A day in the Daintree

The Daintree is the oldest surviving rainforest in the world. On our day tour, we were lucky to have a guide who was not only knowledgeable and passionate about his topic, but also a natural storyteller.

We were hoping to see a wild Cassowary, but only saw signs telling drivers to watch out for them on the road; we liked this one that's been very creatively altered - the top one is a speed bump sign with additions:

We were a group of 8: our guide Cam, a couple from Melbourne, 2 fellows from California, a young woman from France, and us. Once Cam and the two other Aussies found out we were interested in local slang and idioms, the day was made even more fun. When we stopped for a morning break, it was a "smoko," where we had freshly made Lamingtons: sponge cake rolled in chocolate then coconut. Yum!

Further up the road we came to the Daintree river and waited for the cable ferry to take us across. On the South side of the river are the Lumholtz Tree Kangaroos, and on the North side there's a different kind - the Bennett Tree Kangaroos - why don't they mix?  Well, if they tried to cross the river they would be eaten by crocodiles!

A short walk through the rainforest takes you to the beach

Where two World Heritage Sites meet

At Thornton we walked on the beach - it's the only place in the world where two World Heritage listed sites meet - the Daintree Rainforest goes right down to the Great Barrier Reef. Poor James Cook had no idea the reef came in so close to shore and found out the hard way: his ship the Endevour went aground - he finally refloated it and was able to get into a spot to do repairs.  The place names around there reflect his mood: Cape Tribulation and Weary Bay for example.

After lunch we stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream Company - they make tropical fruit ice cream with fruit from their own orchard. There's still some privately owned land up there, but as it comes on the market the government is buying it back so that it goes into the National Park.

Heading south again, we turned inland and drove into a cattle station (ranch), where Cam parked the small van and we piled into an old 4x4 Toyota Landcruiser - so old he started it with a screwdriver! We sat on benches in the back - it was open top and sides. I'm not sure it had much of a muffler left - we roared along a narrow dusty track, up, down and around small hills, splashing through two creeks and at one point "chasing" two calves ahead of us until they turned off into the grass. In a clearing we parked, walked down a trail to a pristine natural pool filled by a lovely waterfall, and swam in the cool water.  We looked down at the fish, saw a few turtles, marvelled at the vegetation, and generally felt privileged to be in such a beautiful place on a sunny day.

This far upstream the water is too cold for crocodiles