Thursday 10th October - Mossman
Overnight was 19.3 and back to 30.1 today. Change of plans. We discussed last night about staying an extra day here so that Clive could do the Mossman Gorge walk, as we don't know if we'll be back this way again. Clive would like to come back up here and do Cooktown, Cape Tribulation and see more of the Daintree National Park and spend a few months here, so maybe something for the future. He checked with the office first thing, just after 8am and no problems. Well, we are the only van here besides a few RV's and permanents, so plenty of space. Paid another $37.00, yes one of the most expensive so far, and then he was off to the Gorge before it got to hot. Leaving at 8.30, he returned at 11.30 with lots of photos, having had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed it. He walked for 4.61km and total walking time was 1 hour and 51 minutes. He told me that the first section is a boardwalk that I could have done with the walker. It's a 1.2km return walk so still quite a walk for me. When he got there, there was only 6 cars in the car park. When he left it was nearly full. The advantage of going early was that it was peaceful and you could enjoy the sounds of the rain forest. Once you had the tour groups and lots more people there was the constant chatter and noise. On the way back he stopped in to St. David's Anglican Church. This church was added to the National Trust of Queensland's Register of Significant Places in 2008. This beautiful stone church commenced construction in 1912, after a cyclone destroyed the original wooden one in 1911. It was finally completed in 1952 and dedicated on the 27th September. It took over 40 years to build due to two World Wars and the global economic depression since building commenced. Additions after the dedication include a vestry and chapel. Stained glass windows and the colourful tiled mosaic of the risen Christ. The entrance bell, a piece of marble from St. Pauls Cathedral London and a fragment of the stone cross of St. David's Cathedral Hobart, add to the historicity of the church, My glasses have felt funny the past few days and after lunch a lens fell out. It appears that I have lost a screw, no - not got a screw lose. Clive went into town as a google search showed an optometrist on the main drag, opposite the Post Office. When he got there just vacant shops, so he asked in the newsagents and the closest one is in Port, so a quick trip down the road is required to get these fixed, as the next opportunity might be Monday in Mareeba. We are due there on Saturday, but they are only open Monday to Friday.