daintree jungle
mossman bloomfield track
about daintree bloomfield track
the daintree jungle is a typical tropical rainforest. humidity soars up after intense showers in the afternoon and combined with high temperatures it feels like sitting in a steam bath. the vegetation is very dense, absorbing most of the light. a big variety of young plants fight for sunlight in the clearings.
mossman, a little town surrounded by sugarcane fields, sits at the entrance to mossman gorge. there you find a centre offering very interesting tours, guided by aboriginal people (kuku yalanji) who share their knowlidge about life and plants of the forest. it`s highly recommended to participate.
a guide explains how different dyes are applied, some as protection for the skin (mozzies), some as decoration and symbols.
ocre, white, red and black (coal) colours are most common. they are put on as undercoat and as dots and stripes.
some plants serve as medicine, some have the function of cleaning, pleasant smelling soap when crushed with water. some are food ;))
the jungle supplies almost everything you need if you know enough about. after a time when "modern" lifestyle pushed traditional knowledge to the edge, nowadays elders teach the youngsters again.
close to mossman gorge we found a little paradise to stay in the middle of the jungle. At "Mossman Gorge Bed and Breakfast" mandy coxon serves an excellent breakfast with home made bred and jams on a huge veranda looking out to the jungle. lots of birds will keep company; mandy knows all of them. (mossgorg@bigpond.net.au)
ginger blossom
mossman B&B
north of mossman long, lonely beaches strech out for miles.
at wonga beach we were tempted to go for a swim... but after reading all the warning boards we weren`t so convinced anymore.
bloomfield track
further north after crossing daintree river with a ferry, a paved road leads through dense jungle up to cape tribulation (see "about daintree").
mangroves make a big part of the coastel vegetation.
cape tribulation: the name tribulation seems to be wrong choosen for this beautiful place. but for captain cook and his crew a hard bit of work waited after hitting some rocks of the reef in 1770 far away from home...
past cape tribulation you need a four wheel drive (4WD) with high clearence. otherwise you`ll get stuck on the bumpy natural road.
this part is called "bloomfield track" according to the bloomfield river at wuyal wuyal. the river crossing was much easier this time (2016) a big bridge was constructed after our last visit in 2013.
at some lower parts of the track you have access to sandy beaches, but crocs are everywhere!
during wet season the bloomfield track is unpassable. as you can see on the pic below, the water level might be to high for your vehicle... upstream from wuyal wuyal are the bloomfield falls. depending on the season they are rather impressiv.
an aboriginal woman at "bana yirriji" art center cafe told us to watch out, because a big 5 meter croc (salty) was washed inland with the last flooding.
the log on the other side of the river (little dot in the middle) turned out to be that fellow.
the road is now paved from wuyal wuyal all the way up to cooktown.
two years ago we drove on a slippery gravel road....
the adventure of driving the bloomfield track will soon be history and traffic increase dramatically, with big impact on nature.
top of page
