Daintree Rainforest

Even the little spiders were cool.

Yesterday was rainforest day.  This rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world, is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland, a UNESCO World Heritage site, just like the Great Barrier Reef we’d been snorkeling in.  I’ve never been in a rainforest before, at least not that I know of, so was pretty excited to see what this was all about.  We drove through a lot of sugar cane fields on our way up to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation beach.  Once we got into the rainforest, we were amazed at just how lush and green it all was.  We got to see this all from the comfort of the bus, but when we got out to look at some of the views, we saw beautiful butterflies and funny looking birds. 

This is some kind of turkey, but his tail spread up and down instead of left to right.  We saw him in the forest too, but he was easier to photograph in the parking lot :)

We went on a cruise up the Daintree River.  When we were packing to leave the room in the morning, we thought, hmmm, should we bring raincoats?  Then decided since it IS the rainforest, it might be a good idea.  Sure enough, as soon as we left the visitor’s center to head for the boat, it started pouring!  This wasn’t some wimpy Dublin drizzle, this was a downpour!  We got our coats out and on pretty fast, and we were the only semi-dry ones on the boat.  Luckily it quit about 5 minutes later, since the rain was still blowing in all the sides of the boat and our booties were getting pretty wet.

We weren’t on the river for more than 5 minutes before we spotted our first crocodile!  This one was lying on the bank so we could see her whole body.  We saw two more, but both were in the water with just the tops of their heads showing.  

We didn't see crocs on this beach, but our tour guide said they are common on the beaches near our hotel, eek!

We were also looking out for baby crocks and pythons, but those never made an appearance.  We did see some pretty birds and interesting plants though.  On the way back to our hotel we also got to see a Kookaburra, which just made me think of eating at Outback Steak House.  They have a wacky call, the tour guide described it as the laugh of a maniac, like the Jack Nicolson’s Joker.

There were quite a few other animals we were looking out for on the drive, including the dinosaur-eque Cassowary, but the only one of those we spotted was this statue.  Apparently bad storms a few years ago killed about 2/3 of the population, so not too surprising we weren’t able to see one.

We did also see a field full of Cockatoos, which was not at all how we imagined these birds would be in the wild, it was really cool!

One thing we saw more than enough of was giant spiders.  These Golden Orb Spiders were in many high spots, like in the rafters at the bathroom, but this one was right on the hand rail of the bridge, and we would have run right into it if someone hadn’t warned us.  You better believe I checked under the toilet seat and in the toilet paper holder before I used that bathroom!

Our lunch break was at a restaurant right in the middle of the rainforest, with open sides that made us feel like we were eating in a tropical paradise.  Which we were, of course.

The last stop was Mossman Gorge, which was more of the same rainforest, but also had a beautiful stream running through it.  We started off our visit there with a talk by an Indigenous Person (Aboriginal? Not sure which is the politically correct term).  He told us a bit about how they learn to live in the forest (while balancing that with more modern life) and walkabouts.  The showed us how they make the paint they put on themselves and why they do it.  One reason is so that it shows where they are from and what language they speak, which helps when they meet up with other tribes.  He also showed us that a species of Sassafras tree can be used to make soap by just soaking the fresh leaves in water and rubbing vigorously.  His talk was probably only 10 minutes, but it was really interesting.

Swimming in these rapids seemed dangerous to me, but he looked like he knew what he was doing and was having fun.

This was a long day for us, 9 hours total with most of that on the bus driving back and forth.  In the end though, we were super glad that we did it and felt like we got to see a whole new world.