The Mango Lagoon Resort

My room for the next four nights is at the Mango Lagoon Resort and it’s quite unlike any hotel in which I’ve ever stayed. First of all my room is about a thousand square feet and has a full kitchen, full living room, a dining room, master bedroom suite and utility room with a washer, dryer and mud sink.

The resort’s footprint is long and narrow with guest suites running the length of each side. It has an open air reception at one end, a day spa at the other and two lushly landscaped swimming pools in the middle. Because the backside of my room has no windows, only wooden shutters, I can hear the waterfalls cascading from one pool to the other and birds singing - some scene.
This is all situated in Pine Cove a few miles north of Cairns, Queensland. My Pine Cove stay was another recommendation and it’s easy to understand why. The village lies along a sandy, crescent shaped beach lined with small boutique hotels, restaurants and a smattering of tourist shops. It’s the perfect honeymoon spot. But alas, I am alone and shall enjoy it that way.

My first day in Queensland, I ventured north from Palm Cove to the Daintree Rainforest. There are about six hundred World Heritage Sites worldwide, and Daintree and the Great Barrier Reef are but two of only thirteen that meet all four criteria for natural heritage status.

I’d heard a Daintree River cruise was nice – the purpose of which is to spot Saltwater Crocodiles - and gave it a try. While the boats hold more than thirty passengers, mine only had three – myself and a young couple from London who are traveling their way around the world. Brad, our guide, said he couldn’t guarantee a croc sighting – the best sightings are at low tide in the winter and this was high tide in the summer - but I’m sure he says that every time.

These truly are dangerous waters. A six year-old boy lost his life about three weeks ago. I know Brad’s account of the incident was true, because I read about before I left on my trip. Our first sighting was Lucy (the guides have named the crocs). She’s about a two meter long female who took no interest in us and simply swam on by. Betty, Sarah and Connie also swam past. Because Brad knew the size, weight and age of each croc, I believe he also knew their names.

The real treat of the day was finding Fat Albert lying, half out of the water, under a tree on the bank. It was mid-afternoon and Brad hadn’t seen Albert all day. Albert is somewhere between forty and sixty years old, measures in at just less than five meters and weights about a ton. Albert took no interest in us. Brad said Albert could see and hear and smell us. But, since the guides don’t feed or harass the crocs, they pretty much leave their boats alone.

We saw one more croc - a two year-old measuring about two feet – during our one hour cruise. With a one-in-two hundred survival rate, finding one still small enough for the Bull sharks to eat was a good sign.

My next stop was the Cape Tribulation Section of Daintree National Park. To get there you take the car ferry across the Daintree and proceed north to the end of the paved portion of the Captain Cook Highway. The road goes further, but looks like the beginning of Tahoe’s Rubicon Trail once the payment ends. I only saw Toyota Land Cruisers with snorkels crossing the stream that stopped me and my little rental car. I’d picked up a sandwich at a deli back down the road a bit and ate on a log in the shade of the tropical forest. Within minutes, the fire ants found me. I finished my meal standing in the stream away from their menacing.