First stop: Mossman Gorge. For my money… not worth the visit. Oh if it isn’t out of the way one where ever you are going stop. If it’s out of the way…. don’t waste your time.
The river tour felt like one of our Florida rivers. All except for the Crocodiles. In Florida we have Gators. We came across a momma and little one (no pic of the baby).
No one got out of the boat. Crocodiles are an apex predator. They will eat people. No questions asked. Everyone snapped some pics and we went looking for the Papa. The male Croc that inhabits this part of the river is said to be… huge. We didn’t see him. We heard how this rainforest is the oldest continuously surviving rainforest on Earth. We heard how scientists came to that conclusion. I’ll not bore you here but for any interested here you go. One pleasure boat had anchored in the river. No one was swimming. 🙂 We exited on the opposite side of the river and an hour later had lunch at an eco lodge.
Now, I’m all for eco tourism. However, I do like my air con. We had fans. Food was…. ok. I’m not going to brag about it. Actually, I can’t remember what exactly I had. After lunch we made our way to Cape Tribulation near Port Douglas. A walk
on the beach, more time for notes and two highlights.
We met to the Lawyer Vine. Not intimately. This vine hangs down from trees and rock walls. Covering the stem are heaps of biological fish hooks. They grab anything and everything on you
and hang on. They’ll rip skin off ya and make you bleed. Thus the “Lawyer” moniker. Another common name is the “Wait a While vine. If you run into one you will be waiting to untangle yourself from it.
As we left the cape the brightest spot in our day occurred. A Cassowary. W/ wanted to see one so badly and yet here she missed it. This bird can be dangerous to people. The last known recorded attack / death occurred in the 1920’s. And if you travel back millennia there is evidence that once they were domesticated. Not any more. Besides the danger to people they are an interesting bird. Many of the seeds in the rainforest germinate better after consumption by the big birds. Seeds having passed through the birds intestinal tract are clean and deposited in a large pile of fertilizer. Oft times a larger distances from consumption. And the primary care giver is the… male. My brief encounter near the parking lot had two chicks foraging around .
On our return from the cape we came across another male with two chicks. Here by the side of the road we could peak out the windows and door. He hung off the edge of the road. W/ scored. She now can mark a wild Cassawarry off her check list. Estimates are that there are about 60 living in the Daintree.
Sail Far
Stay Long