Mossman Gorge

Palm Cove, Queensland, Australia
Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Yet again we have struck it lucky with the weather and we woke up to a bright sunny day, so we decided to take advantage and headed for Mossman Gorge. This is another section of the Daintree Rainforest and sits 20kms north west of Port Douglas. The Mossman river rises high in the Alexandra Range of the Great Divide and cuts it's way down through the gorge to the Coral Sea. There is an excellent visitor centre run by the local indigenous people, the Ngadiku, pronounced Nar-di-gul. You are shuttled to the gorge centre, where there are a variety of secluded nature walks through the rainforest that clothes the gorge sides, that include lookouts over the gorge itself. It is quite beautiful in a different way to yesterday's sights. The piece de resistance however, is the swimming hole section, known as The Beach, which was busy with youngsters mainly, cooling off in spectacular surroundings. Some of the vistas were just stunning and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring another side to this World Heritage region.
I will include lots of photos, so you can see for yourself, because I'm running out of superlatives!
On the way back to Palm Cove we drove into Port Douglas to have a wander round. Lots of resorts, restaurants and shops. Much more upmarket than Cairns, but we certainly prefer Palm Cove and the Northern Beaches as a base. We had supper tonight again amongst the palm trees twenty feet from the beach. This is such a glorious spot, without being overdone.Read more