When we left Palm Cove we drove to our penultimate destination in Far North Queensland, Cape Tribulation in the Daintree Rainforest, which unsurprisingly gets a lot of rain. The average annual rainfall here is 137 inches (11.5 ft) with some areas receiving up to 228 inches (19 ft) of precipitation a year!! 70% of this rain falls during the wet season which runs from December to April, probably not the best time to visit. The Daintree Rainforest has been growing for more than 180 million years. That’s right – its the worlds oldest tropical rainforest by an impressive 10 million years. Sir David Attenborough called it “the most extraordinary place on Earth.”
We only spent 2 nights up here at a gorgeous cabin in the forest because once you cross the Daintree River its pretty isolated. Everyone north of the river operates off the grid using rain water from the crystal clear streams and solar electricity. Did I mention it’s really wet here!!! After two days everything we owned felt damp and soggy, including us 😂 But it was amazing to stay in the heart of this ancient rainforest.
Because we had such a short time here we dashed out as soon as we unpacked the car and drove north to Kulki Boardwalk and beach. We went for a nice walk along the beach first before taking the boardwalk to the Kulki Viewpoint. After that we took the steep path over the hill to Myall Beach where we enjoyed another long walk on a deserted beach. Lots of crococile warnings though, one has been sighted here in the past week 🐊 We kept our eyes peeled during our walk!!
Most of the boardwalks around Cape Tribulation are very short so we were able to do three of them in one day. We got up early and went first to the Madja Boardwalk, hoping to see a Cassowary, but no luck. This boardwalk is 1.2km long through beautiful rainforest and mangrove forest
Next up was the Mount Alexandra Lookout where there is an expansive view surrounding the Daintree River emptying into the sea.
The Jindalba Boardwalk is a short 700 meter walk, including many steps, that meanders through the rainforest. There is also a 2.7 km walk here taking 3 hours, but it is rated for adventurous walkers with proper hiking boots to cover the steep and rough terrain, and a couple of creek crossings. Not remotely appropriate for Blair in his flip flops! Plus the risk of encountering leeches was a very good reason not to do this hike.
Our next stop was Thornton Beach, a wide and flat expanse of sand perfect for a long walk. Here we saw a not very healthy looking Olive Sea Snake. We are guessing he came in with the tide and got stranded near a small stream. They are poisonous so we kept our distance!
We did all that in the morning and after popping back to our cabin for lunch we went out again to the Dubuji Boardwalk. Dubjui is a 1.5 km long circuit through rainforest and mangroves. There is an offshoot from the path which takes you out to Myall Beach where we went for another beach walk. The beach views are stunning with the rainforest stretching all the way down the hills to the ocean.
After two nights in the Daintree we headed south to Port Douglas. Yep, one last beach town to complete our 10 week roadtrip up the coast of north Queensland. The population of Port Douglas is approx 3,700 people and because it sits between two World Heritage areas, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, its a popular holiday destination. The beach is 4 miles long of gorgeous flat sand, ideal for long walks.
On our first walk along 4 Mile Beach we came upon a Shovelnose Ray floundering at the edge of the water. He was hooked by a fishing line, tangled in coral and seaweed and still attached to a fishing rod. The rod looked in great shape, we are guessing it hooked the ray, fell off a fishing boat and then got tangled in a bunch of debris. It took us 5 minutes to break the fishing line using some coral rocks and we were very happy to see the little ray swim off into the surf.
We spent 4 1/2 days in Port Douglas and did not get up to very much. We joined the Port Douglas Gym and went for long beach walks every day. We researched boat trips to the outer Great Barrier Reef but once again we found them to be very expensive. We priced out an all day trip including 2 dives sites and one snorkel site and the cost would have been AUD $1,000 for both of us. We just cannot wrap our head around paying that much for a couple of dives so we enjoyed the beach instead. We also met up with our lovely Kiwi friends from Rotorua. We met Lyn and Julien back in 2019 when we stayed in their AirBnb. We reconnected in February 2026 when we returned to Rotorua, and that’s when we found out they would be here in Port Douglas at the same time as us, celebrating Lyn’s 70th birthday. They have traveled all over the world and we thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them once again.
Leaving Port Douglas we returned the car at the Cairns airport and boarded a flight to Sydney. We overnighted in Sydney then began the long journey back to Canada. Our first leg was Sydney to Seoul, with a 2 hour layover in Hong Kong. That added up to 13 hours of flying time and over 5 hours in airports, so we stayed in Incheon for two nights to break up the journey. Our next flight was over 10 hours direct from Seoul to Calgary. I’m pretty sure we will be laying low for a while as we recover from 27 hours in the air and a 14 hour time change 😴🥴
TRIP TIPS
To reach Daintree Rainforest Park there is a car ferry across the Daintree River. The cost is AUD $51 for a return ticket.
