Alarms to Cooktown.

Our first night spent in the Daintree Forest, and all four alarms went off at 6am. Two phones, the iPad, and the clock in the room. We had set all of them, because the morning before, none of the devices had woken us.

Our cases had to be on our balcony by 7am, and then breakfast would be served.
At 7.45 we were all in the coach ready to head off to Cape Tribulation, the place where the rain forest meets the reef.

What a beautiful place, there were lots of coconut palms lining the beach.








Then we set off on the Bloomfield Track, which is impassable in the wet season. After several creek crossings, we arrived at the community of Wujal Wugal, where there is a $12,000,000..yes that is 12 million......bridge crossing the Bloomfield River. Apparently the three previous bridges have been washed away in the floods.





After our morning smoko, we walked, a pretty rough walk , to the Bloomfield Falls. Luckily for me, our coach is equipped with walking poles, I'm finding I need one, as I am still suffering from a cold, and now have developed a blister on my heel from the new runners I bought. Only one heel, mind you!




Onwards for lunch, to the Lion's Den Hotel, on of Queensland oldest operating bush pubs. It was surprisingly busy for a pub almost in the middle of nowhere.

Cooktown was our next port of call. This is just a small town of about 2000 now, although in the heyday of the gold rush, it was reported the population was up to 30,000. We saw the James Cook Museum, which was situated in a magnificently restored old convent. This was a great museum, with history of James Cook, Cooktown itself, and the aborigine people from the area.
I used the time in the botanical gardens to write some postcards, whilst most everyone else wandered around the gardens.
Before dinner we were taken by Wayne on a tour of Cooktown, and up to the lookout, called Grassy Knob, to hear a little more of the history of the place and watch a classy sunset over the Endeavor River. Wayne is a local AOG pastor with a repertoire of jokes that kept us all smiling.





A very nice dinner in our very nice resort..everyone is exhausted, and most of us are sick of getting up at 6am. Kath and Kwong will be the youngest on the tour, the eldest is a lovely gentleman named Peter, who would probably be in his early 80's.
Internet was available so I was able to upload the first installment of the blog.

Posted from another day in Paradise