Our last organised tour from Port Douglas took us on a full day trip to the Daintree Rainforest area of Queensland. We were picked up by ‘Uncle Nev’ early doors, and made our way to Mossman Gorge. Named after an Australian Geologist, the gorge has an aerial walkway through the rainforest that leads to a beautiful river which only the day before we visited played out a daring rescue of a couple of tourists caught in a flash flood! Uncle Nev and 3 others on his tour came across the couple who had been washed away by the river which had risen over 2 meters in 5 minutes. They were clinging onto a rock after they were swept over 500m down river but only had a few minor cuts and bruises.
Anyway, when we got there the river looked normal again, but we decided a swim was probably not the best idea!
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| DANGER!!! |
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| Ahhhhhh |
On our way through the gorge, Nev pointed out different types of trees and plants and explained their significance to the area as a whole. If you take away one type of tree it can lead to the loss of several other plants, animals and birds.
Solar Cruise was our next adventure – a solar powered croc spotting boat trip along the Daintree River. It was high tide, breeding season and no rain had fallen for at least an hour so Dave our tour guide prepared us for a no show. Within 5 minutes we had a croc!
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| Crocodylidae; today's Latin lesson. |
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| Mangrove |
It turned out to be the only one we saw, and the frogs were hiding too, but the mangroves, birds and guide kept us entertained!
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| More rain! |
We crossed the river, got back in the motor and made our way through the mountains to Cape Tribulation. On our way we passed through tea plantations, orchards and farms, and true to form being a rainforest, it rained!
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| Tea |
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| Pretty |
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| Can you see the sea? |
The cape named by Captain Cook based on the perilous coastline and reefs, is the place ‘where the rainforest meets to sea’. It’s easy to see why.
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| The Cape |
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| The sun came out! |
Being a rainforest and a beach, the wildlife was again plentiful.
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| Creepy |
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The Stinging Tree. 1000 worse than a nettle and stings can be fatal |
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| Crabby |
But there was one creature that we desperately wanted to see; a Cassowary. A large bird, 2m tall, and very dangerous thanks to their speed , power and razor sharp claws, they are only found in Daintree and are close to extinction thanks to destruction of the forest. Sightings are rare – but we saw one. Briefly. Apologies for the photo – a combination of being dark, being miles away and not much time to capture him before he went!
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| Cassowary; Almost extinct |
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| 'Traditional' apparently. Rusty definitely |
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| What a load of bull |
Our last stop was Cassowary Falls, reached by a 1950s Land Rover Defender through a local old fashioned beef farm! So bumpy but good fun.
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| Still going strong |
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| Uncle Nev |
The falls were awesome compared to Barron Falls in Kuranda the day before, and the pool was full of turtles and Eric the blue eel!
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| A proper waterfall! |
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| Eric |
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| Wet! |
A great day out!
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