May 19 - Daintree Rainforest and Crocodile Cruise

Fan palms in the forest

We were up bright and early for our drive up to Daintree Rainforest National Park. We had to cross a river on a barge -- Vic told us the state doesn't build a bridge there because the barge is a good way to limit traffic into a sensitive ecological area. This is actually the very first rainforest in the whole world, and has existed for an estimated 175 MILLION years. It is a World Heritage site and was saved from logging for its cabinet-worthy woods as the result of a national election promise in the 1980s that was actually carried out. The state it's in, Queensland, was not amused or happy because they got lots of revenue from the logging which had to stop immediately. They sued, but the Australian Supreme Court ruled that the needs of the country as a whole to preserve this unique area overrode state concerns about revenue. An interesting point is that the tourism income has now exceeded the logging income.

Our guide, Pru, had bought a huge swath here 21 years ago and now protects the land and leads tours. We saw very little wildlife, but there was a profusion of vegetation, many of the trees being over 1,500 years old. We saw a glimpse of a lovely rainbow-backed bird and a huge blue butterfly, but neither stuck around long enough to be photographed.

Pru shows us features of some young fan palms

Idiot fruit - poisonous. Cattlemen thought someone was
poisoning their herds when they died after eating this.

A kind of plum that only cassowaries can eat without dying

Rainforest trees have shallow root systems. The amount of rain
washes away ground nutrients, so there is no point in deep roots.

Our group in the rainforest

The twisty thing is probably a strangler fig

The edge of the forest where an orchard was planted long ago.
The rainforest is encroaching naturally and taking it back.

An ant's nest in a tree built using the tree's leaves.

Dragon lizard in a tree

Cassowaries are major players in the life cycle of many of the plants, but none were around today to be admired. Their population is reducing and this could have major impacts for the forest. Vic showed us a very funny road sign that had been modified -- lots of road signs show pictures of various animals, like kangaroos, and the cassowaries have one too. There is also a road sign advertising speed bumps that is a flat thick line with a rounded lump on top. Some clever person added feet to one end of the flat line and a bird head to the other, wrote 'BEFORE' on the cassowary sign and 'AFTER' on the modified speed bump sign. When a recent cyclone took the signs out, the local government PAID to have the customizing re-done.

This is the 'BEFORE' sign.

After an hour and a half walking thru rainforest, we stopped for tea and a muffin and Vic showed us an odd thing at the beach -- the sand was all rolled up in little balls and near the water's edge, dozens of tiny crabs were scurrying away.  They are soldier crabs that dig holes to survive under the sand, and the sand they burrow out forms the little balls. Sometimes, they create patterns of the balls, which we saw later in the day when we went to the beach at our hotel.

This is the dinky little crab....

that creates this interesting pattern of sand balls on the beach.

Next, we drove to the nearby Copper Creek area for a cruise through a river mangrove area, and spotted three crocodiles in the process.There are several kinds of mangroves, some better suited to the saltier water closer to the sea, some better inland. Female crocodiles stake out about 1 km of territory along the river bank and defend it, so we had good potential to see one. We struck it rich -- we saw a female in the water at a shallow spot in a bend in the river, and we were all thrilled. Then, just about the time we were going to turn around and go back, it looked like a log was crosswise to the flow of the river -- turned out it was a male croc (out of season) apparently checking out his chances because there was a female sunning herself on the bank. We watched as he slowly swam nearer -- she lifted her head, apparently to indicate that she was aware of him but otherwise totally ignored him. He swam right up to the bank, a bit past, and then came back before finally submerging and quietly slinking away. Really magical!

Red Mangroves -- better in saltier water

The other kind, that prefers fresher water

Older, taller trees have longer roots

The pointy things are 'snorkle roots'.

The first croc we spied

First croc, close up

Boy croc, apparently on the make

Girl on the bank he is interested in

He comes closer, she lifts her head.

Closer still

Rejected, he comes back to see if he can change her mind, then gives up.

After lunch at a lovely rainforest restaurant,we went for an ice cream -- 4 flavors: blackberry, passionfruit, wattle berry (sort of coffee/chocolate), and jackfruit (sweet but dull). There were more blue butterflies here and Jim actually managed to get a photo!

Finally, we went back to our hotel for a walk on the beach and dinner.