Thursday 27th May 2021
We stayed up after Madeline went to sleep, to watch the lunar eclipse and supermoon. it was lovely and clear with no obstructing clouds.
After a good night sleep last night we were up and getting ready to drive to Mossman, to visit Mossman Gorge.
Mossman
Mossman is located 78 km north of Cairns and 21 km north-west of Port Douglas.
It is amusing that Mossman was named after a man named Mosman but changed because of confusion with the suburb in Sydney. It was named by the explorer George Dalrymple in 1873 after Hugh Mosman whose main claim to fame is that he found gold at Charters Towers in 1872.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area around Mossman was home to the Kuku Yalanji.
A village was established in 1876 and the town was settled by 1877. In 1883 the Brie Brie sugar mill began crushing sugar cane but it only lasted for two seasons. In 1893 a new sugar mill was constructed with government assistance.
In the 1906 sugar cane season the Mossman mill crushed 100,000 tonnes of cane.
In March, 1934 a cyclone caused considerable damage to the town.
On 31 July, 1942 the Japanese dropped a single bomb on the town. It injured a child.
By 1971 the Mossman Sugar Mill was using computers to process sugar cane – it was the first in the world. By 1994 more than 950,000 tonnes of sugar cane were being crushed by the Mossman mill.
Mossman Gorge
Mossman Gorge is located in the Wet tropics and forms part of the Daintree National Park.
The Eastern Kuku Yalanji (Goo-goo Ya-lan-gee) people have occupied this area for thousands of years prior to first contact. They are recognised as the Traditional Owners for this area.
The tropical rainforests of Daintree National Park are part of the largest continuous area of Rainforest in Australia.
In the Water
The Jungle Perch is the most commonly seen animal/fish in Mossman Gorge.
Saw-shelled turtle also swim in the water. It is one of the few animals able to eat the poisonous cane toad, and survive.
We arrived at the Visitor centre around 930am and bought tickets for the shuttle bus to the gorge.
Madeline provided entertainment on the bus, singing “the wheels of the bus.” She was also our tour guide. We bearly had a chance to take photos before we were moved on.
A mighty river
The Mossman River flows from the Main Coast Range and Carbine tableland.
Rex Creek Bridge
A suspension bridge was built in 1985 with assistance from the Australian Army.
All materials were hand carried along the 700m track to protect the rainforest. Cement and about 20 Tonnes of aggregate were loaded into sand bags and carried the distance.
The old bridge was closed in 2009 due to safety concerns and a new bridge was built. The materials were this time flown in by helicopter. It opened in June 2010.
Visitor Centre
After our rainforest walk we returned by shuttle to the Visitors Centre, where we had lunch.
The Afternoon
We returned to the caravan in the afternoon.
Madeline went swimming with Babcia and Dziadzio, while mum and dad rested.
Tomorrow
We visit Daintree Village, do a crocodile river cruise and drive to Cow Bay.
Babcia and Dziadzio will spend their last full day in Queensland, doing a full day tour of the Daintree and Cape Tribulation.
We’ve had some much fun together the last 10 days. We know Madeline is going to find it very hard to let Babcia and Dziadzio return home.
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