Wednesday 29th August - Mossman Gorge
Wild Carol does Australia
John and Fiona Fraser
Wed 29 Aug 2018 16:00
145 28.094E
We were up early and walked about 2 miles along the beach and back. We watched the beach yoga class for a bit then back to the van for breakfast. We drove to Mossman Gorge visitor centre, not far north of Port Douglas. Another place, another gorge! This one has an expensive looking visitor centre, shop and restaurant, set up and run by the local aboriginal community. You are ‘encouraged’ to pay $10 to take a bus from the visitor centre another 4K along the road to a car park at the start of the gorge walk. This wasn’t a gorge of the kind we’d seen in the Kimberley, more a rainforest walk alongside an undoubtedly picturesque creek filled with massive boulders. In the Kimberley we’d have been in the stream clambering over the boulders trying to follow barely visible markers. Here there was a steel and wood walkway for a good part of the way. We passed a couple of nice, sandy swimming holes and people were in swimming but the signs didn’t encourage it, warning of underwater boulders and strong currents.
The rainforest walk was wilder, still a made path, but not manicured and there were some really big trees. We passed a young Jesus lookalike French guy perched cross-legged on a boulder communing with nature. The walk was about 2k and we soon found ourselves back at the car park/bus stop. We took the bus back to our van and we headed back to Port Douglas. We couldn’t help questioning the ‘green’ credentials of bussing people the last 4K, but it does provide employment for the drivers and must raise a fair bit of money for the local community.
Back in Port Douglas we parked the van down at the point to catch the sunset again but it was quite cloudy. An open-air wedding took place whilst we were there.
After that we went to the pub/restaurant on the corner of Macrossan street for the barra and chips Wednesday special, which was excellent! Then back to the campsite and that was the end of another day’s sightseeing.
Tomorrow we return to Ellis Beach via a circuitous route through the Tablelands.
Mossman Gorge
Get me out of here....
Some great trees to look at
