We started our campervan trip by heading North to Cape Tribulation, in Daintree National Park, which is the oldest surviving tropical rainforest in the world! We quickly discovered that Australia isn’t going to be like New Zealand. We have to actually make reservations for campervan spots instead of just showing up!
Daintree is a legit rainforest, complete with crazy vines, thick canopies, and plants and animals unlike any we’ve seen before. We even spotted a very rare Cassowary (like a black and blue emu)!
Mangroves thrive here since it hasn’t been drained to develop (unlike many places in the world).
We stayed along the coast at Cape Tribulation. You can’t really swim here due to coastal crocodiles and killer jellyfish, but it’s still beautiful to walk along.
After leaving Daintree, we took the inland route South through the Atherton Tablelands to Mission Beach and Townsville. We drove past endless sugarcane fields, mango orchards, and banana plantations. Honestly, it’s not the most exciting part of the country, but we did get some great mango wine and local fruit icecream. We also got a few small hikes in, of course.
