Day 1 – 10/07/09
Did a final pack up and left home 7ish in the morning and drove to work.
Checked a few things at work and made sure the backups were working properly. Left work about 11:30 and headed to Labradore to fuel up.
I had a good run to Brisbane and across the Gateway, however the road works at Morayfield soon slowed everything down. Had lunch at the pie shop at Wild Horse Mt Mobil service station.
Got to Childers about 4ish but it was too early to stop so I continued onto to Rockhampton and got there about 7:30 pm. Found a cheap caravan park on the north side of Rocky (Parkhurst) and stayed there the night. Unfortunately, it was pretty noisy as it was just off the main road and quite near the railway line and the Rocky Square Dancing Hall was right next door and they were going strong as it was Friday night. Had a nice hot shower and was in bed by 9ish, the dancing finished about 10:30.
Day 2 – 11/07/09
Got up early and left Rocky by 6:45 am and then drove and drove and drove. Filled up at Mackay and had lunch. Then drove and drove and drove. Ended up staying at a caravan park in Cowley Beach, about 30 kms south of Innisfail. Nice little spot, just back from the beach and protected from the sea breeze by trees. Traffic was mostly good although around the bigger towns it got a bit slow.
Day 3 – 12/07/09
Had some light rain overnight so packed up the little travelling tent a bit wet and was on the road by 7 am. Continued onto Cairns where I fuelled up again. Went and had a look at a Hippy market just north of Cairns and then drove into Port Douglas for a look and a walk on the beach.
I met up with Richard and Ross at Mossman Gorge after a pleasant walk through the rainforest. We then drove on and set up camp at the Pinnacle Village Holiday Park which is just north of Wonga Beach. Pretty nice spot for $12 per person for the night. It was pretty humid and easy to work up a sweat while setting up camp. Brett dropped in to say hello and that he was going to be slumming it for the night in the resort at Port Douglas with some friends. Watched a bit of the cricket that night before bed – the test ended up drawn.
Day 4 – 13/07/09
Brett turned up just after 8 am and we left to fuel up at Wonga Beach before heading to the Ferry crossing at the Daintree river. It wasn't too crowded and we got on the ferry almost straight away. There was then a pleasant drive through to the rainforest Cape Tribulation. We stopped along the way at the lookout at the top of the Donovan Range
and had a walk on Thornton Beach
followed by a walk through the Marrdja Boardwalk.
We then hit the Bloomfield track proper after a creek crossing which while not particularly difficult signalled that we were leaving civilisation behind. The Bloomfield track was a pretty easy drive as it was dry and most of the steep sections had been concreted so they weren't a problem. We stopped for lunch at a boat ramp on the Bloomfield river just near Ayton, and the river looked very inviting for a swim but the ever present Crocodile warning sign was a big deterrent.
Continuing on we got to the iconic Lions Den Hotel and set up camp for the evening.
After a pleasant walk around the creek and a swim we went up to the hotel for a few drinks, which was followed by a few more drinks and dinner. Finding our way back to the camp site was a bit of a problem in the dark as the moon wasn't giving us any light, but creative use of the remote unlock feature on the Pajero at least gave us something to aim for.
Day 5 – 14/07/09
We left the Lions Den about 8ish in the morning and got onto the bitumen Mulligan Highway to head for Lakeland and then the Palmer River Goldfields. However, one of Brett's Cooper STT's decided it didn't want to play nice and blew out. We changed the tyre on the road and changed plans to head into Cooktown to seek out a replacement.
The tyre place didn't have one in stock but would have it there the next day on a truck from Cairns, so we decided to stay in Cooktown and have a look around for the afternoon and evening.
We went for a drive out to Quarantine Bay (a local fishing spot) and found a nice place that would serve as a camp site for the evening. 
Heading back into Cooktown we did the touristy things like the Grassy Hill Lookout, Museum and wharf area.
In Cooktown I saw another well set up SWB Pajero, however it looked like it may have been an import as the spare wheel on the rear door wasn't in the middle of the door like those sold in Australia.
Heading back to Quarantine Bay via a slightly different route around the back of the Golf Course. We then set up camp and collected some drift wood for an evening camp fire. The previous occupants of the site had left a log burning and we found out why – it was almost impossible to put out.
Ross and Richard tried a bit of fishing using prawns as bait and got nothing, however one of the locals nearby caught what looked like a fairly decent Queen fish.
A pleasant night was had around the camp fire with one log we couldn't extinguish and one we couldn't light.
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