Cape Tribulation

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I’ve decided to stay 2 nights in Cap Tribulation (or Cape Trib like everyone says…) so I can relax and enjoy a day of writing and sorting my first set of photos. The internet is 1970’s slow which explains why I grew frustrated waiting 5 minutes for my gmail page to load.

I went to a jungle night walk tour last night in the oldest rainforest in the world: Daintree Rainforest. It rained half of the tour, but I didn’t really mind it. We’ve spotted a few jungle crawlers which I can’t recall their scientific names. Let’s just call them frog, crickets, lizards, mice and spiders. Actually, I’ve spotted a huntsmen spider slowly coming down the jungle path from high up the jungle canopy.

Daintree rainforest is home of plants and animal species that can only be found in this part of the world. One of them is the red cedar tree. Even until recently, an ounce of red cedar was worth more than gold. Right next to Daintree rainforest is the ocean where the Great Barrier Reef. These two eco-systems feed on each other; one cannot exist without the other. Micro-organisms evaporating from the reef go into the atmosphere, eventually forming clouds which are then carried over land, just on top of the rainforest. During the rainy season, the Daintree rainforest receives these micro-organisms contributing to the unique bio-diversity. The forest participates in the cycle by “dumping” its own micro-organisms into the soil which eventually ends into the ocean where the reef lives. The reef also feed on unique micro-organisms on its own. You don’t need to be an expert to realize how fragile these two systems are.

James Cameron, well-known creator of several blockbuster movies, once did the exact same night walk about 10 years ago while researching for his next epic movie at that time; Avatar. It’s obvious how he got the idea of the world on Pandora. At some point, my guide told me to turn my torch off, close my eyes and wait for 10-15 seconds before reopening them. Looking down when opening my eyes, I could see this green fluorescent stuff on the ground everywhere! This was caused by a fungus growing on rotted pieces of wood. I guess Pandora is a rotted place then. There is also a much brighter kind of fluo mushroom but we could spot any. Towards the end of the tour, I was shown the idea behind Hometree, home of the Na’vi on Pandora. I made my way in the centre of that tree and could see all the way up. That tree had a hollow centre where Aboriginals used to put their dead into. I bet that James stood right in the middle of that very tree, looked up and had the idea of home tree.

It got pretty wet last night, so I spend most of the morning at the beach reading and drying up my clothes and my boots. The overnight rain found its way into one of my shoe somehow. The afternoon was partly spent fixing my first puncture. I actually realized that my rim didn’t fit my spare tube’s schrader valve. Fortunately, it happened where a workshop was close by so I could borrow a drill and make a larger hole in the rim for the schrader vale. I couldn’t use the existing tube as the puncture was where the valve connects to the tire which makes it almost impossible to fix.

I also met Luke, an avid Aussie cyclist residing in Cairns. He had a few days off at work and decided to make his way up here and enjoy a few days cycling. He was generous enough to give me a spare tube with a presta valve so I didn’t have to run into trouble if I was to have a puncture on my back wheel.

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Author: Pascal Lachance

I'm Pascal, cyclist, travel lover, software developer by trade and an enthusiastic photographer. I'm now cycling around the world, take the time to visit as many places as I can!

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