Grant and Rae's Oz Trip Feb/Mar 2014

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Had a lovely meal out last night with Sue and Mick. Rae and I shared the tiramasu for dessert......just as well as it was huge!

The hotel got a call to say that our pick-up was pushed back till 08.40 so we wandered around the ponds of the hotel, seeing koi carp, barramundi (big fish!), and a couple of turtles (smaller than the Barrier Reef one). The coach duly arrived and we set off for the Mossman Gorge Centre where we had a cup of Daintree tea and a muffin sort of thing. The weather was appropriate for a visit to the rainforest........wet but warm. We participated in an indigenous welcome ceremony by a member of the the local tribe (or mob, as they call them here), the Kuku Yalanji - the bark of an eucalyptus tree was put on a fire and we walked in a circle through the smoke. Then we went for a short walk through the rainforest along the Mossman Gorge where the river was in torrent after 16 inches of rain last night! Pics 1, 2 and 3.

We then headed up to Noah's Creek at Daintree for lunch........this involved a very interesting crossing of the Daintree River on a cable-driven/pulled ferry, given that the river was in spate. As we neared the far side, we noticed that there was a large tree caught on the cable, preventing us from landing........so we had to return to the bank that we had set off from........to pick up a guy with a chain saw! It obviously wasn't the first time that this had happened. So we set off back across where the chain saw guy (wearing, as some wag put it "safety flip flops!) chopped the tree up and freed the cable for us to land (pics 4, 5). We reached the lunch stop and had a great bbq......luckily it was covered! Afterwards we headed to Cape Tribulation (named thus because Cook had run aground there).........super beach but the weather didn't do anything to enhance its appearance (pic 6). Then it was back to the river........for a cruise, with a very passionate, pro-crocodile and Great White guide "Anyone who gets attacked by a crocodile is a moron who obviously can't read (the numerous warning notices) and stands in or very close to the water". As I mentioned before, I admire their irreverent attitude! Fortunately or otherwise, we didn't see any salt-water crocs but it was a very entertaining journey! Mind you, the fact that the river was 2 metres higher than usual didn't help the spotting. But we did get close up to the mangrove swamps. (Pics 7, 8, 9.) Exiting the cruise was also fun, "walking the plank" because it wasn't the normal drop-off point.

Returned to the hotel with no further incident.........to pack for tomorrow and our trip to Brisbane, then Noosa.

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