Cape Tribulation

Woke up to our usual lovely breakfast set out for us by our new friend, Ida, a native Australian who quickly became my friend as she called me a good girl every morning and knew exactly how I liked my breakfast.  

She told me a story about how in 1997 she and her husband came to the US to see some sights.  Sadly, the sights she came to see were Disneyland, Las Vegas, and the Hoover Dam.  The funny part was that she kept telling her husband, "I want to see some Americans!  Where are the Americans?" She thought it was so sad that she was here that whole time and never saw any.  

Made me wonder what she was looking for!  I told her she might find them away from the tourist destinations and in the heartland. :o)

We left there with no agenda, not sure how we would spend the day, but we drove north some looking for a particular mountain lookout.  Never found it, but instead, we made it to the most northerly point of Cape Trib.  The fun part was that we had to traverse a bit of rough terrain to get there.  And we may or may not have taken our all-wheel-drive Subaru off of the sealed (paved) roads despite the rental company's rule not to.  We may or may not have crossed some rocky creeks only to be traversed by 4x4's.

We definitely climbed some hills so steep that I'm pretty sure we were all white-knuckled alllll the way up and allllll the way down.  We ended up at Emagen Creek which led us to a beach which was completely unique.

This beach is the only place in the world at which two World Heritage Sites meet.  Here the mangrove trees of the Daintree Rainforest stretch way out into the ocean and touch the Great Barrier Reef.

So glad we took that drive.

We stopped on the way back for some wood-fired pizza served up at a campground and thoroughly enjoyed some food that reminded us of home. The girl there named Amber quickly became another friend as she took the time to explain how she made the best dessert pizza I could have ever dreamed of in my life.  

No worries, once I perfect it, I will share the recipe on my food blog. ;o) 'Til then, no hints from me!

We spent our last full Australia afternoon hiking at Cow Bay--our favorite beach.  We hiked up and down the beach all afternoon, exploring tidal pools and lava rock.

It was epic.  And pictures show it best.

All Australian road signs are like cartoons.  They are fantastic!

We finished that wonderful day with dinner at--you guessed it--Lync-Haven.  Had to have a greatest hits kinda night as it was our last in the area.  Justin, Kyrsten and I were thoroughly enjoying our fish of the day with chips (fries), and Christian fell in love with Chicken Parmagiana.

Euchre and bed.  We pack up in the morning.