The Daintree is considered the oldest rain forest in the world and is estimated to have survived for over 120 million years. It has crystal clear creeks, deep green jungle and pristine beaches. The battle between the jungle and the ocean is fought out on the sand, every day and night as the tide comes and goes out again.
I’m on a quest to find the best coastal beach in Queensland. This has been a monumental task and I’m almost at the end of it. I have ridden over 2000 kilometres from Coolangatta to the Daintree River. Today, I ride up the Bloomfield Track, an impossibly steep jungle road at the end of the Daintree Rain Forest. I will end this day at the famous Lion’s Den Hotel, before traveling on to Cooktown the tomorrow. If you have just found my blog you can read about my quest at the following links:
Townsville to Lucinda – Part One
Lucinda to Mission Beach – Part Two
https://digitalswaggie.com.au/motorcycle-touring-tropical-queensland-lucinda-to-mission-beach
Mission Beach to Ellis Beach – Part Three
Ellis Beach to the Daintree Ferry – Part Four
The map below highlights my journey today:
Daintree Rain Forest
In 1988 the Daintree Rain Forest and surrounds became the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site. This area included not only the Daintree Rain Forest but land south towards Cairns, and north to the Cape.
Entry to the Daintree Rain Forest is via ferry across the Daintree River. I purchased a two way ticket and waited for my turn to board the ferry. The Daintree River holds the distinction as having the second most populous infestation of crocodiles. The highest proportion of crocodiles goes to the Proserpine River. The ferry ride across the river was soothing and gentle, unfortunately not long enough.
Riding the rain forest road
Disembarking the ferry, the road started to wind up Mount Alexander, at the top or which is the Mount Alexander Lookout. This is the best place to get a birds eye view of the Daintree River and the wet tropics area south of the river. If you look south you can see the beginnings of Wonga Beach.
The ride down Mount Alexander is a narrow tar sealed track with tight downward winding bends. Water leaches from the side of the hill and creates small wet mossy areas across the road. You could easily slip on these if you were going to fast. There is not much time to make course adjustments in the corners, before you straighten up and lean into the next corner. The rain forest is all around you, sinking down low, you narrowly miss vines and tree branches. The vines look like hoop snakes waiting to catch unwary tourists.
There’s a turn off to the Daintree Discovery Centre. You can climb a tower that passes by the different strata in the forest. When you get to the top, you can see the forest laid out below. Check out the following web site for more information on the centre: https://www.discoverthedaintree.com
If you want to know more about the wet tropics area, click on the following link, it has some awesome resources and information: https://www.wettropics.gov.au/research-and-a-learning-landscape
Thornton Beach
The tar sealed road goes for 35 kilometres until it reaches the township of Cape Tribulation, at which point it turns into the Bloomfield Track. Along the way the road runs beside the ocean, with palm and coconut trees leaning out over the sand. There are an assortment of rain forest trees encroaching on the ocean, competing with the palms for survival.
Along the road a numerous signs for rain forest accommodation, there are also many cafe’s throughout the Daintree. You can visit the home made ice cream factory with its vast variety of tropical orchards and they even grow tea here. Small bays separated by crystal creeks are situated all the way up the coast to Cooktown, each of them with their own secluded beach. At Thornton Beach there is a cafe, parking, picnic areas and a large expansive beach front.
No place to swim
I stop to to get a cup of coffee, unfortunately the centre is closed. The cafe is on the beach so I walk onto the beach and take some photos, it’s a great beach. The water is a beautiful azure colour, calm and inviting. There was a tragedy here a number of years ago. Two women were swimming waist deep when one felt something brush past her leg. She heard her friend call out in panic. The friend was never seen again, it is believed she was taken by a crocodile.
Crocodiles have been seen on these beaches and at the famous Cape Tribulation beach as well. They are ambush predators and usually don’t feed in the sea. But during breeding season they have been known travel up and down the coast in search of mates.
As inviting as it looks it is not a place to go for a swim, along with the crocs are the ever present Box Jelly Fish and the smaller but more deadly Irukandji.
Coffee shops and cafe’s
It was getting close to lunch time and I still had a lot of distance to ride, not to mention navigating over the Bloomfield Track. The Cape Tribulation Road goes through the heart of the Daintree Rain forest. You can’t miss Cape Tribulation, not only is it the end of the road but it’s got a number of cafe’s and resorts with brightly coloured signs.
The only place serving coffee and food was the Ocean Safari Resort. This place is targeted towards the environmental and adventure conscious back packers. But it served great burgers and barrista coffees. I enjoyed an awesome lunch, which prepared me for the last part of my journey today.
Cape Tribulation
The Cape Tribulation carpark is at the end of the tar sealed road. Cape Tribulation Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the tropics. The rain forest comes right onto the beach. At the southern end is a thick layer of mangrove, living in the intertidal zone. At the northern end the beach spreads out in a big horseshoe bay.
Slightly darker patches of water can be seen when looking out to sea. This indicates small coral reefs, one of those reefs about 14 kilometres out is called Endeavour Reef after catching the HMAS Endeavour by surprise in 1770. I take some photos and marvel at the beach. There are lots of people here, sun baking and just walking along the beach. But it’s time for me to tackle the Bloomfield Track.
Emmagen Creek
Before you can ride the Bloomfield Track you must ride through Emmagen Creek. Leaving the Cape Tribulation carpark you climb over a hill, the road turns to dirt almost instantly. It dips down steeply with washouts and pot holes before climbing again. All the time you are getting deeper and deeper into the rain forest. The only way to ride it is slowly, as there is also a lot of vehicle traffic.
Tourists drive to the creek in their two wheel drives and then realise the Bloomfield Track is not for their cars. Once they get to the creek, they have to turn around. Emmagen Creek is a wide flat but shallow creek crossing. It has a firm base of rock, but sometimes people get stuck and churn out big holes. A trap waiting for the unwary biker. I arrived there just after two, four wheel drive tourist buses had come through.
No pressure?
The tourists were all young Korean back packers, and when they saw me check out the water level they all lined up on the side to watch as I rode through (no pressure). Luckily for me it wasn’t too deep, it would have been embarrassing to drop the bike here.
I read a story in the Adventure Bike Magazine where the BMW Safari sunk over half the BMW’s in Emmagen Creek. Apparently, they left traction control on and when the bikes hit the rocks the traction control took over and the riders dropped their bikes. While the creek is fairly flat it is still rocky and should be crossed with care.
Bloomfield Track
I was now riding the Bloomfield Track and it starts to wind its way though some of the steepest parts of the Daintree Rain Forest. The track was good for the first couple of kilometres, not as rough as the road to Emmagen Creek. But still dirt and due to the tight corners and oncoming traffic, there was no chance of picking up speed.
Once you get to the Donovan Range the road starts to climb, and climb and climb. It’s really steep. Not only is it steep but it twists and turns. This is not a road you want to ride in the wet, even though the council has laid concrete up the steep sections, you still have to be mindful of any water on the road. Lichen forms on the sides and in the middle of the concrete, if you hit that on the bike you will slip over or loose traction. It had rained last night but generally the road was dry.
I kept to where I could see wheel tracks, there’s a good chance the lichen would have been worn away there. Once you are on the concrete road there is no respite until you get to the top. If you drop your bike it will be difficult to pick up and would more than likely slide down the hill.
Donovan Creek
About halfway along the track I came across Donovan Creek. On both ends of the creek were incredibly steep hills.
When I first came through this way about 14 years ago this was a deep slow moving river crossing. Today, it’s a solid concrete bridge. I stopped to take photos and to let Emu’s brakes have a rest. When I got going again and rounded the corner, I was surprised to see a Cassowary and a chick standing on the road.
Face off with a Cassowary
This is actually a dangerous situation. Cassowaries have killed people before, especially when they are protecting their chicks. They can be aggressive and have very robust talons. I pulled over and stopped, ordinarily I would have turned off my engine and watched. But something told me this wasn’t a good idea.
The Cassowary was about eight metres away, looking at me and the chick was between us. We faced off for what seemed like an hour but in reality was only minutes. Then he casually turned and strode quietly into the forest, the chick followed. After another minute I gunned the engine and headed up the track. As I passed where it had disappeared, I looked but there was no sign of the Cassowary or his chick.
The riding was enjoyable apart from the occasional four wheel drive ute coming around the corner at redneck speed and the killer Cassowary. It was some of the most enjoyable riding I had done on this trip, The Daintree Rain Forest is definitely a spectacular place. When I thought I was coming to the end of the track there was another turn and another steep dirt hill to climb. This was followed by another steep down hill with another sharp corner and then another concrete section making its way towards the clouds.
Brake failure
As I came down from the clouds, I was unpleasantly surprised with a departure of Emu’s back brakes. I had been favouring my back brake fairly hard coming into the corners, especially on the dirt sections. Pulling too heavily on the front brake would have made the front wheel slide into the corners. This is what made putting a road through the Daintree Rain Forest so difficult. To do it properly it would have required the destruction of much more of this precious area.
As I got up onto the top of the latest concrete road, I could see the Bloomfield River winding its way around the dense forest landscape. I knew I wasn’t far from Wugal Wugal the aboriginal settlement and then the small town of Bloomfield. This is the end of the Daintree Rain Forest heritage area and from now on there is agricultural land. The view from the top of the hill was awesome, so I stopped to cool down and reflect on my journey through the forest. I took off my helmet, gloves, glasses and jacket, it was time to let the back disk brake cool down as well. Walking around Emu I checked for hydraulic fluid leaks, but couldn’t see any.
Wujal Wujal
I got back on Emu and we rode down to the Bloomfield River, before skirting around the Wujal Wujal community. The causeway used to be tricky with water running across. But in 14 years a substantial bridge has been built. The road out had been up graded and it became an enjoyable forty kilometres ride through farm land and rain forest. There had been plenty of rain this season and the grass was long and bright green. I arrived at the Lion’s Den Hotel at about 4.30 pm. There were very few people there so I opted for a cabin and unpacked my gear. I then headed to the bar for a couple of beers and a red wine.
Lion’s Den Hotel
The Lion’s Den is one of those places that all bikers need to visit and have a beer at. It’s at the culmination of both the Bloomfield and Creb Tracks. It is a one day ride from Cairns and a good place to stop for the night. For this reason it is a favoured by many adventure motorcycle tour groups. After leaving here they ride through Cooktown and take on the Battle Camp Road to Old Laura and the Cape.
The Lion’s Den was built in 1875 to support the local tin mining operation. Today it provides food, beer, red wine and both camping and small donga style accommodation to adventure travellers.
What’s in a name?
There is a bit of contention as to where the name came from. One myth is that it came from a man named Daniel who was a stowaway, who jumped ship at Cooktown and made his way to the Tin mines in Helensvale. One day as he was leaving the mine, another miner commented that Daniel looked like he was entering the Lion’s Den ( a biblical reference). As a frequent customer of the bar the story was told over and over again until the publican decided to call the hotel the “Lion’s Den. The other is that it was named after a pub in England.
I was up at 5.0 am the next morning and after a couple of cups of coffee and some breakfast I was ready to hit the road. It had rained last night, just enough to clear the Sky of dust but not enough to make the road slippery. There was mist over the hills around the hotel and the temperature was quite pleasant. As soon as the sun comes up the humidity will rise again for sure. Hitting the road once again, my first stop before getting to Cooktown is the mysterious Black Mountain National Park.
Black Mountain
The Black Mountain National Park is a mountain that rises tapproximately 300 metres above sea level and well above the surrounding forest landscape. They are so dramatically different to the surrounding landscape that they could have been placed there intentionally. The local aboriginal peoples call Black Mountain “Kalkajaka” it is said to be a sacred site. It is an evil place that the local aboriginal people avoid. They believe it was an ancient battle ground between two waring clans. These clans are represented by the black cockatoos from the inland who are said to have encroached on the hunting grounds of the white cockatoos from the coast.
There are many myths that surround the mountains and over the years people have gone missing whilst exploring the many passage ways between the giant granite holders. It is claimed that even search parties that have been sent to find the missing explorers have also disappeared. The following web site has significant detail about these myths and legends: https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/12/the-mysterious-black-mountain-of-queensland/
Hitting the road
After a short break to read about the myths and legends from the viewing area just off the Mulligan Highway, I get back on the road again. It’s still very early and the sun still hasn’t risen above the hills. I’m going to visit an important land mark with a couple of interesting beaches. I’m told a lot of this area is aboriginal land, but I don’t need a permit for where I’m going.
It’s about eight kilometres past Black Mountain that you turn right onto the Archer Point Road. The road is fairly well maintained and there are signs everywhere proclaiming it to be aboriginal land, after about a kilometres the road branches. You should take the left branch. The right branch goes to free hold aboriginal land and you can’t access the coast from there.
Archer Point is at the northern tip of is a fairly large bay that is an environmental significant Dugong habitat. It has a couple of beaches and free camping areas. It also has an important lighthouse on the headland overlooking the bay.
Archer Point
Archer Point is a unique ecosystem, it has magnificent fringing coral and an expansive inshore reef system. There are two main beaches in the area which are conveniently named “Beach One” and “Beach Two”. Beach One is south east facing and lies directly down from the light house, While Beach Two is on the southern end of the old jetty. The following web site has some information on the exact location of the beaches at Archer Point: https://beachsafe.org.au/beach/qld/cook/cooktown/archer-point-north-1
The road up to the Archer Point Lighthouse is very steep. From the beach is rises sharply and zig zags up to the point. It is pot holed with significant washouts across the exposed sections. While going up was challenging due to the steep upward corners, going down presented more of a challenge. Not only did it seem steeper but it was narrower as well.
The only way I could avoid the wash outs and pot holes was to ride a small section of the road about 6 inches wide close to the edge and then cross over the wash outs with my front wheel pointing directly down hill. I couldn’t use my back brake as it would have skidded off the edge and engine braking would have had me going to fast for the corners. It was a slow heart racing decent using a light touch on my front brake.
Guiding ships at night
The light itself provides a lead light for Cooktown, it enables ships to navigate between Hope Vale to the north and various reefs to the south. If traveling in a vessel the light will show white if the you are in the correct channel green if you are starboard or red if you are port to the channel.
The Archer Point Jetty was established to support the export of tin from the Leigh Creek mine, which is located eight kilometres south near the Lion’s Den Hotel. It also supports the movement of supplies in land to the mine and surrounding cattle stations. The jetty is disused and falling a part, rusty iron supports stick out from the rock foundations.
The beaches at Archer Point are stunning, with fringing coral reefs and long sandy horseshoe bays. The only issues are the prospect of crocodiles and jelly fish. Still people do snorkel and swim in this area. My journey to Cooktown is almost complete with just one more stop along the way. I have been told about a beach on the outskirts of Cooktown called Quarantine Bay.
Quarantine Bay
Quarantine Bay is eight kilometres south of Cooktown, it is easily found with a prominent sign and a very well maintained road to the beach. There are a number of houses dotted throughout the area. Riding through the small forested area you come straight out onto the beach. There are no facilities at the beach. I was there around 9.0am and the sun was well and truely over the hills. The bay and surrounding rain forest is spectacular and I would rate the beach as one of the best I have seen to so far.
I walked up and down the beach, and spent some time just sitting on a nearby granite bolder and looking out of the tropical beach and its calm magnificent views. This would be an ideal place to live if you had a small tropical retreat. The bay is easy enough to drag a kayak into or even a small boat. Unfortunately there is no shaded park benches or toilet facilities. The heat and humidity was building up and as I had no shade I wanted to continue on my journey to Cooktown. Another eight kilometres and I was at the end of a 12 month quest. It was time to get to my final destination.
Cooktown
What courage would it have taken to sail around the world with no maps, no hope of rescue if you sunk and hostile peoples attacking you whenever you stepped foot on shore. Did they do this for adventure, for money or for fame? On June 1770 , Captain James Cook of the Royal Navy, and his crew wrestled the wrecked ship HMAS Bark Endeavour into what was to become The Endeavour River to make repairs. Without making such repairs Cook and his crew would’ve been lost to history.
Cooktown also known as “Cook’s Town” was established during the 1870′ when gold fever hit the Cape and miners started to pour into the region. It wasn’t long before hotels, brothels and opium dens were established. As if to counter the work of the Devil the Vicarate Apostolic of Cooktown (later the Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established and in 1888 the Sisters of Mercy built a convent in town. The convent is a majestic building that today hosts the Cooktown Museum.
A beach too far
There are some amazing beaches around and further north of Cooktown, while I would like to have explored further north. I had come to the end of my journey and quest to find the best beaches in Queensland. One day I will go further north and document some of the beaches in Cape York, but for now I’m content to end my journey here. It’s time to pull up for a coffee at a shop at the bottom of the Main Street. It’s hot and humid and only 9.30 am. I feel the heat and humidity more here than I have at any time during this trip,
Journey Home
It was time to leave as I stood looking up the Main Street of Cooktown, the temperatures in the high 30 degrees Celsius with a humidity of around 90%. This is summer in the tropics, not a pleasant place to be unless you’re a lizard. While I would have loved to spend more time in this magnificent part of the world, It was going to be a long day of riding in the heat, so I set out to find a petrol station and make my way home.
I had contemplated riding back past the Lion’s Den and back up the Bloomfield Track. But as I hadn’t ridden the Mulligan Highway before I thought this might be an interesting diversion and I would forgo my return ticket on the Daintree Ferry.
The Mulligan Highway swings in land away from the coast towards Lake Land National Park before weaving up onto the Great Dividing Range at Mount Malloy. I intend to take a break at the Palmer River Roadhouse. It was here in 1873 one of Australia’s biggest gold rushes occurred.
It all starts with gold, gold, gold
In 1872, two brothers from Victoria, William and Frank Hann were surveying the area and had named the river the Palmer River after the Queensland Governor who sponsored the exploration. During the expedition they discovered gold. A follow up survey by James Mulligan confirmed payable gold and the gold rush began. It is estimated that over 100 tons of gold was pulled out of the river during the rush.
Cooktown became the main port for prospectors and grew substantially, while at the same time an inland track to the Palmer River was forged. This inland track became the Mulligan Highway.
Not long out of Cooktown I was passing the Black Mountain National Park, then the exit to Bloomfield. After about 50 kilometres I arrived at the Lakeland Roadhouse. I didn’t need fuel so I stopped to take photos of the Lakeland Park and the very historically painted toilet block. This is where the Mulligan Highway and Peninsula Development Road (PDR) meet. For those going to the Cape this is where the adventure starts.
Palmer River Roadhouse
The Palmer River Roadhouse is located almost exactly where the first gold rush started. Later the prospecting would move north east to what became Maytown and Palmerville. The roadhouse is a stone building with water features inside that makes resting there in summer very pleasant. It is a place that has fascinating historical records that you can flick through while you’re having lunch.
The rest of the drive along the Mulligan Highway is hot and humid, it takes a toll on me and the bike. I ride faster than normal averaging 110 kilometres per hour, its at times like this I wish I had a sixth gear. Emu is sitting on about 5200 rpm, and after 284 kilometres and just before the town of Mount Malloy, I feel the engine misfire and I start to loose power. Hunting for the fuel peacock I twist it sideways to reserve while keeping my eyes on the road, Emu fires into life again and picks up speed. The constant higher revs has used up more fuel than I anticipated.
A thunderstorm threatens
The rest of my trip home was fairly uneventful, but as big dark clouds started building over the hills on the range, I knew I was in for a thunderstorm. The last thing I wanted was to be camping in the middle of it. I went through Atherton, and eventually found a motel for the night and somewhere to park Emu out of the rain.
Just as I had secured everything for the night the heavens opened up for the most earth shattering storm, lightening lit up the sky and thunder rattled the windows. A good choice to stay inside I think.
I hope you have enjoyed this series and my trip through the Daintree Rain Forest, if you have any comments please leave them below. I’m alway interested to know what you think of my stories. Until next time, ride safely and I’ll see you out there…… Cheers Swaggie:)
