So, remember the movie FernGully: The Last Rainforest? Cute animated movie from the early 90’s?
Yah, that’s pretty much where I was for a month.
Yes, I saw magical fairies.
Nat and I (for old times sake… and it being cheaper) took a two day train from Brisbane to Cairns early one morning. It was a loooong train ride. I was excited at first… a chance to see beautiful Aussie scenery and make brief stops in tiny towns on the way up, just to be able to say i’d been. (Step out of the train, “Wooo!! I’ve been to Bundaberg!” Three hours later…. “Woo!! I’ve been to Tully!!… anywho, you get the point.)
For two days, heading north, the scenery doesn’t change much. Just in case you were wondering. Dry land with brown grass and lonely skinny trees for hours, then sugar cane fields for hours (with that terrible mollases smell…).
Anyway, we finally got to Cairns, and I’m really excited to stretch my legs and walk around.
“How long is the drive from Cairns to the Daintree?” Me, excited to finally be out of a 3 by 10 cell.
“About two hours.”
Waah wah waaaaaaaaaaaah.
So two hours later, a ferry ride across a croc ridden river and a extremely windy drive through the middle of a forest we finally made it to… the pub.
Yes the pub. The meeting place of Cow Bay. Where everyone knows your name… and everything else about everyone else. It’s where all the locals go and drink bad Australian beer and smoke hand rolled cigarettes after a long (actually …short…they don’t have much work ethic up here) day of work.
Natalie and I stayed with Nats dad, Chris, his partner Kerry and her son Cody, in Kerry’s extremely beautiful balinese style house at the end of a dirt road, surrounded by the beautiful trees of the rainforest.
The Place
Once you pass the river (that yes, does have crocodiles in it…one kid has been eaten… beware!) you are in the rainforest. Unfortunately (for the animals and the soil) there is a long (recently) paved road that runs through it, beginning at Cow Bay and finishing at Cape Tribulation. Unfortunate for nature, but lucky for us tourists. After the ferry, you come to Cow Bay first. I like to think that the heart of Cow Bay is the tea farm. It’s the only organic tea farm in Australia and it’s a family run business. The fields of deep green tea surround a hill. At the top of the hill is a beautiful house where my favourite residents of Cow Bay live.
My first full day there, I went to the top of the hill to meet Babe. That’s not her real name, but once you meet her, you’re just like, yah! Babe! She is this fabulous, bubbly, positive, upbeat woman who is so encouraging and insists that everyone “Rock on!” (This one time, I went to the school to pick up her little ones with her, and as soon as she stepped foot on the school playground, kids started surrounding her and hugging her “Hey Babe! Hi Babe!” Once we’d collected Ben and Eva and were walking out the gate, the school children all shouted, as we left “Rock On Babe!!!” hahahah!).
Anyways, if you keep heading north from the tea farm, you pass a few restaurants (one of which I worked at, serving tourists their burgers and milkshakes and kangaroo and teaching Americans where Toronto is and meeting Australians who know where Kitchener is and meeting Canadians that had job offers for me for when i get back 
) and come to the road where Kerry lives.
Interesting thing about the rainforest, if you live there, your house has to be green or brown and can’t be seen from the road. This is the same for the resorts that run along the road further up; so that when you drive along the road, all you see is trees to your right and left and trees growing up above the road, creating a beautiful green tunnel.
This place is absolutely beautiful. Second day: Beach. Oh my god. The beaches. They are absolutely breathtaking. This is where I meet Shorty. Cow Bay’s favourite grandpa. He’s an older man, a Vietnam vet, who has retired to the rainforest, and spends everyday (actually, EVERYDAY) on the beach, drinking VBs. Only VB. From when the sun gets up to when it goes to sleep, Shorty is drinking VB, working on his tan and taking walks along the beach. (If it’s raining, he goes to the pub).
The rainforest is a whole other world. The people that live there, live in a certain isolation. The only connection is Telstra (I’m Virginmobile, so i had no reception for over a month) and the only good internet is at a few of the backpackers (first time i used the internet i had to walk 2 hours and pay $10 an hour). Even the residents admit that you have to be pretty unique to live up there. I spent time with some of them, Babe, Will, Adam, Ed and Simon, and they were all definitely unique.
The People
Will was a young guy in his early 20’s and I was shocked that he chose to live up there. After asking if he gets lonely (there are about 5 people in their 20’s in cowbay…if that…), he replied that he enjoys solitude and has his two dogs for company. Will had this huge property full of gardens and trees and an open house… the only covering was the mosquito net on his bed. There was a funny outdoor toilet and shower, and from the house you could hear the waves from the sea. He enjoyed good coffee, card games and smoking his bush pot, so we got along well.
Simon was cool, and i met him on the beach one afternoon, when we were all sitting around a campfire, drinking and smoking funny bush pot (i might as well warn you now, there was a lot of ‘funny bush pot’ up here). His kids, Oscar and Tilly, were the cutest kids of all and Simon was super friendly. We hung out a few times, and he would make me fresh salads from the stuff we would pull from his gardens and give me bowls of ice cream with fresh passion fruit on it.
Ed was a quiet guy with a boat. We also got along well. He would often find me sleeping on the beach or walking towards the beach, and then would take me out on his boat. His house was full of aboriginal arts and crafts and he always made me drink too many strongbows. He loved having me around, cause I’m a really good fisher. I don’t want to be, but I just am. I guess fish know that I’m not there to harm them or their home. (I did eat one of the fish i caught, and ended up being sick that night… then i took another chance, tried the fish again a few days later, and was sick again… i get the point, Universe, and I’m sorry!). He took Nat and me out on his boat for a two day trip to the reef, it was amazing and nauseating. For a few days after I could hardly walk straight.
Adam was a guy in his 30s who had a job helping his friends run their resort/restaurant. He is originally from Melbourne, but moved up to help out his buddies. Adam would pick me up in the mornings and take me for walks along the beach with his dogs, where we would go crocodile hunting (we really did see crocodiles). He drove me into Cairns a few times. He goes their often because his partner lives there.
The Atmosphere
Everyone here loves a little solitude. They all live on their lonesome on these huge properties and the only way to get power is to run generators. I could go on and on, talking about the craziness of this place, but my word count is already ridiculous.
The Daintree is quiet, and I got to do a lot of thinking, writing, reading, walking and time on my own. It’s nice to be in a place where you are constantly surrounded by beauty. I enjoyed my job a lot; it gave me a chance to converse with people and keep myself from going crazy. The people that owned the restaurant were awesome too. If it got too busy, they gave me a XXXX (beer) and the chef made me delicious meals everyday.
I could seriously keep telling stories about my time up North. I feel like I have barely said anything. If you’re interested, we’ll sit down and chat about it, cause I’ll be home in TWO MONTHS!!!!
haha. Matts uncle made me poached eggs on toast in the morning… how could a day start any better??