Author: Mrs A
Location: Mossman, Mossman Gorge & Newell Beach
Friday: We had really wanted to go to Port Douglas, but the timing just didn’t work out. It is a long weekend and also the beginning of the huge wave of grey nomads which surge up into Queensland from South Australia, Victoria and southern NSW. Anywhere remotely pet friendly in Port Douglas has been booked out for months.
So instead we chose Newell Beach, a very sleepy little beachside settlement about 6 minutes drive from Mossman, and about 25 minutes drive north of Port Douglas. We drove up from Cairns and settled into our campsite, first impressions a little depressing, with grey skies overhead, choppy waters on our local beach and a fairly run down campground.
We decided to cheer ourselves up by heading out to a local winery. ‘A winery in far North Queensland?’ I hear you ask…yes, a tropical fruit winery. We decided to be brave and give it a go. It was just a short drive to the one we chose, set on a vine covered veranda at the back of a house on a large tropical property.
It was certainly a ‘different’ experience. A wide selection of different fruits are used for the wines, which the owner likens to dry traditional wines. The first we tried was a Mango wine. She described it as a dry Chardonnay…I couldn’t get over the mango nose, and really couldn’t place any Chardonnay characteristics.
Ginger wine was next…not too bad, but I would probably find it a little overpowering with food. We skipped the Lychee wine, I could not be persuaded this would not be sweet…
The owner was fabulous at conjuring up images of peppery shiraz and light Sangiovese and Tempranillo, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to spend $28 on a bottle of any of the fruit wines that followed.
We moved swiftly on to the fortified wines which were a little more palatable. We walked away with a bottle of Kaffir Lime, which would be lovely with a splash of soda water as a light aperitif, and a Chocolate port for those moments which require a little more decadence. We have a delivery of delicious Margaret River Amelia Park wines being delivered to Palm Cove ready for our return to Cairns, which will much better suit our palates.
Saturday we decided to drive up to Mossman Gorge. In contrast to so many of the beautiful gorges we have visited on our journey up the coast, this had a large carpark full of vehicles and a busy visitor centre. We jumped on a bus up to the gorge and commenced our exploration. The swimming holes were fairly busy with visitors, but other areas not too bad, and we managed to escape most of the crowds on our exploration.
Once away from the swimming areas it is relatively peaceful, moss covered rocks with a crystal clear creek tumbling down all around, surrounded by old growth rainforest of the Daintree National park. 
Birds flitted around, perching sideways on the vines that hang down from the canopy above and swooping across our path to catch the insects we disturbed as we strolled along. Being rainforest there was a lot of rotting wood, and with that an amazing array of colourful fungi – I drove Mark crazy with my gasps when I saw the next amazing colour scheme I had to capture.
Giant fig vines which had long overtaken their host tree were a key feature, looking like incredible sculptures with their expansive roots and vines, often more than a century old.
It is definitely a photographer’s paradise, with often two or three people already set up in front of lovely waterfalls with their cameras on tripods, stealing the best positions for their digital artworks.
We returned happy, having had our taste of nature and got showered and ready for dinner.
We had booked into Mojo’s Bar and Grill, the number one restaurant in Mossman. We had driven around Mossman anticipating interesting shops and things to see, but hardly anything had been open, and the art gallery had a sleeping drunk on the entrance steps, so not entirely encouraging! We were a little nervous about dinner…
Fortunately we were pleasantly surprised – not only an interesting menu (for example an entree of prawn & crab salad, burnt corn, pickled coconut, chilli, shallot, green pawpaw and a ginger citrus vinaigrette, and mains of Spanish Mackeral with a rainforest salad – mesclun, Quandong, rainforest lime, roasted macadamia, lemon myrtle & vanilla vinaigrette) but also a great wine list. Top marks Mojo!
Cheers!
We spotted this place on WikiCamps that was a bit light on reviews but was described as variously “Open” then “closed” and a “gravel car park”. It actually turned out to be one of the nicer bush camps we’ve had. Yes its a gravel car park and the gates to the beautifully mown grassy areas that surround it are locked, after hoon damage from car tyres and rubbish left lying around.
Then there are big grassy paddocks around the car park are surrounded by towering, forested hills. The light is just so vivid, and we love it.
We felt so at peace here, we decided to stop another night before heading into Cairns.
Tassie loves it here too. She did a long walk around the area, exploring the pool, digging in the sand and climbing on the boulders – for a 75 year old she isn’t going too bad – she takes it all in her stride, sniffing new smells and creating new memories…we definitely recommend a short stop here if you want a restful break in fantastic scenery.
A beautiful view south towards Hinchinbrook Island was our reward on reaching the top, which we enjoyed along with a pair of sea eagles which glided before us. We’re just loving the richness of this tropical environment.
Other than a purple fingernail, and a few minor bruises (including a black and blue ego) there was no bad outcome from this one, and he was soon back in his boat continuing the trip.
We were dropped off at the caravan park, and we hurried off for hot showers to warm up.
We lost no time in jumping on the bikes and heading off for a 22km explore. We had seen a multi-use track marked through the Djiru National Park, so we rode out of town to find that. We had high hopes of spotting a cassowary, but they were not to be seen today.
Was that anything to do with my “Crusher” as we call it, charging through the woods with all the stealth of an elephant stampede?
We were excited today to be heading out to Dunk Island, which sits just offshore from Mission Beach. What the booking agent had forgot to mention was that we would be wading out waist deep though the beach break to board our water taxi. No jetty in sight. A little wet, we settled for the ten minute transfer out there. For $40 return a head it seemed OK value for this part of the world (I can hear my friends in Asia giggling) and we were soon unloaded into another world.
We skipped past this testament to the fragility of investments in this part of the world and hiked up to a lookout on the peak of Mount Kootaloo, and when I say up I mean…straight up.
Forty-five minutes of pretty sticky walking brought us this incredible view across the Family Group of Islands.
Quickly we were joined by 5 backpackers who had come over with us on the water taxi, and finally caught up with the Agile Andersons, we headed back down for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach. Well, until the backpackers turned up again…they really are keeping this economy afloat up here.
We had a very bumpy ride back to our pick up point and even wetter on the way back into the beach, but who cares when the water is 27 degrees and not a croc in sight..and let me tell you I was looking hard.
Little Crystal Creek was our first destination, up a hair raisingly steep and windy road. It was worth the drive, with nothing little about the falls there, a spectacular series of cascades. We could imagine it would be a great place for a dip on a hot steamy day.
There is something so peaceful about being amongst all this greenery and water, the rainforest trees and foliage almost reflecting the movement of the water in its flowing vines, trunks and roots.
Tuesday morning began with fresh bread. I’d made the dough last night and after it had risen, kept it in the fridge ready to bake this morning. It came out nice and crusty and went well with the BBQ’d breakfast Mr A served up.
We had the whole campground to ourselves, which pleased Miss Tassie in particular who has been able to roam freely without fear of cars or dogs while we have been here.
Our final destination on our hike was Witt’s Lookout, the best by far, with a magnificent outlook over Halifax Bay and the Palm Islands.
Again, the rainforest environment was a big part of the drawcard, the fresh air (about 5 degrees colder up at the top than down on the plains), the lovely smells, the sounds of the birds calling in the canopy.
This area is home to one of the rarest of all birds, the endangered Cassowary, but sadly we didn’t see one. Hopefully we will have more luck at our next destination, Mission Beach.
New neighbours arrived this evening, and we were excited to see that they too are travelling with a cat. It’s such a shame that Tassie and Mau-Mau can’t have a chat in cat language and exchange stories about being felines on the road!
While organising the bikes at the shop the assistant pointed out a koala wandering along a neighbouring tree, a great start to the day!
We headed off from Nelly Bay to find breakfast. We had been recommended a place in Arcadia called the Bikini Tree, and settled ourselves in. A salmon stack for madam and a baked egg dish for me, both cooked just right.
Fortified we tackled some more big hills, which on an e-bike means just changing down gears and letting the 250 watt motor help you up. It’s great to see this form of transport really catching on globally, and for a hilly place like this they are ideal.
Interestingly, when we posted our trip visit on Facebook a friend commented that her great, great, grandmother was the first white woman to set foot on the island. There is evidence of aboriginal occupation since the last Ice Age, when this would have been just another group of hills joined to the mainland before sea levels rose.
A refreshing dip concluded the afternoon and all too soon it was time to head back to the mainland, tucking away some great memories of this little corner of Australia.
Wandering down the nearest little road we came out on this view. Almost every direction from Bowen there is an island view across crystal clear waters.
We jumped off the tarmac and enjoyed a short ride though the bush, until Catherine felt her tyre go flat! She’d picked up a bunch of thorns, so it was off to the local bike shop, which doubled as a purveyor of power tools! The dedicated bike shop that was here has now closed down, sadly an all too familiar story around Australia.
We had some stuff to collect from the local Post Office, and as usual it had arrived safe and sound. Using this system of sending our various care packages to a Post Office on route has been brilliant. They will hold it for up to a month free of charge, as long as Australia Post is the courier and not a third party.
Then I read the local tourist guide to Bowen that we had picked up at the information centre. Let me quote verbatim from the page describing Bowen’s Top 10 food experiences.
These brochures do nothing but seed expectations that are never delivered on when confronted with the reality of eating out and trying to buy fresh produce in rural Australia, with the odd exception that we always find so refreshing, because it is so unusual.
Bowen’s riches predominantly lie in its spectacular scenery and views, which we enjoyed on a 5km hike along the Cape Edgecumbe Walking Track.
As the morning warmed up and the sun reached through the trees, flowers began to open, with the native hibiscus looking fabulous. The forest was rich with flowers, fruit and seeds, as well as evidence from Tropical Cyclone Debbie which hit the area last year, causing devastation to much of Airlie Beach and its surrounds. Some businesses have still not recovered.
At the peak of Mount Rooper we were rewarded with a fabulous views across the Whitsunday Passage, looking out across all the islands, with Hayman Island, Hamilton Island, Daydream, North and South Molle Islands all clearly seen.
We continued the walk around to Swamp Bay, a tree lined beach covered in coral and shells, looking out to the islands.
We spotted many skinks, a little frog and our first snake of this trip – a young brown snake – probably only 40cm long and not much thicker than a pencil, but still carrying enough venom to cause some serious issues. Thankfully it was not on the offensive and slithered off through the leaves on its way.
Its our last day in Airlie Beach, so after an afternoon of shopping, cleaning and a customary exploration for Miss Tassie, adventure cat extraordinaire, we showered and jumped on our bikes. We rode back to Sorrento’s Bar beside Abell Point Marina for sundowners, enjoying a fabulous sunset over a glass of wine (beer & and a JD for Mr A) before cycling back to make dinner. A fine ending to our visit here.
As you reach town, there is a beautiful lagoon with a combination of deep swimming lanes and shallow areas for children, all free for anyone to use. We continued our cycle along the coastline as far as Boat Haven, imagining the lives of people who owned the spectacular boats moored there.
We enjoyed a Vietnamese salad for lunch, and a beer on the way back was called for, well it is Friday.
We had a bit of a false start with dinner – missing having Uber operating in the area and instead spending 45 minutes trying to get a cab. Then we arrived at the restaurant rated number 3 on TripAdvisor and walked in to be shown a scruffy, sticky table and handed a drinks menu with a choice of two red wines on it – both dreadful. So we provided some feedback and left! A bit of walk and we ended up in a lovely family run Italian. Nothing was too much trouble in catering for Catherine’s dairy allergy, even though the word “Creamy” was used 9 times on the menu. No wonder this country is suffering an obesity crisis! 
A lady considering buying some turmeric watched us buy some so picked our brains about how to use it. She recommended this very odd looking fruit she had brought and said we must try it – in fact she brought us the last one for the princely sum of $3. What a sweetie. Its called a monstera deliciosa and in fact comes from a cheese plant that is often seen as a house plant in the UK. 
Bizarre…tastes very sweet – a combination of banana and pineapple…I think I will be having the lion’s share of this one.
In the afternoon we headed out to Conway National Park for a short walk to Coral Beach overlooking the Molle Islands. Every direction you look is another amazing view, which changes so quickly in this changeable autumnal weather. We even caught ourselves a rainbow. 
So eating done we decided the rain had cleared enough to go out for a hike along the beach and then up to the headland to a stunning lookout over Ball Bay, Halliday Bay and around to the next suburb of Seaforth.
