Daintree Rainforest

On Thursday I got the Billy Tea Safari tour around the Daintree rainforest. The weather once again
reverted to wet. (The locals are amazed it is this wet this time of the year. My talent strikes again.) But the bus could handle anything. It reminded me of a refurbished tank! And I swear our guide was the female version of Crocodile Dundee. I expected her to whip a knife out and tackle a croc at any point! She was born on a cattle ranch, raised with aboriginals, lived all over the world in huts, and is one of only 2 women driving these vehicles around here. She was awesome!

The Billy Tea Safari car/tank

The first stop was a crocodile cruise on the river. Well, actually the first stop was a cup of tea on the river bank and I got the chance to hold a baby (1 yr old) saltie. He was so cute. (Don't worry - his mouth was taped up but they released it immediately after. Even small he had some impressive teeth!). 

Holding a baby croc

The boat had open sides which was a little unnerving. After Hartley's I know how high and far they can jump! Luckily we didn't get any jumping. It was too cold for them to be doing anything. We did see a few big ones on the banks and swimming.

Big female croc, chilling on the beach

Lumpy, 3.5m male

We also saw some babies. They sit on the branches out of the water as it is too cold in the water for them at the moment.

4-12 week old 

1 yr old 

And his brother

And we were luckily enough to spot a green tree snake (or rather have a guide with super keen eyesight).

Green tree snake on cyclone debris

And we even saw a sea eagle.

edge tailed sea eagle

 The cyclone which came though a few months ago has caused a lot of damage. They showed us the
water levels and a wall of water 7m high came down the river in some places. Some sections of the rainforest have been destroyed and it will take decades for them to recover. But the river was still very pretty and peaceful.

Mango trees lining the river

We also had the delight of seeing a dead pig floating in the shallows. Though the smell was worse. (I was actually glad I have a cold!) Pigs are a pest here so people shot them. Instead of taking them to government disposal areas and filling out all the paperwork, they dump them in the river. The pigs in this area have a disease they can pass on to humans so they can't be eaten. But I could have done without seeing or smelling that!

After the river cruise, the bus meet us on the other side of the river and we went to Jindalba, part of the Daintree rainforest. The Daintree is the oldest rainforest in the world at 135 million yrs. It has a huge diversity in plant and animal life. (Our guide did tell us the numbers but I can't remember them all!) It was quite muddy and sloppy and one woman was unlucky enough to slip down the steps of the bus and really hurt her back on the metal steps. We were all extremely careful after that!

Red cedar - used to make shields and boomerangs

Creek 

Female cycad - prehistoric tree which had males and females  

Leaves used as umbrellas. Bark used to start fires

 We had lunch at a little cafe where Cathy, our guide, cooked BBQ. While she was cooked, I went with some others to feed the kangaroos. They had some old red kangaroos (who are mostly grey now), which were huge! And greedy! A lot of people ended up with muddy kangaroo paw prints on them.

Greedy and rude!

Serious shoulder muscles

Swamp wallaby - so cute

 Lunch was delicious. Though I think I eat most of a cow! And happily a lovely glass of wine.

Lovely lunch

 We also used to toilets to change into swimsuits as the next stop, we could swim later. We then drove
along the Bloomfield Track. I will admit I was a little unnerved on this part of the trip. The bus slide, slipped, fishtailed, and rolled! The "little potholes" reminded me of those in the Vicor of Dibley which she disappeared into. It was an interesting trip and proved I will not get travel sick. If a twisty bumpy road (like you were on a stormy ocean) with the car rolling (I got a better view of the road through my window than I care to see again but the bus rightened) doesn't make me sick, not much will!

But we arrived safely thanks to the expert driving of our guide. The Billy Tea Safari company are the only ones with a license to stop here so we had a little beach on the river to ourselves. The weather was still rubbish but some of us decided to swim anyway. While watching the car and jeeps run the gauntlet though the river (the road goes right through it!).

Branch of the Daintree

Crossing the "road" on the Bloomfield track

Taking a dip

After a dip (while the others laughed and watched), we got fresh fruit and billy tea, made in a traditional billy can. The fruit was very tasting. I have never had a custard apple before. It is really good! I need to look for them in the states. We had (on the back left to right) logan fruit, papaya and persimmon (and on the front left to right), tropical banana, I have no idea what the middle one was, and custard apple.

Tropical fruit selection

On the road there were lots of signs for different animals, some very funny.

Aussie humor

Jellyfish

Turtle crossing maybe? In the middle of the rainforest?

We stopped at Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook, when he saw it. He named it after all the troubles he had getting there. (He ended up traveling further up the coast to land and he did so at Cook town.) It is also known as Kulki to the tribe who live there, which means the meeting place of spirits. The beach is beautiful and I imagine paradise when sunny.

Beach at Cape Tribulation

Enjoying the beach, even in the rain

 The last stop was at the Daintree Ice Cream Company. We got 4 different flavors in one cup. Wattleseed tastes a bit like coffee (the one with the black specs in). The Jakfruit was my favorite, kind of like passionfruit and mango (the pale yellow one). We also got blackberry (pink obviously) and coconut (a surprise one on the bottom). It was a lot of ice-cream!

Daintree ice-cream

 On the way home, we were super lucky to see a Cassowary. He was a little baby and his dad must
have been killed (the mom lays the eggs and disappears - the dads hatch and rear the young) and he was all on his own! :-( Poor little thing. My photos didn't really work out. We didn't stay long as the poor thing was scared of us and didn't know what to do. All you can see is a little brown body in this middle of the picture.

Hiding baby cassowary

The trip back included a trip on the ferry (pulled by cables) back across the Daintree river, though we didn't see any more crocodiles. :-(

Crossing the Daintree back to Port Douglas

Millaa Millaa and other waterfalls.

Today I had booked a waterfalls circuit tour and was really excited. Unfortunately it started raining about 8pm last night and hasn't stopped since.
The tour group consisted of me and a backpacker called Paul. Luckily our guide was great and we all got on so instead of the tour guide spiel, we just chatted. Though the conversation did go some odd places. Like people with unhealthy attractions to donkeys, porn stars, and lots of political conversations.
Most of the stops were in the Wooroonoorn National Park. The first stop was at Babinda Boulders which is a lovely place to swim. When the weather is nice.

The swimming hole at Babinda Boulders

Just down from the swimming hole is Devil's Pool. The Aboriginal story is there were 2 lovers, Oolana and Dyga from different tribes who were not allowed to be together but feel in love. She was promised to someone else and his tribe were just visiting. When the elders figured out what was going on, his tribe decided to leave so they would not cause their hosts an insult. However the lovers found out and ran away. The elders caught them at the creek. They killed Dyga, the male. Oolana cried out and her tears increased the creek to a flood. She died there and her spirit now guards the boulders. Aborigines won't allow young men to swim near the pool as it is said she calls to them and they go to their deaths. At one point there was a camp near here for a year and 17 people drowned. All young men.

Waterfall at Devil's pool 

Devil's pool

 The second waterfall was Josephine Falls which is a lot bigger and even more dangerous so we didn't swim here either. This area is prone to flash floods (especially after all the rain we have had in the last 2 days) and people who do swim there frequently have to be rescued by the guides or sometimes helicopter. There are nice rocks you can slide down (like a natural water slide) and you see a lot of pictures of people doing that. But it just isn't worth the risk. Though we did see a group headed up to try it. No idea whether they all came back or not.

Top part of Josephine falls

At the lower viewing area (and very wet!)

The exclamation marks proves it is dangerous!

After a soggy walk to the falls, our guide prepared tea, coffee, banana bread and a large bowl of crisps (which we easily managed to get through) before a quick stop at Zillie falls (which is where I pretty much gave up on shoes - too wet and muddy!) and then heading to Millaa Millaa falls. This is supposed to be the waterfall from the Herbal Essences advert. And it was very pretty, even in the rain.

Zillie Falls

At Millaa Millaa 

 Millaa apparently means plenty. And saying it twice is an emphasis. So plenty plenty. Though no one has really said plenty of what? And of course despite the weather, I had to swim. Though it was touch and go as to whether I would actually get in. It was freezing! (This is the coldest of all the waterfalls we visit, it never really gets much warmer, and not many people actually so get in.) But I was only going to be here once!

In the falls

Looking up at the falls from the pool

Behind the falls.

The falls from underneath/behind

 It was worth it. Once you were in, it wasn't too bad. We swam behind the falls; the drops were really painful. But it was very cool. And we had the place to ourselves, which is rare. It is a really popular spot but we had the whole place as no one else wanted to go out in the rain.
After warming up and drying off, we went to a billabong and saw a wild platypus, which was really exciting. They are very shy and a lot smaller than I expected. Unfortunately I only had my small camera with me so none of my photos worked out, so you'll have to take my word for it!
We sat in the van for lunch (being just the 2 of us and the guide, we had plenty of space!) at Malanda falls before taking a walk through the rainforest. (The falls weren't very good there though I imagine a nice place to swim.)  There was also a really good information center which had lots on the geology, aboriginal history and wildlife. (And was a great place to warm up!)

Climbing fig tree on its host.

Tree fungi

Not sure what "acting the goat" means but I can guess.

 We spent most of the 2.5km walk looking for tree kangaroos but didn't see any. Back at the van, our guide had found one and showed us. There was no way I would have spotted it without being shown. They are pretty big and really not adapted to living in trees. Basically they used to live in trees and then the kangaroos and wallabies came down from the trees and lost all the adaptions which make living in a tree easier (opposable thumbs, jointed tail etc). And then for some reason some decided to go back up the trees. They now spend 90% of their time in the tops of the tree. I wish I had a photo but none of them came out. I am hoping in the Daintree to get a better one.
After the center we went to the curtain fig tree I was at the other day. It was only this point that the guide told us he was supposed to warn us about the stinger trees before we took the walk around the rainforest. As these trees give you at least 6 months of serious pain if you just brush up against it, we were luckily we didn't come across any. We did get attacked by "wait a whiles" as they are called, which are the vines with the spikes which grab you and you just have to wait and slowly extract yourself. But they mainly got the umbrellas. (Seriously it didn't stop raining all day and Monday looks the same.)
The final stop was Lake Eachum. This is the best place for swimming and warmer than Millaa Millaa. And as it was the last stop, we had to swim. Once Paul decided he was going to, I sort of had to! Though again it was hit and miss for a moment or two. It was still really cold getting in.
Lake Eachum is a volcanic crater which filled up with water so the sides are really steep. Once you get down the steps, you have to get it.

The lake (from surface level)

Proof I went swimming in the rain!

Paul carried on while I ran back to the van.
We headed back after the lake and I was really glad to be home, a hot shower, hot food and a glass of wine. It was a very interesting day and we were really luckily we all got on otherwise the whole day with 3 strangers could have be painful. It would have been a lot nicer if the weather had been better. But then we probably wouldn't have had the places to ourselves. So I guess you can't have everything.

Food and Wine Trail

Today I took a food and wine tour! There were only 9 of us on the tour and the group were all very friendly and lively! They were a lot of fun.
After everyone had been picked up, we headed up to the Atherton Tablelands which is about 30km outside Cairns. Most of the tablelands is farming and cattle.
The first stop was a coffee planation. The place was a little rundown as it was run by Bruno, 89, and his daughter, Maria, 65. Our tour guide Warwick gave us the rundown on how coffee is grown and harvested. Apparently coffee beans are only good if they are red so they have to be sorted by color.

Showing the coffee harvesting machine

Dodgy coffee shop but amazing coffee!!!

 The barn doubles as a coffee shop and shop. It was quite rundown, half was used to store boxes, and there were cobwebs everywhere. I was not very hopeful. But I decided to try a flat white again. And I am so glad I did. It was amazing! I loved it! It didn't have the biter taste of the other coffees I have tried. It was smooth and very tasty. I even brought myself some (though I also need to buy something to brew it in).
The second stop was at a fruit winery. It is too hot to grow grapes in Cairns but they grew lots of different types of tropical fruits so use that instead. I wasn't very impressed with the wines. They were mostly too sweet for me. The chocolate rum was nice. But then we tried the creams. And the one I didn't think I would like, Envy made with honeydew melon, was amazing. Very different.

Fruit wine selection

 After getting a little merry, we got back on the bus and headed to Wondaree Macadamia nut farm. (Wondaree means tree in aboriginal.) Unfortunately it started raining but we just did most of the tour in the bus and got out for a look when it stopped. The nuts are native to Queensland and the farm we went to was a lot smaller than it was a few years ago thanks to one of the cyclones which come through the area on a regular basis.

Joe showing the but harvesting tool

Playing with the harvester

Nut sorting

We tried 6 different flavors including smoked, sour cream and chive, and wasabi (the last 2 were my favorites). 

Then on to lunch. We stopped in a little outback town called Tolga (meaning red mud) and eat at the Tolga hotel. The meal was really tasting, fresh fish and salad. Everyone was very happy. 

After lunch, we headed for the bit of the tour I was looking forward to the most, the cheese and chocolate tasting. We had a short talk about the production of cheese and the history in the area, before going into the cafe for the tasting. We tried 3 locally made cheeses, a camembert, a swiss/cheder mix, and macadamia cheese, which had a very interesting toasted flavor. I got some of the macadamia and some Silk, which is the cows milk version on Halloumi which sounded interesting. We also tried a chocolate. I got the butterscotch and was happily surprised. The only problem was we only got the try one chocolate. But that didn't stop me from buying a bag of mixed chocolates!

Chocolate selection 

Cheese selection

Painted cow!

After that tasting we took a break from food and went to see the curtain fig tree. This one is estimated to be 500 years old. 

In front of the fig tree

roots of the fig tree

A seed gets dropped onto the branch of a tree, starts to grow there, and drops down roots to the soil. All of the long vertical parts in the photo are roots. The tree is only the top part. Eventually the fig tree gets so heavy it kills the tree it is attached to and pulls it over. This one killed another 2 trees as well. Then the roots get strong enough to support it. And because the top soil in the rainforest is shallow, too shallow to support something this size, the fig tree spreads its roots out once they reach the soil, sometimes for kilometers. 

Rainforest boardwalk

Our guide also showed us some other plants.
The climbing fern (I think called a strangler fern but I am not sure) uses the little spikes on the climb up a tree and get the leaves to the top of the canopy. And will really hurt if you brush pass them and get caught. (The spikes get bigger as the fern gets older.) It's nickname is a wait-a-while vine as when you get caught in it, you have to be very patient to get out (without losing skin).

Climbing fern

 This one looks harmless. But it has lots of little spikes covered in acid on both the leaves and the stems. If you brush past, the spikes get imbedded in your skin and water breaks down the acids. It feels like you have been burned and you feel that way for a few days. But the worse part is months or years down the line, you might get that part of the skin wet and there will be a few spikes which had escaped water previously. When the water hits, you get the pain all over again! And the plant looks so normal!

Stinger plant

The last stop of the day was at Lake Barrine to look at some 1000 yr old Kauri trees and for afternoon tea.

65 ft Kauri tree

Flowering plant, with its own water to trap bugs

Australian orchid

We had afternoon tea (scones with jam and cream) at the tea rooms on the lake. Unfortunately the weather was not great at this point.

Some of the group enjoying scones

Lake Barrine

                                     
We were all rather quiet on the way back, tired and full. The trip down was beautiful on a very twisty road. Luckily no one got travel sick. There are apparently over 360 turns in a 19km stretch of road. There were only a couple a straights which lasted longer than 10 secs so I can see how that is true.

My food selection.