The Daintree Rainforest & Cape Tribulation are located north of Cairns and many tour companies offer day-long and overnight trips (there are backpacker accommodations available). I’m told its worth checking out so I sign up for one of the cheaper day-trip options, around $120. At this point I can’t remember which company I picked! Every hostel in Cairns will have a multitude of brochures for this area and they all offer similar itineraries.
Cape Trib (as it’s known locally) is actually part of the Daintree Rainforest and hosts a wide variety of tropical wildlife, including several endangered species like the Southern Cassowary. Crocs are plentiful and swimming can be dangerous but those areas are well-marked.
The drive up is scenic and I can’t help myself from snapping shots out the window. 99% of the time these photos are in vain, but I dig this one:
The highlight of our morning is a boat cruise up the Daintree River in search of snakes, birds, and crocs.
And within minutes we spot this croc lounging on the banks of the river:
Its mouth is wide open… can you make out the pink flesh in the photo below? Our guide explains this is because crocs regulate their body temperature this way. So this particular dude / lady isn’t striking a threatening pose, just cooling off.
Our eagle-eyed boat driver spots a snake slithering in a nearby tree.
A shot up the river:
Not sure what bird this is… ten points if you can name it!
Croc #2…
The roots of various trees take on fascinating shapes. These branch off (no pun intended) to soak up extra water.
And these are ribbon roots, named for its obvious shape:
This is a log-o-dile.
(Just seeing if you’re paying attention.)
And this dude is HUGE! The guides call him Scar because of the tissue blemishing the side of his face, probably earned in a fight (or two).
Our original tour guide (we have a separate boat guide) meets us on the other side of the river. There’s no bridge but a very small ferry shuttles vehicles back and forth. This fruit stand sits on the other side:
We pause at an overlook as our guide points out highlights in the distance. Steve Irwin died in 2006 while snorkeling on Batt Reef just off this shoreline when a stingray whipped up its tail and pierced his heart.
While Southern Cassowaries are rare, tours have a chance of spotting one along this stretch of road. Our driver sees one about every third trip up here. We don’t see one today (but I saw one in Mission Beach last week). This vandalized road sign makes us chuckle.
Our guide leads us on a walk through part of the Daintree Rainforest, pointing out species of animals and trees left and right while rattling off facts that would impress a long-tenured biology professor. Hikers passing by pause to listen to him a few times during our walk.
I don’t write down these tree, flower, and animal species so I’m afraid my blog commentary doesn’t hold a candle to our guide’s informative points. But please enjoy these pretty pictures…
These giant, circular green leaves capture my attention. How colorful and fun!
We eat lunch along a serene bay. During this time our driver drops off the overnight guests at their accommodation and returns with last night’s guests who will return to Cairns today. Those of us on the day-long tour have about an hour to eat and walk the beach.
After two months in Oz, I’m less than two weeks away from my own Aussie departure. So this sand message hits close to home:
After lunch we stop by the Daintree Ice Cream Company to sample their daily flavors.
For a mere $6, you can get a big cup with all four daily flavors. Each one is made in-house with local fruit. Often they mix in an exotic flavor, like today’s wattleseed, which I would think was coffee-flavored if I didn’t know better!
That green fruit below is a wattleseed:
Here’s my cup… it is delicious! I love each flavor.
Later that afternoon we spend time at Mossman Gorge.
The best part is an area where this deep jade color shines brightly. I don’t go swimming but it’s soothing just to soak up these views:
This suspension bridge provides a fun photo op:
Our final stop for the day is in Port Douglas. This city is a step above its southern neighbor, Cairns, as it receives all of the celebrity guests who visit the Great Barrier Reef (and prices of food, accommodation, and souvenirs are adjusted accordingly). Our guide rattles off recent celebrity visitors and I’ll do my best to recall them now: Lady Gaga, Pink, Kevin Bacon, and the Clintons, who have been repeat guests since Clinton’s first term as President (in fact, Wikipedia tells me that Bill Clinton was in Port Douglas when 9/11 happened and flew back to the States the next day, even though all commercial flights were grounded).
Since we’re running late we do a drive-by tour of Port Douglas, just enough to get a feel for this exclusive community. It’s worth noting that you can easily catch a bus here from Cairns and there are plenty of excellent beaches. I hear that snorkeling and scuba diving is much better up here too — Cairns is more popular, but the Port Douglas dive sites along the Great Barrier Reef are less-visited and consequently have better marine life on display.
This was a fun day trip. The best part was the wildlife, both on the river cruise and nature walk. If you have any free time in Cairns I’d recommend squeezing in a trip to the rainforest.
