Where Reef Meets Rainforest

Around Cairns Australia,
Thursday, October 14th to Saturday, October 16th, 2010

Thursday (October 14th) I woke up.....none too early I might add, to nothing but rain. It seemed like my careful trip/weather planning had paid off because I had 2 beautiful days where I did stuff and one not so nice day where I had planned on doing nothing. I would have liked to have spent more time by the pool but hey I watched some Commonwealth Games coverage (netball? not enough like basketball just so you know) and enjoyed the day. I did venture out of my hotel long enough to book another day trip for Friday.

A little grey and overcast but I assure you that did not last. It was a truly beautiful day!!!

I decided I needed to make a trip to a place called Cape Tribulation. I am told this is one of the only places you will find 2 World Heritage sites next to each other. Those being the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics (Rain forest) Heritage Area.

My day started very early with a 0650 pick up at my hotel. Turns out it probably didn't need to be that early since I was the second of 2 stops that morning and there were only 3 of us along for the ride. But that was ok. It ensured at least our morning would run on schedule.

The tour offered a few different options (so everyone did not have to do all the same things all the time) so instead of heading to another Wild Life Park (as cute as the wallabies and stuff are.....I've seen enough) I went to explore Port Douglas. Many people have told me that they like it better than Cairns. It is a little quieter and a little less touristy and a lot more family resorty but at 0800 when I arrived.....it was a little too closed for my liking. I did manage to check out a few things however.

Not a little house. This is actually a little wedding chapel. St. Mary's by the Sea (that's it's name) was originally built in 1880, destroyed by a cyclone and then rebuilt (all in 1911) and then in 1988 it was moved here. Not a very big place but a popular place for weddings.

Inside St. Mary's by the Sea. That window looks out onto the ocean and would be a lovely backdrop for any wedding.

One of the old buildings. It is now a restaurant and saloon. I would have liked to have checked out the inside. From the door you can see some very fun old stuff.

I also managed to find one store that was open and bought a very cute little dress. My overall impression on Port Douglas.......it would be a great place to spend a day but not sure I could handle much more than that......just a little to quiet for my taste.

After about an hour in town, I hopped back in the van, we picked up the others at the wild life park and continued our trek north towards Daintree National Park.

Crossing the Daintree River via cable ferry. We will spend more time discussing it later but this is home to many creatures including bull sharks and crocodiles. It originates as a fresh water river in the forest but here it is salt water. The temperature is affected by the ocean tides.

Once across the river we made our way through beautiful Daintree National Park. A very nice and scenic drive. I guess it can be a little treacherous during the Wet season but today it was very nice.

At the Alexandria lookout. Here you can see where the Daintree Forest, the Daintree River and the Coral sea meet. It was a beautiful spot and it was nice to see all the sun.

Someone having a little fun with the road signs. Really it is to help bring awareness to keep an eye out for cassowaries. I know I mentioned in a previous post about the importance of these birds to the rain forest. They are also very important to the aboriginal people who make the rain forest region their home. So if you find yourself in the Daintree slow down and watch for birds.

One of the fresh water streams that makes its way through the rain forest to the ocean. Our tour guide (Shane) was very nice and made a few stops so that we could take pictures.

Our destination through the rain forest was to Cape Tribulation Beach. Like the title suggests, this is where the great barrier reef and the rain forest meet. You can almost touch them both (well not the reef because there are Saltys (that's crocs) in the water) but you can at least touch the sand and the water.

Looking down the beach. Didn't get that much time to sit and relax but I did take about 30 minutes to enjoy the lack of people and the sunshine.

This area will often be under water during high tide but when it's dry it was a nice place to wander through. Got to see some bugs and some lizards but no crocs.

I always find boats that get stranded on the beach during low tide funny. Don't think he is heading anywhere for a few hours.

We enjoyed some lunch at a rain forest cafe. With such a small group (just 4 of us when you include Shane the tour guide) we were able to have a very nice lunch time conversation. After lunch we picked up a few more passengers (who had spent the night in the forest) and headed to our next destination. At first I was wishing that maybe I had booked a cabin and stayed in the rain forest for the night, but then I learned all about the bugs that attack at night and the constant forest noise so was glad I stayed in my little hotel in Cairns.

Our next stop was at the Marrdja Botanical boardwalk. Shane took us on a nice guided tour through the rain forest and pointed out a lot of the trees and other plant life. You will be happy to know that I had no run-ins with unfriendly insects or lizards or snakes.

Watch out it's slippery!!!!!

One of the neat trees you can find. This is a strangling fig. Basically it starts from the ground and grows it way up on the outside of another tree. It will eventually strangle the life out of that the tree and all that will be left is the fig.

The view from the inside of that fig. This is what it looks like once the inner tree dies and disappears.

It is still dry season so not much water on the forest floor. During the wet season the boardwalk is very necessary as it can get quite deep. It is a short walk (about 1 kilometre) but it is interesting to know that the boardwalk was built by just one man.

It was a nice relaxing walk with lots of stops so Shane could tell us things but once we left the rain forest we headed back to the Daintree River. This time though we weren't just crossing it, we got on a nice little boat that took us on a croc sighting tour. You will be happy to know that I have officially seen my first (and second and third) wild crocs.

Sailing down the river. Like I said before home to all kinds of things including crocs and bull sharks and pythons (yes pythons.....and they can get very, very big). The temperature changes with the tides and as the water temperature changes.....so does the location of the crocs.

The boat we took our tour on. Our guide was really great. He knows lots about crocs and the area and everything else you could need to know.

Can you see him? Just a little guy. About 1.5 metres (about 5 feet) long. He was hiding. There was a much bigger one around earlier but he went back upstream. Crocs are territorial and a males territory could be up to 10 kilometres (6 miles). He will be hiding so he doesn't get eaten. In Darwin we see way more crocs living within a close area because there are just too many of them so they can't defend their territory like in other areas.

Here's another one. He's about 2.5 metres (8 feet) long. We also saw a little hatchling (about 30 centimetres or 12 inches). I couldn't get a good picture of him because he hid so well.

Of course it was not just crocs that we got to spy on. He saw bugs and tent spiders and even a python. Just a little python....about 4 metres (13 feet)....all curled up and sleeping in a tree. I didn't take any picture. In fact I didn't really even look at it because as we all know I don't like snakes.

This is a rhinoceros beetle. I touched it. He hissed me.

After about an hour on the river, we headed back to the van and back into Cairns.

We stopped at one more lookout before we arrived back in Cairns. Such a pretty place.

It was a very full and enjoyable day. I hope to see some more (and bigger crocs) in Darwin. And hopefully I have seen my last python.

Saturday arrived which meant it was time for me to head home (to Darwin that is). I had to be out of my hotel by 1100 but my flight didn't leave until 1900 (7pm) so I packed my stuff, checked out of my hotel, stored my bags with the hotel and promptly walked back to the hotel pool. I hung out there for a few hours and then made my way downtown. Like many areas I have been to (including Darwin) where they have water but no beach, they have man-made lagoons that people can swim in. I hung out there for a bit....then went for some food and eventually made my way out to the airport.

The downtown lagoon area in Cairns. One of the nicest I have seen thus far. Much....much nicer than Darwin's.

My flight was quite interesting. I learned all about how much more relaxed airport security is when you are only on a domestic fight within Australia. No fluid restrictions over here. And I flew Quantas for the first time which was actually quite enjoyable. Imagine my surprise when on a 2.5 hour flight at 7 o'clock at night, I was woken up to eat dinner......provided free of charge.

The people who sat next to me were also very amusing. I pulled out my sleep sheet (an old sheet that mom has sewn together like a sleeping bag) and they felt it was the most ingenious thing they had ever seen. They figured mom should patent the deign and sell them online. I didn't have the heart to tell them they were already readliy available pretty much everywhere.

Eventually I made it back to Darwin where the temperature........was surprisingly lower than it was in Cairns. A great trip to the east coast had ended. So much more of Australia yet to see.

Julie