Cairns to Cape Tribulation road trip: Driving distance, time & stops

Cairns to Cape Tribulation drive: Floravilla Ice Cream and Daintree Tea

There are also a few food producers worth a visit. A few hardy souls have tried to make a business work in the Daintree. These include the Floravilla Ice Cream Factory, which has billowing tropical garden and an impressive roster of 26 biodynamic ice cream flavours. Some of these are suitably tropical – like mango and lime. Others are more unusual, such as the iron bark honey and almond, or sweet potato and ginger options. Weirdest of the lot is the ‘Daintree Rainforest’ flavour, which contains lemon myrtle, coconut, ginger, vanilla, kale and spirulina.

old machinery at Daintree Tea near Cape Tribulation — Old machinery at Daintree Tea on the drive from Cairns to Cape Tribulation. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions

Further up is Daintree Tea. The rainforest abruptly stops, and gives way to a neatly-planted tea plantation. Some old tea-making machinery is outside, including driers, extractors and the rotovanes that crush leaves between paddles. An honesty box system operates for anyone wishing to buy some of the tea that’s proudly 100% Australian-owned, processed and packaged – and has been since 1978.

Before arriving in Cape Tribulation, you can also stroll along the Marrdja Boardwalk or take a look at the glorious Noah Beach.

Once there are plenty of things to do in Cape Tribulation itself, including horse riding, dips in Mason’s Swimming Hole and Great Barrier Reef snorkelling tours. Let’s hope you have a better time in Cape Tribulation than Captain Cook did…