What a packed day! Wanted to fill my day up before I take the bus within a couple of hours to Townsville, so I did a Cape Tribulation tour to see the oldest rainforest in the world (that will tear the flesh of your body once you step one foot it in according to the awesome tour guide Doug, also known as Dundee) and met the wonderful Rima, nicknamed Rimsy, who happens to work at the hostel I’m staying. She’s on an exchange in Cairns and will be back in Sydney in two weeks, so I’m meeting up again in Sydney! Thank you my lovely kiwi, had a great day with you ^^ Got to love your enthusiasm.
On our way to the world heritage listed rainforest we drove along the coast to our first stop Mossman Gorge. See here my first non-selfie, huraaaay!
At Mossman Gorge there was a little fire smoke ceremony to welcome and protect us by a Kuku Yalanji and before we went on we got our faces painted.
Then we left to the heart of Gorge where we took some pictures on the suspension bridge and I took a swim in the cold, cold, I repeat, cold, but clear water. One thing I’ve learned from Doug is that if the water is clear, fast and cold it is safe to swim. If one of these factors is not there it’s probably dangerous. Crocs like to hide in dirty water, so they can see you, but you can’t see them. They’re really smart.
White belllaaaaay!!
Next stop was a cruise over the Daintree river to spot some snappers. These guys are highly intelligent. Our tour guide who dirt bikes, fishes and goes out on trips a lot, which I think is awesome, knows a lot about them. He told us a story of a crocodile observing his brother every day by the creek getting water, returning every time when he did, but not going after him just yet. He came back every day for four days just to observe his brother. On the last day Doug warned his brother not to get water this time, because he didn’t see the fellow anywhere. Meaning: he was hiding to not be seen and preying on his brother. When he took a branch and splashed the water a bit he knew he was right as the croc jumped out of the water to catch it.
Another example was the flooding of a while ago here up North due to a cyclone. A croc farm had flooded and they all escaped. The animals being hand fed all their lives though had no idea how to hunt. People kept seeing them on the streets, as he told it: asking for lollipops and leftovers. Knowing they would not survive on their own all of the escaped snappers returned on their own back to the farm except for two, instead of staying in the wild. Smart asses!
We did got lucky today and saw two crocs sunbathing! The weather wasn’t great, so there weren’t as many as usual.
When back on land we headed to the beach, where the forest meets the reef. On our way there we saw this warning sign for crossing Cassowaries. The bottom one was actually one for a speedbumb!
Rima and I loved it at the beach. It’s so beautiful out there we wished we could have stayed longer, but we didn’t want to miss our fish and chips!
Lunch for life!
After lunch we did a rainforest boardwalk where Doug explained why the rainforest is so dangerous (just keep in mind everything has a way of killing you, that’s all you need to know), but also why it’s so beautiful, like with this tree. Or actually the tree on the inside died, leaving what’s been growing on the outside shaped like the tree. Oh and I ate a green ant by the way! It tastes like a lemon/lime 😀
One of the other things I found very nice and reminded me of my cousins in Indonesia were the umbrella plants. I remember one of them using a leaf as an umbrella when it started raining (:
On our last sighting we ate ice cream flavored with all that comes out of the forest. I took a tub with black sapote and choc liquer, yum!
I’ve said goodbye to Rima now and am now off to find my other finds to say goodbye before I leave Cairns. Headed to Townsville <3