Before leaving Cape Trib campground, we drove the 5-6 kms north to Cape Trib itself and did the short walk to the lookout over Cape Trib Bay. We could also see Mt Misery and Mt Sorrow. (As someone said, Cpt Cook obviously had a bad time here with the names he gave places). Then we walked down onto the beach and then back to the car.
We drove back down the Cape Tribulation Rd, this time stopping at the Alexandra Range Lookout to see the view south towards Port Douglas and beyond. We went back across the Daintree River ferry and then south towards Mossman. We were able to get 3G again, so I rang and booked in to a caravan park at Lake Eacham – only $40 a night which was a good price.
We had run out of bread and lunch things, so had decided to buy lunch at a cafe today – we did this at Mossman. We weren’t very impressed with the cafe though as we had to wait a long time for our burgers and chips to come. There was also a bit of a funny smell there every now and then – which we eventually found out from a local, who heard us complaining about the smell, was the burnt molasses smell from the nearby sugar mill. The kids had a play at the nearby playground, which was a very nice one with some interesting and unusual play equipment.
Then we turned inland towards Mt Molloy and then onto the Mulligans Hwy which would take us to Atherton. We passed through Mareeba again (coming from a different way this time) and got to Atherton about 3pm. We stopped here for me to do some grocery shopping, and then continued on the further 20mins to Lake Eacham. We found the caravan park with its very friendly owners and set up. It was noticeably colder here. The caravan park had a resident pig and 2 goats which we were allowed to feed (grass and leaves) and a duck pond with many ducks, hens, and scrub turkeys and fowls wandering around. The kids enjoyed seeing all these things and having a bit of a bike ride before it was time for dinner. Sam made tacos for dinner tonight. We actually had to put the heater on in the van for a little while (after having used the air conditioner at Daintree and Cape Trib).