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Cape Tribulation
On Tue 21 April we arrived back in Airlie Beach with several hours to fill before catching the overnight Greyhound to Cairns. We had some wine while we thought about what to do! I went to have my toenails painted while Tom caught up on his travel diary. We then collected our bags and had a meal before boarding the bus. It was a full bus and quite hot so we didn't get much sleep. It was a relief to arrive in Cairns at 5.45 Wednesday morning. We went to Mc Donald's for a coffee and sat outside as we waited to be picked up for our tour to Cape Tribulation at 7.15. Our indigenous guide, George, drove us North into the Daintree Rainforest and gave us all sorts of information about the flora and fauna of the rainforest. Our first stop was at the Alexandra Range lookout where we had views of the coast. We stopped for morning tea and crossed the Daintree River on a cable ferry, before going for a walk through the Marrdja rainforest on a boardwalk over a mangrove swamp system, with George pointing out trees, which haven't changed over millions of years, plants
and insects and how the Aborigines use the rainforest for food, medicine and shelter materials. At 12.30 we were dropped at our rainforest accommodation, Cape Tribulation Beach House Hostel. We had a double cabin with bathroom, a fridge and tea making facilities! It was only a stone's throw from the bar/restaurant, pool and beach. Perfect. We ate lunch in the open air restaurant. Tom had Barramundi with beer battered chips and I had a Cajun chicken wrap with fries and salad. It was excellent, especially when you consider it was prepared in a hostel the middle of a rainforest! Next morning we had breakfast Tom had Scrambled egg and I had Poached egg. At 8am we were picked up the Ocean Safari to travel out to Undine Reef for a morning's snorkelling with Cain and Jase. We travelled out to the reef on a rigid inflatable which stopped at two sites, Mackay and Undine that were quite close together. Both were equally good and we swam with a turtle, so Tom was happy! There were starfish and blue spotted rays and every shape colour and variety of fish you could imagine. It was another amazing experience. We went back to
the Beach House and caught up on some washing and then sat on the beach with a bottle of wine and watched the sun set. We had dinner in the restaurant. Tom had kangaroo with sweet potato gratin and I had Thai seafood curry with jasmine rice and again the food was excellent. The next day we were picked up at lunchtime to continue our tour and head back to Cairns. We went to the beach and met the other people on the tour then headed off to the Daintree Ice-cream Company. We had coconut, wattle, raspberry and jackfruit! We then went on a Crocodile River cruise with a really knowledgeable tour guide. We saw 4 crocs along the riverbank, one of which was approx 5 yrs old. Estuarine Crocodiles generally live for 80 years and rarely get ill. Even if they lose limbs they seem to heal and adapt. When we got off the boat Tom held a 2 yr old croc! From here we drove to Mossman Gorge where you could swim. Tom braved the water but it wasn't warm enough for me! From here we headed back to Cairns. It was a real mix of scenery and
one of the reasons why the Daintree Forest is a World Heritage site is because it's one of the only places where the rainforest meets the sea! The criteria for UNESCO World Heritage status are:
Outstanding examples representing the major stages of the earth’s evolutionary history,Outstanding examples representing significant ongoing geological processes, biological evolution and man’s interaction with the natural environment,Superlative natural phenomena, formations or features or areas of exceptional natural beauty, andThe most important and significant natural habitats where threatened species of plants and animals of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science and conservation still survive.
The Daintree Forest meets all of these.
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