Travels around the world - North Queensland

At times like this I really wish I was able to find my travel diary, I tried to keep up with all I was doing and places I saw.  Some of the memories are tending to blur a little now.
Just a few hours north of Cairns you find yourself in the Rain forest, we had heard about a place called Cape Tribulation and it sounded like it was worth a visit. We booked the Cape Tribulation trip and we had a coach driver who really was the most enthusiastic guy on the planet, he just loved his job and who can blame him.  He had the chance to take wide eyed backpackers to one of the most unspoiled parts of the world that they had ever been to.  His enthusiasm was only surpassed by his seemingly endless knowledge.  We learnt that Captain Cook was getting a little fed up by the time he had reached Queensland on his voyage of discovery and this shows in the place names that still exist, Cape Tribulation and Mount Disappointment being just a few of the names demonstrating his somber frame of mind.  If any place does not deserve a depressing name then Cape Tribulation is a worthy contender. We were staying in log cabins in what I can only assume was an area of rain forest that had been cleared for tourism. On one side of us was thick dense forest but a short walk in the other direction ( through more forest and mangrove swamps) you found yourself on the beach.  30 meters off the beach and you were on the Great Barrier Reef.  Now this was the Picture postcard place that I had been expecting from Cairns.

After a day of settling in and making the most of the beach we booked a trip exploring the rain forest on horse back, this was amazing.  Our horses were put through their paces as they negotiated steep paths down into the rain forest and up the other side, down narrow trails and any other tough environment Queensland could offer and eventually we found ourselves on the beach.  We were told to get off the horses, remove the saddle and get back on the horses. We were going swimming. Off we went towards the surf but my horse had obviously had enough by then as he just refused to go.  Ian's horse, on the other hand, was much more enthusiastic. No sooner had he got up to his knees in water he was off and actually swimming.  I could only stand and watch as my companion ate grass and waited for the rest of the stable to return.

The following morning I was a complete bag of aches and pains. I had no idea that sitting on a horse could exercise so many muscles.  I felt good but I knew I had been doing something out of the ordinary.
As part of the Cape Tribulation trip we visited the Daintree River, The same driver took us from Cape Tribulation and he was still eager to point out all that he could even pulling over to the side of the road and getting out of the bus to rescue and Echidna that was in the road.  One minute the bus was being stopped, the next the driver was walking down the bus with a spiny anteater wrapped in his jacket so we could all see a brilliant example of the native Australian creature.  The highlight of this days trip had to belong to the river cruise, we were loaded into a crocodile proof boat and went off down the Daintree river, every so often we'd see a lizard or a snake in the trees but sadly today was not the day to see a Croc.
Port Douglas was our next overnight stay, at the time this was relatively new to tourism and a brand new 5 star resort had just opened so we decided to pay it a visit.  We were staying in Backpackers but we still popped in to see how the other half lives. The hotel was surrounded by water and you could only get to it by walking over the wooden bridges, facing the hotel on the other side of the water were man made beaches, it must have given you the impression that you were in the middle of the sea when you looked off your balcony. Sadly the view for some people today was 2 scruffy backpackers sitting on sun loungers writing postcards.
I was convinced we were going to get kicked out but Ian has this tactic of acting like he belongs there.  After a while a guy came over to us and again I was convinced we were out of there but Ian ignored him and only looked up at the last minute....Excuse me sir, began the man, would you like anything from the bar....
The next day we were back in Cairns and we decided we need to do something productive to stop us from spending all of our money so we booked our coach ticket to Sydney and began our journey south.  We booked a ticket that allowed multiple stops and was valid for a year which was ideal for us.  We had also been told about a farm house that took backpackers in and gave them work picking fruit so that was our first stop...