Daintree Rain Forest

Today, the rain cleared in the early morning just in time for an all day excursion to the Daintree Rain Forest area. Our driver, Peter, picked us up at 7:30am along with 5 others and he guided us through many stops during the day. It's amazing that sometimes these Aussies seem to be speaking the same language, but inevitably there are times when an interpreter is necessary. On the other hand, he indicated to us early on in the day that we seemed to have funny accents. Guess it goes both ways.

Our first stop was the Mossman Gorge, which included a hike through some lush rain forest area. Once at the Gorge, we had an overlook of he river rushing down the gorge. We took some pics (imagine that), but they really did not do it justice. You can judge for yourself.

The next stop was a boat ride up the Daintree river to do some crocodile hunting. Well, it's not actually a hunt, but rather trying to spot one. We saw 2 or 3 little ones and the boat operator maneuvered his boat pretty close to these ones, but on the way back we managed to see a pretty big one sunning himself on a sand bar. Seeing these crocs up close was actually a little intimidating. I'm glad we were a pretty safe distance away.

We stopped at an overlook at the top of the mountain where we could see the mouth of the Daintree River emptying into the Coral Sea. Again, it's really hard to capture that accurately in a picture. After that stop, we went to a beach at Cape Tribulation, which was named that by Captain Cook during his very difficult voyage through there. It was really a beautiful area that doesn't seem to merit that name, but we'll have to take Capt. Cook's word for it. On the beach, the tiny crabs that burrow under the sand create designs from the sand that they expel from the holes they are digging. They make tiny sand balls about the size of BBs and push them up the hole in the sand. After doing this, it leaves behind an incredible pattern in the sand that looks almost planned.

On the way out, the guide showed us these green ants that inhabit the rain forest. He would put his finger close to the leaf they were on and they would reach out trying to bite him. He said that if these ants were successful in biting you, you would have to pull them off you in the same manner as if you were removing a tick. Nice, huh? We also saw a pretty good sized Monitor Lizard here.

After stopping for luch, we headed out for an area that was supposed to have a waterfall. What we didn't realize is that the last part of that trek was going to be done in the back of a 4WD Land Rover that looked like it transported troops in WWII. That ride was quite an experience, but once we got there, the payoff was pretty cool. The falls were pretty amazing, but it had a pretty good sized swimming hole underneath it that was incredible. Even Judy went in the water, even though we have no photographic evidence of it. What a great way to end the day!

Tomorrow, we head out by shuttle to Cairns in order to catch our 4th flight in 6 days to Melbourne. Most to the day will be eaten up by travel unfortunately. Hopefully, the rain has also cleared down south by the time we get there.