Cape Tribulation

This morning the boys and I enjoyed a leisurely walk/bike ride on the beautiful Cape Kimberley beach while Bruce cooked us a scrumptious pancake breakfast.  The large croc tracks that we saw going from the beach to the mangroves only a few hundred metres from our caravan were a little concerning.  We can't say we weren't warned, though!

The weather was glorious again today so we got school work done and headed out for some more sight seeing.  Our first stop was Thornton Beach, but Fletch was asleep (10.30am!) so we had a brief look at the beach and continued on.  Our next stop was the Maardja botanical walk where we saw mangroves and rainforest happily coexisting side by side.

The mangroves thrive in the salty, waterlogged (stinky) mud of the lower bank while rainforest grows in the rich, organic, salt-free soils of the higher bank.

I love so many of the rainforest plants but I think this fan palm (below) is one of my favourites.  Their large, circular, splayed fronds, each up to 2 metres in diameter, can reach 15-20 metres into the rainforest canopy!



We had a picnic lunch at Mason's swimming hole and then the 'kids' had some fun on the rope swing.

Our final stop for the day was Cape Tribulation.  Cape Tribulation was named by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770 after he experienced a great deal of tribulation - "here began all our troubles" - it was here that he damaged his ship The Endeavour on a nearby reef.

 

 The Johnstons had no such tribulations!  We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon walking, chasing crabs, racing each other, and wrestling (I didn't do this bit) on this beautiful north Queensland beach, which we pretty much had all to ourselves!  Love, love, love this place!