Deep into the Australian Rainforest: Daintree

Cow Bay

Croc Warning Signs

  We had a couple of days to relax after our intensive diving adventure on the Great Barrier Reef so we rented a car and drove into the rainforest north of Cairns to immerse ourselves in a totally different environment. While reef is home to a majority of Australia's marine life, the rainforest is home to a majority of the terrestrial animals. Scientist come from all over the country and the world to study the plants and animals here. It took a while for Australia to start protecting the area but slowly over the last few decades more and more rainforest land has been put under a protective management. This is so important because many of the plants and animals you find here are endemic, so this is the only place in the world they can be seen.

Thornton Beach

 Thanks to a recommendation from a couple of friends we stayed at a place way out in the middle of the Daintree rainforest called Crocodylus Village. The rooms were pretty basic, with mosquito nets over the beds, but the view when you opened your front door was dense rainforest. There is a chance of seeing almost any animal right from your front porch. Apparently some guest have had to wait for showers because a curious Cassowary was camped in front of the communal shower door before.

Croc Tour on Cooper's Creek

The Daintree River winding out to the Ocean

Unfortunately our night wildlife hike was canceled due to persistent rain but we were able to fit in several day hikes into the jungle. The boys came across a prehistoric looking lizard called a Boyd's Tree Dragon. They cling vertically to trees and wait for passing bugs. Despite having cassowary crossing signs every couple of miles on the roads we did not spot one of the huge birds, but we did see some of the vibrant blue fruit that it eats. Passing through a cassowary's digestive tract is the only way for the seeds to become viable.

Can you find the croc?

ing into the Coral Sea. Female crocs hold their territory in these rivers while males cruise in from the ocean to mingle with the gals.
  One of my favorite parts of visiting this region was listening to some of the locals. The dialect and accent here are vastly different than the southern cities. Imagine a crocodile Dundee accent times ten. It was hard to understand everything but it was mostly about beer, crocs, and rugby. The owner of Crocodylus was extremely nice, giving us all kinds of suggestions of things to do. We all got a kick out of the fact that he looked just like the famous surfer Gerry Lopez.
  Our second day was beautiful and sunny as we slowly made our way back down to Cairns. The road through the rainforest up to Cooktown would be a very fun experience, some of it 4wd, but we have surfing on the mind and a flight to Bali to catch.