It finally stopped raining before 7:00 this morning. Our plans for the day are to drive north of
Port Douglas on the only road going to the Daintree Rain Forest and on to Cape
Tribulation. Any travel north of Cape
Tribulation is on gravel roads requiring a 4x4 vehicle. At the Daintree River
you board a cable ferry to take you to the north side of the river. We stopped at all the lookouts, and walked
all of the trails, which are mostly on boardwalks as it is a soggy wet rainforest
area. The foliage (trees, ferns, vines) is
so interesting, the different varieties and the way they survive. We walked on the different beaches, saw the
bubbler sand crabs and the interesting designs they make on the sand with little
balls of sand. There is another creature that makes a design on the beach, but
as of yet, we do not know what it is.
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| The Drive into the Rain Forest |
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| Alexander Lookout over the coast |
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| Cal walking on Wonga Beach |
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| Wonga Beach - Notice how far the water is out at low tide |
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| Dubuji Rain Forest Walk - Boardwalk |
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| Many, many mature Fern Trees |
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| Unusual Root System for when under water during rainy season |
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| Basket Fern in the tree |
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| Basket fern up close |
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| Me Tarzan, where is Jane (Oh she is taking the photo) |
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| Small Water Falls along the road |
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| Cape Tribulation Beach |
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| Bubbler Crab design on the Cape Tribulation Beach |
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| Small Bubbler Crab - Very Quick down his hole |
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| One final view of Cape Tribulation |
It was our kind of day, exploring nature. Then on the last walk, (we were on the board
walk), I saw movement down below. It was
a male Southern Cassawary with a young one.
These are extremely rare to see. They located only in Australia and New
Guinea, and only this rainforest area. They are a big flightless bird with an interesting
life. The female only lays eggs, and
maybe from 2-3 males a season. The males
which are a colorful bird, sits on the nest, the eggs hatch, and he takes care
of the chicks until they are 18 months old – the females are off laying eggs
for other males to tend! It absolutely
amazing that we saw one! Guides in the area say they only see them about 20% of
the time. It finished off a wonderful day in nature.
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| Cow Bay Beach |
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| Rachel walking on Cow Bay Beach |
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| Warning Sign for the endangered Cassowary |
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| Unusual sighting in the wild - A male Cassowary with a chick he is caring for |
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| Flying Buttress Root on a Tree |
North of Port Douglas and even north of Mossman, the
tillable crop is sugarcane. An
unbelievable amount of acres is in sugar cane.
They go from the sea to the mountains.
The little sugar-rail tracks run north along the main road for at least
20 miles and they also are south of Port Douglas. Yesterday we visited with a sugar cane farmer
who said this area has what sugar cane needs to grow – sunlight, rain, &
warmth. There are several sugar mills in
this immediate area. We were just so
surprised to see sugar cane.
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| Crossing the river on a ferry |
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| More Sugar Cane |
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| The "Crystalized Sugar" - as we were told as a joke by a grower |
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| More Cane rail cars |
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| The engine moving the cane cars |
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| Mechanized Sugar Cane Harvester |
Yesterday during the Ironman race we met a Rotary couple
from Jacksonville, FL and had a short visit with them. Tonight as we were walking through downtown
Port Douglas deciding where we would eat, we ran into them again. They asked us to join them for pizza. We had good pizza and a great visit. It began
raining (pouring) as we were eating.
This is the tropics, and a rain forest area. The weather can change in
minutes – from sun to rain.
We are hoping the weather will agree tomorrow so we can see
the Great Barrier Reef before we leave Australia for New Zealand on Wednesday,
June 11.
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