We left Cape Tribulation early this morning. As nice as it was to have seen the rainforest and having experienced it with rainfall we were glad to leave the humidity behind us that always comes with musty smells and never drying cloths as well as all kind of crawling insects.

On our way back through the Daintree National Park we were lucky and encountered a cassowary along the road. We had heard a lot about them these past few days. As a tour description stated: “Cassowaries swallow large forest fruits whole,  digesting only the flesh and passing the seeds, which then grow. Every poo plants a tree!”

[cassowary]

You better pay attention to them when driving or this is what happens

You’ve got to give it to the Australians: they do have a sense of humor!

On our way back we crossed the Daintree river again as there is only one way in and out of the Daintree National Park unless you drive a 4×4. We saw a few that came from the North: they were all crusted in red dust.

This time I was well behaved and stayed in the car once we were aboard the ferry…

We made our way through sugar cane and banana plantations…

… up into the mountains on windy roads. About 1000 meters above sea level the table lands are known as the ‘food bowl’ of the north- western tropics with plantations full of peanuts, bananas, avocados and successful dairy farming.

In the rainforest there are also tea plantations as well as coffee and cocoa. So when we saw signs for a place called “Coffee Works” we decided to stop and find out what it is. We hadn’t had a decent cup of coffee in a long time and especially F was craving one badly. There’s definitely a market opportunity in Australia for good coffee. But “Coffee Works” delivered:

It even came with a delicious steak sandwich and some chocolate for the kids.

With new gained strength we went back on the road to Atherton were we stayed at “Summit B&B”, a beautiful wooden house with shared kitchen and living room.

But before it was sunset we still wanted to head out again to go to Lake Eacham, a crater lake with crystal clear water. Unfortunately it was a bit cold for a swim. So we went on the lookout for turtles instead- and got lucky.

Next stop was the “curtain fig tree”, a gigantic tree structure with long air roots. This place is very special to the native Aborigines of the Ngadion- Jii tribe.

We then went back to our B&B to watch the sunset from our balcony, beer in hand.