Next day I went on a trip to Cape Tripulation to experience the Tropical North of Queensland.
On the first day I got picked up at my accommodation and we drove to the Daintree National Park . The “scenic” drive there was really nice. According to the guide this road is second best after the Great Ocean Road .
First up was a cruise on the Daintree River to spot some crocs in the wild. We managed to see quite a few. Biggest one was about 2.5 metres lying on the bank and taking a nap. It was a cloudy day and so most of the crocodiles were in the water rather than taking a sun bath on the banks. There are supposed to be about 80-100 crocs in that river.
Daintree River |
Croc lying on the bank |
After that we did a boardwalk in the national forest.
Boardwalk thru the rainforest |
The guide knew a lot about the local environment and had a story for seemingly every plant. Unfortunately it was quite a large group and we were at the back not being able to fully understand what he was saying.
At about 12:30h we got dropped off at our location “PK’s Jungle Village ”. Great place to stay with a giant spider just next to your room.
All huts were mounted on stilts with some alarm sounding all the time. Apart from that it was situated in the middle of the rainforest with a lot of boardwalks around.
biggest spider I have seen in the wild |
All huts were mounted on stilts with some alarm sounding all the time. Apart from that it was situated in the middle of the rainforest with a lot of boardwalks around.
After checking in we went to the beach to have a look. It was a 30 min boardwalk to the beach and in windy and dull conditions the beach was not that great.
Cape Trip - Where the rainforest meets the beach |
In order not to have to go back the same way we had to cross a little creek. Usually I am not that fond of crocs and I would have never done it if I would not have been sure that there are none around.
We met some guys who just opened a coconut and so we were sitting at the beach eating coconut having the rainforest behind us and the big blue in front. This is as good as it can get.
After dinner we took the same walk again in the dark trying to catch a glimpse of any nocturnal wildlife. We saw some moths and something that I would identify as a bigger rat or possum. We just had one flashlight for four people and so we might have missed some animals. With the jungle quite dense there was no moonlight at all and you would not be able to see your hand in front of your face. If we had lost the torch or if it had failed, it would have been a long way home. We have not been that successful spotting animals but it was quite a interesting walk.
Afterwards we had a couple of bottles of red wine and had a chat ending a great day.
Next morning we walked to Cape Tripulation Beach , had to cross that river once again and got soaked up in pouring rain on our way home.
The coach picked us up at noon to head for Mosman Gorge.
A truly nice river with big boulders and a lot of current. We just had 30 min to explore the area, too little time to jump in for a quick swim.
Mossman Gorge - Those bolders are bigger than me |
On our way home we stopped at Alexandra Lookout where you can roughly see where Steve Irwin died.
Alexandra lookout |
The entire time I was looking out for a cassowary but didn’t get lucky. Slowly becoming my favourite too.
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