In Mossman we decided to be cheap skates and stay in the vacant lot of land next to the Butchers that was posted on Wiki Camps. Not a problem we rang the number and the man was very amenable - said we could stay even said he would wave the normal charge as the toilet facilities posted on Wikicamps were not available yet. 🙂

In the morning we suspected something might be amiss when the butcher parked his ute in the drive way blocking our exit.

Yep the butcher whose lease covers said vacant block wanted to have a chat before we left. Turns out he and his landord are having a disagreement regarding how the owner wants to use the block. After he found out the details of who had authorised our stay he moved his car.

His meat is pretty good we had some marinated lamb chops for tea tonight. I hope they sort something out soon as it could be a win - win. We spent money in the butcher shop that we wouldn't have if we weren't staying there.

In this view is the mouth of the Daintree river. Yes we are on the North side having crossed the Daintree on the ferry.

We were so intent on making sure we knew where the ferry was that we missed Daintree village all together.

It is not just here but all along this section the rainforest is right down to the beach. But at this national park campground we were camped in the rainforest and walked down to the beach.

There's a rain squall coming - I guess it is the wet tropics.

There are crocodile warning signs everywhere. Enough to make any-one paranoid 🙂 This crystal clear fresh water creek is only a few hundred meters from the mouth which is very much salt and mangroves - ideal estuarine crocodile habitat - so I guess it doesn't hurt to be a little paranoid

About 1 km south of the campsite is the Marrja botanical walk. Here you take an elevated board work through the rainforest and then loop through the mangroves at the mouth of Oliver Creek.

While not the Majja boardwalk this Dragon lizard was visible from another boardwalk unfortunately he was not close enough for me and the lense I have with me.

There were sand flies at the campsite. I thought I would escape them on the beach, No they were really thick getting in my eyes and mouth. Almost took the joy out of capturing this sunrise shot.

The end of the gravel section of the Bloomfield track.

The road is single lane in places but is still probably more a road than a track.  The first creek crossing got a little deeper than I expected at the exit but not too deep - probably up to the door sills. No I didn't walk it first there are crocodile signs and it was crystal clear and I could see the bottom.

The steep sections are steep and I don't regret obeying the signs and selecting low range when suggested. The steepest bits are also concreted. All in all we had no problems.

After crossing the Bloomfield river, on the high level bridge, you can turn left to go to the Bloomfield falls.

The Trevethan falls are much closer to Cooktown and down a gravel road that does deteriorate to a track before getting to a parking area and a goat track to the falls. Still I think they were worth it.

We made it this far. How did we get here?

A screen dump from our Hema Explorer App. with the track showing.

Yep it's called Cooktown for a reason. Here is  the statue of Cook, near the site where he beached the Endeavour to make repairs.

Apparently Cook and Banks climbed this very hill looking for a way back out to sea. Cooks journal states that though he had a good view he was not impressed with what he saw; sand banks and reefs and no clear navigable path.

This light house is no longer functioning but the local residents are hoping to keep it "restored" - for we visitors.

While out taking this stunning sunset photo 🙂 I noticed a group of people gathered around the cafe we had lunch at.

Closer investigation showed that, no there was not a Crocodile in the water, but rather this man was hand feeding about 6 huge Groper. You can't really see them in the photo but they are huge.