Days 194- 196- The Daintree to Cairns

Day 194- Saturday, July 7th – World Heritage Daintree Rainforest

This area is so rich in things to see and wildlife and birds. From the cassowaries, to the brush turkeys to the small fowl roaming the Beach House property where we were staying, encounters with birds and animals continue to amaze us. We ventured south along the beach this morning to Kulki (Cape Tribulation Beach) via the mangroves, keeping a sharp watch out for crocs.
The Kulki picnic grounds are signed with numerous warnings about crocs, cassowaries as well as Lace Monitors, which are large (up to 3 metre) lizards. We felt that given a few minutes of searching, we would probably find one. It was, actually, a few seconds before Kevin spotted one a few metres from where we were standing. We photographed this one, with a length of 1.5 metres, as he moved into sunny spots to gather heat. Apparently this one has been know to steal food from picnic tables, just like raccoons back home.
The boys headed off to a “Jungle Surfing” tour where, connected to zip lines 24 metres above the ground, they move through the rainforest canopy. The boys told of great tour guides who taught them about the rainforest, its ecology and unique nature. These wet tropics have been identified as having the most biodiversity anywhere and are also the oldest living things on the earth. The species here are remnants of the continent Gondwana before it broke up into Australia and Antarctica many millions of years ago.
Colleen and I explored the local galleries and cafés and stopped at the Dragonfly for a latté and sticky date pudding, a staple around these parts. It was a short drive back to the Beach House.
The boys arrived back and Colleen and I immediately set out with “Stewie,” the kayak guide. We headed a few 100 metres down the road to his secret location where we would launch from Cape Tribulation Beach for a sunset kayak tour. These sit-on-top boats were different to paddle than our kayaks at home (these ones are absolutely guaranteed to get you wet) but we headed out into the calm waters and the dwindling light. The waters off the Cape were, however, quite rough, and the swell was significant, but this did not stop us from seeing the hundreds of crabs running along the rock, or the sea turtle along the fringing reef, and the boats moored near the Cape. The group was quite an international one, and we photographed a couple from Melbourne and 3 young women from the USA (who are on study exchanges) since we had our waterproof digital camera. We returned in near darkness, helped Stewie put all his boats and equipment away, and then chose to walk the trail back to the beach using our headlamps instead of the van ride back. Along the trail we had to tip-toe around the large toads that crossed our path.
After hot showers to warm up (even the tropics have cool nights in the middle of winter), we walked back to the Bistro and ordered dinner. The boys played a round of pool and we topped off the great food with lattés, and liqueurs. Matheson and I phoned home as we studied the night marsupials that roam the Beach House grounds near the telephone booth.

Ahhhh….we slept well.


Day 195- Sunday, July 8th- The Bloomfield Track, Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Settlement and Bloomfield Falls

We had to be ready to go on our tour by 7:30 a.m. so an early rise was in order. An inquisitive cassowary twice interrupted our breakfast at the outdoor kitchen. Our 4WD Toyota Landcruiser from Mason’s Tours arrived, driven by Tony, a retired senior Australian Government employee. He seemed to know the answer to every question about the history and science of the area, as well as how to handle the Bloomfield Track and its numerous river crossings and the steep (up to 33%!) gradients. We were joined by 2 families who had set up a vacation rendezvous in Australia. The 4 parents, who had been neighbours in New Jersey, were from NZ and Puerto Rico, Montreal and New York, respectively. In addition, a young woman who acted as a health policy advisor to a Labour MP from Sydney was on the trip. This profile, along with Toni and Marina, our local guides and their thorough knowledge of the area, made our travel conversations very interesting.
Our stops included river crossings, vistas and beaches on the way north. Probably the most beautiful was Cowie Beach at low tide, which had remnant mangrove and wonderful patterns in the sand left by the receding tides.
Crossing Melissa Creek in the dry season, we were told, is nothing compared to the art of “navigating” it in the wet, when the water is up to the windscreen and the snorkel on the air intake and the low range 1st gear are the only things keeping the turbo-diesel going.
We entered the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Territory and were met by the Walker family women who toured us through their land. We walked the track to Bloomfield Falls while Gloria explained the many traditional medicines used by their people. Keeping a continual eye open for crocs, we fed the fresh water perch that seemed to know that Gloria was touring another group. Gloria gave us permission to take photographs, and we learned quickly that she had a wonderful sense of humour and a rich knowledge of her people, their land and us, the tourists.
We began the ride back with a stop on the lookout over the Bloomfield River where crocs are normally seen. Apparently the crocs only show up on weekdays when the construction workers rebuilding the road on the other side (washed out last rainy season when over 8 metres of rain fell!) make their appearance. Weekends are usually a no show as was today.
We arrived back at the river crossing for morning tea and a swim. The sun was bright and the air was slightly cool, but nothing compared to the water in the swimming hole. Most of us changed into “bathers” and I was the first one in, much to my shock. It was a relief to know that there was a hospital back in Wujal Wujal, if I required a restart.
The locally grown tea and Mrs. Mason’s (the tour company owner) homemade coconut chocolate chip biscuits warmed us quickly after the swim. It is hard to imagine that there is water in a tropical creek that could be as cold as 13°C, cold enough for trout. Because we were up in the mountains, there were no crocs in this pool. It was a wonderful stopover.
Continuing on down the track, we arrived back at the Beach House to discover another cassowary in the parking lot. Most of us needed an afternoon nap, the boys in their beds, Colleen on the beach, me in a chair watching the Australian Geographic DVD about the Rainforest that the Aboriginal Women had given us.
Later, we prepared a quick pasta dinner (and moved inside again while another large cassowary intruded) and then waited for the Jungle Surfing van to pick us up for our night walk.
The night walk was a rugged 2-hour tour near the mountains focusing on creatures of the night. We enjoyed ourselves but the guide admitted that this was the least active night he had ever seen, due to the dryness of the forest, and the unseasonably cool temperatures. Most of our encounters were with plants and insects, which you should remember, if you are a student of ecology, are the bottom layers of the food pyramid. It’s just that the pyramid here has such a large base and that the larger creatures are few and far between. The sounds of the rainforest at night are amazing, and could easily frighten. We were back in our beds and asleep in no time.


Day 196- Monday, July 9th- “You’re not back in Toorak…”

Another early morning, as we had to check out and make the trek south to Cooper Creek for a boat tour and some croc spotting. The tour guide was knowledgeable about the local environment, particularly the estuarine environment. The crocs were sunning on the wide bends in the creek, and we were able to get uncomfortably close.
We lunched at Café by the Sea, another Lonely Planet recommendation, where the legendary grilled Barramundi Burgers are topped with carrot and beet shavings, special sauce and more than meet the description in the guidebooks. While sitting in the cool breeze next to the beach, one of the tour guides we had seen earlier at the Creek had his 4WD Landcruiser blocked by a rental red mini-Hyundai. Hoping not to have to crunch it to get out, he surveyed the customers at the café. Once he found the culprits, his “You’re not back in Toorak, ya’ know, mate,” put them in their place. Toorak, for the Melbourne challenged, is a swanky part of the city near downtown.
We continued on towards Cairns, making stops at the Daintree Ice Cream Company’s orchard, to try Apple-Rhubarb, Yellow Sapoté, (and two other flavours we cannot remember) and the Daintree crossing to buy local bananas.
We found the Sunland Caravan Park in Cairns after a few circles of the block and discovered our little cabin in the trailer park to be very clean and comfortable.
If you have not yet had it explained to you, caravan parks in Australia have very nice cabins on site that have every amenity, including a kitchen, BBQ, pool, store and internet café, at a price much lower than any hotel room or condo. They are usually more comfortable too, with table, chairs, couch, ensuite, and TV.
It was however, one of the coldest nights ever recorded in a tropical winter in Cairns, and the comfortable beds were somewhat useless against the +5 °C night air. We vowed to ask for more blankets for Tuesday night.