Travel Guide: Cape Tribulation and Mossman Gorge

Mossman Gorge

Mossman Gorge is a small town located 78 kilometres from Cairns or 1 hour drive by car. The town is popular for being the front door to the famous Daintree Rainforest, considered the oldest rainforest in the world.

At Mossman Gorge there is a cultural centre where visitors can learn more about the aboriginal culture and also see some aboriginal art. At the centre there is a cafe and a toilet facility.

The Eastern Kuku (Goo-goo) Yalanji (Ya-lan-gee) people have occupied the Mossman Gorge area for thousands of years. They are cognised as the Traditional Owners for this area.

At the centre visitors can organise a visit to Mossman Gorge National Park and its famous swimming hole. To get there a bus is organised by the centre with a small cost. Years ago people could freely drive to the swimming hole but after the centre was built the access got restricted and only the centre´buses can access the area.

This restriction is to avoid too many cars driving around the area and to protect aboriginal communities at the National Park. Visitors are welcome to walk from the centre to the swimming hole without any cost but it is quite a long distance.

The buses depart every 20 minutes from the centre and it takes only 10 minutes to get to the entrance of the boardwalk.

Once at the end of the ride visitors get to walk through the beautiful Daintree rainforest through a boardwalk. Mossman Gorge creek cuts through the rainforest and it is full of big boulders along the creek. There is a swimming hole at the end of the boardwalk where visitors can get in the water and swim in crystal clear water. It is just a gorgeous location.

Dreamtime Walk

A great tour to do while visiting Mossman Gorge is the Ngadiku Dreamtime walk. The Dreamtime walk is a local indigenous guided tour that tells visitors old stories and legends about their tribe and culture. During the tour participants walk in private tracks and visit interesting locations such as old traditional aboriginal shelters, culturally significant sites and beautiful rainforest and creeks.

The Dreamtime tour starts with a smoke ceremony to keep away bad spirits. Then the indigenous guide takes visitors to see traditional huts or humpies through the rainforest . The guide also demonstrates how to identify food sources and how to use traditional plants. Participants also learn how to make bush soap and ochre painting. After the tour an afternoon tea is served with bush tea and damper.

Mossman Gorge and Dreamtime Walk Tour at the link below.

Daintree Rainforest Tour with Aboriginal Experience

Cape Tribulation (Daintree Rainforest)

Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal area located about 110 km from Cairns. Cape Tribulation is known for its beautiful and oldest rainforest in the world called the Daintree Rainforest. The beaches are quite unique as well, most of them quite long with white sand.

The ocean and the rainforest are so close that there is a saying that Cape Tribulation is where the ocean meets the rainforest. It is definitely beautiful scenery.

To get to Cape Tribulation travellers need to cross the Daintree river. There is a ferry boat that operates daily from 9am to 4:30pm that gives cars and foot passengers access to the Cape Tribulation area. The crossing ticket can be organised at the location or pre-booked on the Daintree ferry boat website.

At Cape Tribulation there are lots of walking tracks where visitors can experience being in the middle of a World Heritage Rainforest.

For those visitors who want to stay overnight there are some accommodations available at Cape Tribulation. Some of them are Cape Trib Beach House, PKs Jungle Village, Ferntree Hotel. All of them are great places to stay.

Please click on the link below to learn more about tour to Cape Tribulation.

Cape Tribulation Tours