Aussie paradise pleads for tourists after 100 days of hell

One of Australia’s most spectacular regions was closed to tourists for months. Now it’s reopened and is desperate for visitors.

Business owners from one of Australia’s most stunning parts have made a desperate plea for tourists to return.

Queensland’s Cape Tribulation (about a 2hr 40min drive from Cairns) is the only place in the world where two UNESCO World Heritage sites border one another, being the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

It’s typically a tourist hotspot, but in December last year the area was dealt a massive blow when heavy rains caused landslides that blocked the only road in and out of Cape Tribulation.

The road remained closed to tourists for more than 100 days.

“It was devastating,” Janine Peyer from Cape Trib Beach House told news.com.au.

“It was just unbelievable how many bookings had to be cancelled.

“We were looking forward to having a really awesome Christmas up here with tourists, but that didn’t happen,” Ms Peyer said.

The landslides caused extensive damage.

Cape Tribulation beach.

The majority of businesses in Cape Trib, as it’s commonly referred to, rely on tourism to survive.

“We were all shut,” Lawrence Mason, who runs Mason’s Cafe, told news.com.au.

“We had our shop open for short periods of time servicing local people, but it was by no means economic and most businesses were completely closed.”

The road was finally reopened a couple of months ago, but locals say they’ve struggled to get the message out that they’re back open for business.

“We’re certainly doing a lot better than we were a couple of months ago, but we’ve still got a way to go to get back to full capacity,” Mr Mason said.

Ms Peyer agreed, saying business is picking up daily but not at a fast enough rate.

“We’re waiting, watching, and hoping that everyone is going to come back,” she said.

The restaurant at the Cape trib Beach House is a geat spot for a cocktail, or four. Picture: TTNQ

Why you should visit

So what’s so good about Cape Trib, you might be asking?

Well, I visited the area a couple of weeks ago, so allow me to fill you in.

Firstly, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef is a must do.

I went with Ocean Safari, a company that operates out of Cape Trib, and it was one the greatest travel experiences I’ve ever had, like, ever.

Not only was it amazing to swim alongside turtles and see all the different kinds of fish, but the boat ride out to the reef on the Ocean Safari vessel was an incredibly fun and wild ride.

The Ocean Safari vessel. Picture: news.com.au

A couple of the crocs we spotted on the cruise.

Equally as amazing was the Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest surviving rainforest in the world (roughly 180 million years old).

I checked it out with Daintree Discovery Tours who filled me in on all the plants and wildlife living inside the region which stretches across 1200 square kilometres.

Fun fact: There are more tree species in one hectare of the rainforest than in all of the UK.

Another highlight was a crocodile cruise on the Daintree river. I saw some absolute whoppers!

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, I highly recommend you stop at Daintree Ice Cream and try some of their unique flavours, including wattleseed, yellow sapote and breadfruit.

Daintree Ice Cream is a must visit. Picture: TTNQ

And there are plenty of other things you can do that I didn’t get to experience, including horse riding and a zip line canopy tour through a company called Treetops.

I’ll let Ms Peyer from Cape Trib Beach House have the final say.

“If you’re looking for a great holiday, somewhere so totally different to anywhere else in the world, make your way up here!”

Well said.

This writer was a guest was Tourism Tropical North Queensland