shockingly, woke up without a hangover, and iseta came by to pick me up again. in a white 1972 mercedes convertible. we drove off to the daintree forest preserve for some beach and forest trails. the ride took about an hour through tree covered, windy roads along the waters edge, completely breathtaking. 2 women in a convertible had everyone honking horns at us the whole way.
we stopped on the way at iseta's house and i met her mother and sister. her mother is 74 and broke her leg 5 days ago, badly. she was up on a ladder pruning her shrubs because she doesn't like how anyone else does them, fell off, knocked herself out and got airlifted to the hospital. now she's recovering at iseta's house where she will have to be for 8 weeks. she's a serious world traveler and isn't taking to complete bed rest very well. she and her older lady friends will just pack up and camp in the bush for a week at a time, or hop a flight to india or asia with tents and no plans. i'd like to be like that when i'm her age. for now she's trying to content herself by planning her first new york city trip.
back on the road, the forest was beautiful, smelled like freshness. our first stop, and the furthest point away, was cape tribulation. i love saying the word tribulation for some reason. iseta asked what it meant and i wasn't sure, but it sounded like a good boat name. its not, after further reflection.
along the road there are 'cassowary crossing' signs everywhere but we never spotted one. a blue 5' tall bird. that would've been cool.
cape tribulation is a point that juts out into the ocean, where jungle meets ocean. quite nice. can't swim, though, jellies and sharks and such. we're walking up the beach, for miles there's only one other person around. and it turns out to be bob, one of our buddies from the live aboard. of all the places to run into someone. bob's main purpose in life now is to take pictures of stars and celestial events through his telescope. he came to australia on a cruise that catered to astronomy buffs, they sailed to the best place to see the last solar eclipse. we sat on the beach and looked at bob's eclipse pictures. he's pretty good at it.
we walked a bit more then headed back south a bit to find more of iseta's favorite spots, she's a great tour guide. no cassowaries, no crocodiles, lots of great scenery. it really impressed upon me how giant this country is. endless ocean and beaches, tree covered mountains, forests, swamps, as far as the eye can see.
our bathroom stop in the jungle was surprising in a couple ways, firstly that australia is constantly reminding me how clean it is. middle of nowhere and the place is sparkling. as i'm reaching for my toilet paper a giant spider jumps down and lands on the very last square sticking out. startled me, so of course i jump, which means i pee down my leg and all over the floor. and i can't get any toilet paper. great. i had just been complaining to iseta that i haven't seen any wildlife. here it is, in the most inconvenient spot imaginable. i flick the paper and the spider runs up an inch, i pull down, flick again, he runs up an inch, pull down, repeat repeat repeat, eventually i have enough to try to clean up the situation. the rest of the day i faintly smelled like urine. nice.
we went to lunch, a couple more lookouts, ate the best ice cream ever made, then for a quick swim in shannonvale at a river. maybe the river smell will overpower the pee smell. the river is flowing just over the top of the bridge so kids are running back and forth on the road diving from both sides, screaming, pausing only long enough to let a car go by. again, beautiful.
and then its time for me to go back to port douglas for a shuttle back to cairns. great day. i'm absolutely certain i'll run into iseta again somewhere.
right now i'm on a plane to brisbane to see kawika and hopefully get a few days of surf.
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