Daintree Delights

A full day ahead up into Daintree rainforest with Daintree Discovery Tours. We are picked up by our guide for our tour early in the morning and drive north pass the sugar cane fields, where we see the cane cutters in action for the first time whilst in Australia. We stop off at Mossman Gorge and use an aerial walkway where we spot an unusual lizard that the guide gets all excited about. Then it's off to the river and a boat ride along the Daintree River, searching for crocodiles. And crocodiles we do see, mainly basking on the sandy shore in the morning sun, paying no attention to us at all. We then head up towards Cape Tribulation, so named by Captain Cook in 1770 after his ship ran aground because "here begun all our troubles". We walk through a tropical forest to reach a wide, curving sandy beach - Captain Cook really missed appreciating the beauty of theb each back then! Then we re-enter the rainforest, and Alex spots a massive python, curled on a branch about 50 feet up a tree. At lunchtime, we get out at a private spot deep in the rainforest at Diwan. Whilst the guide is preparing lunch, we go for a stroll in the forest and suddenly spot the mysterious Cassowary. It is a male and he's making a deep grumbling sound, which we had already been told by the guide was a warning sign usually because there were chicks about. And we do see the small chick, but only just, as its light brown colour meant it blended into the forest background. After this excitement, we head down to Dagmar and after changing vehicle to a 4x4, go down a rough, bouncy track on private land far from any civilisation, until we reach a pool lined with trees and at the far end, a wonderful waterfall, called Cassowary Falls. The only way to get to the falls is to swim over, which is what Keith and Alex do, dodging the fish, eels and turtles that had come over to greet us. Diane decides just to watch and feed the fish and reptiles instead. It was a piece of paradise and we were reluctant to go.

We head back after that, having enjoyed a great day and get dropped off in town, for a final game of pool on our last night in Port Douglas. Tomorrow, off to Sydney!