#TheOldestRainForestInAustralia

Sonja, Steph, Chelsea and I had been reunited for one last day together before we went our separate ways. We decided to rent a car for the day and visit Cape Tribulation- Australia's oldest rain forest.

Once we had the snacks, we were well on our way. We first had to drive through Daintree forest, a dense forest itself surrounded by beaches. The first stop on the map was to visit the point where the beach and the rainforest meet. It is one of the only places in the world where you can see this happen. It was really beautiful with the mangroves sticking out from the sand on one end and miles of beach on the other. Directly behind the beach, the old trees stood tall with their wrinkled bark from hundreds of years of life.

Next, we found a small creek that you could swim in- it was one of the few pools of water that didn't house crocodiles although we still looked out for them!
We dipped our feet and it wasn't long before we realised you actually can't swim in it because it's about 3 inches deep! I managed to get shin deep and once I was still for a while some small fish came and nibbled at my knees! I wanted them to have a go at my feet as it would save me some dollar on a pedicure but again, the fish didn't want to venture down there!

We sat sort of enjoying our lunch and mostly looking for things that can kill you; snakes, spiders, crocodiles etc. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't see any crocs but then again, as strong as my iron man hat makes me look, I'm not sure I would win in a fight against one.

The drive through the forest was really pretty but unfortunately we were running low on time so we couldn't see everything we had planned. We made a stop at an ice cream shop that sold homemade ice cream from the fruits that they grow in the forest. They weren't too bad but I would have preferred salted caramel and fudge!

Our final stop in the forest was at another beach. It had two rope trapeze swings so naturally I spent a large amount of time hanging upside down on them! Unfortunately, I didn't have the strength to pull myself up on the first one so I ended up stuck, flopping over the bar while Steph took unflattering pictures of me.

Again, no crocs were in sight! Probably a good thing as I was hanging like a kebab from a rope!

We left the forest before nightfall and made our way for a final dinner together in Port Douglas. It obviously isn't on the backpacker route because the price of the restaurants was a little high! We ended up in the cheapest pub where a homeless man with no shoes came to gnaw on someone's leftover chicken bones on the table next to us! Luckily no one died from food poisoning and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals happily enough.

Once the car was returned it was time to say goodbye. We all hugged and cried as we realised our time together had come to an end. We decided that we will meet up one day in Italy and I told Sonja and Chelsea that I will come and visit them in Canada and Steph in Cornwall! One of my biggest fears travelling alone was that I wouldn't meet people or make friends. I needn't have worried because in a less than a month I found people that I would happily keep in touch with for a lifetime. And on that cheesy note, it concludes my great adventure up the East Coast! The following day, I said my final goodbyes to Steph and Sonja and boarded the 2:45pm flight back to Sydney.