful to have shared this experience with them and I wanted to be present in some of the last moments we were going to share together.
We stopped off at Port Douglas after Mossman but we didn’t really do much while we were there. It’s a small town. A good place to escape to for a few days. A lot of people use it as a base to take day trips from. We went to the lookout and they had a compass there that showed the different distances to large cities around the world. New York was on there. It was tough to believe that I was over 15,000 kilometres from home!
Our friends from the trip to Cape York tipped us off about a vacant piece of land just off the highway and we camped there for the night. Not the greatest campsite but it was right by the ocean and it put us within shouting distance of Cairns. It rained like a motherfucker that night but my tent held up surprisingly well. I think that was the only time it rained on the entire trip to be fair.
The next day we stopped off in Kuranda, a small town in the hills just outside of Cairns. We made the usual stops at the variety of lookout points along the way and then we stopped in town for a quick bite to eat.
The main point of interest here is Barron Falls, one of the largest waterfalls close to Cairns. We pulled up to the car park only to find a bunch of construction equipment. The walkway to the falls was closed due to repairs.
Scott, having a friend that lives close by, knew a different way to get to the look out point. We made our way to the railway tracks and walked along them for 15 minutes until we got to a high point on one of the cliffs overlooking the falls.
The surrounding area itself is quite beautiful. The falls were not running so heavy because there hadn’t been a lot of rainfall up to that point, it being towards the end of the dry season here. The falls gush water during the wet season.
We didn’t stay all that long because technically we were trespassing. And Scott works for the railway system so he was a bit worried about being caught and having his working license suspended. Ty flew the drone around a bit and we headed back towards the car.
An hour or so later we were back in Cairns. The trip was finally complete! I felt relieved to have completed the journey. I had so much fun with all the guys but I won’t lie, it was tough at times. I’ve written this before but I’ll write it again. I was proud of myself for putting myself out there and giving myself the opportunity to have this amazing experience.
I’ve learned so much, not only about the people I traveled with but also about myself. What I’m comfortable with and areas that I need to work on. It definitely has given me the desire to take more camping trips in the future, back at home and abroad.
We decided to rent an AirBnB when we got back to Cairns, just for a few days. It was nice to have a bed to sleep in and a washing machine to wash all my clothes. It had been way too long. The boys needed space to clean out their cars. It honestly looked like we were moving in permanently. There were boxes and pieces of luggage everywhere throughout the house.
Our mates got in a day or two after us and we had a big night out on the town. A last hooray of sorts. To be honest, it’s extremely unlikely that we will all be in the same place at the same time ever again.
To be honest, at this point I was about ready to crawl into my bed and not move for a few days but I didn’t want to be anti-social and stay in while everyone was frolicking about town with beers in hand. I must say that I had a good time but I was exhausted the next day. The second game of the State of Origin rugby series was on and everyone was pretty excited to get after it.
After a few days, we were back living in the hostel. To be fair I could have used a few more days in the AirBnB with my own space but money doesn’t grow on trees.