Oct 26 - Crocs and Creeks

This morning we were up nice and early again (third day in a row!) for our trip to the rainforest, the Daintree River and Cape Tribulation. The tour bus picked us and some others up from the hostel and we stopped at a couple other places to get other people booked onto the trip. After a couple hours driving and a short stop for a muffin and drink, we arrived a the Daintree River and were greeted with some biscuits and fresh Daintree tea. Tasted like red rose to me, but I'm not a tea connoisseur. We all boarded a metal u-boat and it putted down the river a ways until the driver saw a baby croc on a log and pulled over to it to show us. It looked like a little lizard, but apparently it was only a couple months old. He turned the boat around and headed back up the river to where another boat was stopped and spotted the dominant male of that area, Scarface, named for his battle wounds from fights for dominance. The boat got plenty close and we all got good photos until something spooked the croc and it thrashed underwater and sped away. We saw another big croc named Nelson, who was challenging Scarface for his territory this Spring, which is supposed to lead to some magnificent fights in the water. The boat dropped us on the other side of the river where our tour bus had just gotten off the cable ferry. We all boarded the bus again and drove up a winding road through the rainforest past tea fields being harvested with a tractor. We crossed over a problematic creek that often floods the road and causes tour groups to become stranded on the other side often during the wet season (which has just begun). The creek was only about a foot deep, but the road was only maybe a foot above it and the guide told us that it can sometimes be under 10 or 12 feet of water. We crossed over another creek on a sketchy wooden bridge made of railway ties that had been closed the previous week for structural repairs. It set in that this was a pretty remote area. Soon after we came to the Maja boardwalk which looped through the rainforest. We followed our guide through as he explained various types of vegetation. After our walk we went up to a place called PK's in Cape Tribulation for lunch, which was as far north as we got. We got some free time to go explore the empty, beautiful, tropical beach and then had a tasty lunch of chicken wraps with fries. We loaded back on the bus and it departed south back down the road. We stopped at an orchard for fresh, natural ice cream that was made with the fruits, seeds, nuts and roots of the surrounding trees in the orchards. We each got a sample bowl of 4 flavors; raspberry, mango, soursop (which was like a lemony flavor), and wattleseed (which tasted like a mild mocha). The bus went straight over to the Alexandria Bay lookout for us to enjoy the view with our cold treats and then drove back to the ferry and crossed back over the croc-infested Daintree. Shortly after, we stopped at the Mossman Gorge, where we walked a trail to a swinging metal bridge and then swam in the cold (freezing cold!) river that was 100% crocodile free. After drying off, we drove to Port Douglas and browsed the shops while the bus refueled then drove back to Cairns. As we were leaving Port Douglas we saw hundreds of big bats (probably flying foxes) in the air over the trees of the fringing forest. Super creepy, like an Alfred Hitchcock film.

Back at Gilligan's we had supper with the Irish gals and it was a traditional Irish meal or mashed potatoes with mincemeat, carrots and onions. A little bland, but not bad. Certainly was nice to eat a homecooked-style meal after so many meals at restaurants. Watched some tv, then said our goodbyes and tried to get a few hours of sleep before we had to get up at 3 AM to go to the airport for a flight to Melbourne. These early mornings are getting old really fast...