We hit the road on the way to take a look at Cooktown which is where Captain James Cook first landed on these shores in the year 1770
passing another lake and ranges
We decided not to do the whole leg in one go and made camp at a gravel pit just out of a place called Carbine.
ended up taking advantage of the good weather and doing some washing
We continued towards Cooktown and called into the Lions Den hotel which is where back in the day miners would make use of the hotel by leaving their pay cheque with the hotel and they would write their 'chit' (the amount they owed the bar) up on the walls of the bar.
Driving on further we came across these very strange mountains made up completely of granite boulders all piled up on top of each other. It is the most bizarre landscape and apart from some small areas of vegetation nothing can grow on top as there isn't any soil for plants to grow roots into.
The Black Mountains are located about 26 kilometers to the south of Cooktown. They are part of the mysterious Black Trevethan Range. Consisting of granite jumbles of black rocks this mountain is inhabited by frogs, wallabies, gigantic pythons and a strange beast that goes by the name of the Queensland Tiger. Legend has it that many walk into this collection of large black rocks, but very few ever walk out.
More information about this mysterious place can be found at the Castle of Spirits web site which is at;
http://www.castleofspirits.com/blackmount.html
Rocks
piled on top of rocks
piled on top of more rocks
make up this mountain
Pressing on we cross this bridge that in the height of the wet season can become flooded by the torrent of water washing down the river
We eventually arrive at Cooktown just like Captain James Cook did back on June 18th, 1770, (except we did it a little faster, and we had air conditioning)
and here is the landing site that commemorates Cook's arrival.
This plaque placed on the shore to commemorate the landing
So we head back down to take a look at the Daintree and Port Douglas areas. But to do this we need to hit the road
Travelling down the long winding road that takes you from Mareeba to Mossman
One of the beaches out from Mossman. Not quite the sandy beaches of home in Perth and they get the box jelly fish up here!
Why hello there happy :)
Trees on the beach.
Again the beach at Mossman
The river at Daintree Village
Crocodile viewing boat.
Beautiful scenery
Now this is what we want to see!
One of the antique shops had some really interesting historical pieces like this old telephone switch board.
And this pay phone coin box. I can't quite remember what the 'A' and 'B' were for.... I think they were for when you rang long distance....?
Up Fido up!
Cracker!
Coming back to camp we called in on a momument that had this fella guarding it.
It was a model of one of the bombs that were dropped on the Douglas Shire in 1942. A young girl Carmel Zullo was grazed on the head by shrapnel from the bomb and was the only civilian casualty on home soil inflicted by the enemy during WW2.
and we head off to Port Douglas.
Where the beaches are really quite stunning.
View of the beach from the lookout.
More views from the lookout. Stunning!
and of course there are scenic helicopter flights you can take of the area.
On the beach at Port Douglas you can get married in this beautiful little church that has a fantastic view out to the ocean and mountains.
Inside the church.
The view outside the church
With the reception on the marina
You can watch the vessels motor past
We then head just south of Pt Douglas where there are reports that you can watch hang gliders jumping off the coast cliff edge
The drive took around half and hour and along the beautiful coastline of the Pacific
Fairly high up now
We come across this guy para gliding
and we caught some video of him. But you might want to turn the sound down cause I forgot to block the wind out, sorry:)
We also saw this guy about to embark on his maiden solo hang glide.
It is a little different to the days you could just buy a hang glider and away you went!! Back in 1979 I did just that and had my mates take me down to Port Beach where there is a nice little cliff and helped push me off. Needless to say I crash landed on my maiden flight, but nothing much worse than a blood nose I went straight back up and tried again until I got it.
Bit different to today where you are required to attain a license to fly solo.You need to go tandem and then sit theory before you can attempt a solo flight. All the training is done by a qualified instructor.
Here the instructor is in constant contact with his student via 2 way radio, a little bit like my mates back in 1979 who were yahooing and laughing whilst I crashed! Hahahaha
Getting the feel of the wind is an important component to the uplift power
especially when the wind hits you as it travels up the side of the cliff
You may want to turn the sound down again sorry. Also sorry it gets a bit shaky towards the end.
After this excitement we headed back to Mt Malloy to camp for the night. Tomorrow we head off back down to the town of Mareeba where we get up and close with some horses and hot air balloons!
So it was time to hit the road!
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