Daintree Tour

Today we took a tour which included going down the Daintree River to look for crocodiles, a walk through a tropical rainforest, and some beach time at Cape Tribulation.

Enroute to our first stop, we saw lots of sugar cane fields and wallabies.

Due to significant flooding on the Daintree River in late January, supposedly the highest the river has flooded in 116 years, there was a lot of debris in the trees and mangroves. As a result of the flood, there were very few birds which is common after this area floods. In addition to looking for salt water crocodiles, we were also on the watch for water snakes and pythons who hang around in the trees. We saw a 2 to 3 metre long crocodile and some saw a young crocodile sunning himself on a log.

Interesting fact – the Daintree River drains into the ocean. When the tide comes in the river is salt water. During low tide, the water in the river reverts to fresh water.

Our next stop was a guided walk in the rainforest and our quest to find the cassowary. It is a flightless bird that grows up to 2 metres tall. It can be quite vicious if it feels threats by doing karate-like kicks to cut you with its sharp claw on its foot. The anticipated temperature in the area was 39c and in the rainforest, it was stiffling with the humidity.

The Daintree Rainforest is considered one of the oldest on the planet. One of the plants we saw only grows 1 cm per year and was about 4 metres tall making it over 400 years old.

Here are some other photos taken during the walk in the rainforest.

We then made our way to Cape Tribulation named by Captain James Cook in June 1770 after his ship, the Endeavour, decided to go through the Great Barrier Reef during a full moon and got grounded on the reef. The ship needed to be repaired and while this was underway, Captain Cook named the cape due to his trials and tribulations.

We had lunch while at Cape Tribulation where we informed to keep a look out for a salt water crocodile who has been in the area as well as mantra ray and sea turtles. We were also told not to go into the water due to stingers which seemed to be quite prevelent in the area as per the signs.

At Cape Tribulation is the one place on earth where, by standing with one foot on the beach and one in the water, you are standing in two UNESCO sites, the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.

On our return trip, we stopped for ice cream locally made with fruit grown in the orchard that surrounds the ice cream shop. We then stopped a local swimming hole to cool off. The water was clear but also warm.

We arrived back in Cairns shortly after 6 where we went to an Irish pub for dinner before heading back to our accommodations to get packed to leave tommorrow for Brisbane.