Matey's musings: A tale of two Trevors

The wet season arrived late and in June it rained almost every day. Finally the skies cleared and our voyage north began. Once we had arrived at Port Douglas Kathryn arrived too, and thanks to our friend Dan lending us his car some day trips were possible. We visited Spring Creek and its waterfall, roughly between Port Douglas and Mossman, and also had a day in the Daintree. Another day was spent at the Low Isles and thanks to good connections (Hello Craig!) we were treated to lunch on Wavedancer after an enjoyable snorkel.

Kathryn departed and Trevor ‘Treasure’ and Ricky arrived. We headed north via the Low Isles again with Dan as a passenger to the Daintree. (Hello again Craig and thank you for lunch! ☺) There we met up with our friends Trevor and Mary for a few days’ indulgence and feasting on mudcrabs in a superb location with an unsurpassed view of Cape Tribulation and Thornton’s Peak.

Our passengers were entertained by: stories of the resident crocs including our old friend Goliath; mudcrabs, one of which attached itself to Ricky, to his horror, inflicting a nasty wound; and a snake looking for a warm bed or maybe just a melomys. Thanks to local knowledge and good connections Daintree Trevor took us to the ‘big swimming hole’ at Noah’s Creek, accessible only via a private property. We also visited the black basalt ‘bouncing stones’, which he informed us was an indigenous women’s spiritual place and birthing site, and where the shiny, dark stones do actually bounce. It’s no longer signposted for tourists as the stones were disappearing at an alarming rate. Allegedly, a nasty curse was placed on those whose pockets filled with stones to be spirited away, and many a stone was returned via post by the defeated and cowed thief. This area was not greatly frequented by Aboriginal people as it’s in the realm of the Evil Sisters of the dreaming who reside in one of the mountains nearby. Visits were purposeful and short.

A confused looking cassowary was also spotted, trying to hide in the bush from all the onlookers, it seemed. So much beauty is to be found in the magnificent Daintree rainforest, it’s definitely one of our special places. Matey is invariably compelled to pay homage to fan palms and freshwater springs.

It’s always good to catch up with old friends, and make new ones. Now, back in Cooktown, we’re on the slipway attending to Ebb Tide’s nether regions. Poor old Captain is below covering himself in filth as I write …