Cairns

Last week we went up North to Cairns for yet another nice week away. On Saturday we flew the 3 hrs it takes from Sydney to Cairns. When we got there our pre-booked rental car was ready and waiting for us (we received a free upgrade). And we took it up the scenic coastal drive of the Captain Cook Highway all the way up to Crocodylus Village situated in the Daintree Rainforest.

A lookout along the Captain Cook Hwy

Along the way we took our time and stopped at places of interest. We stopped for lunch in Port Douglas. And drove on to Mossman Gorge. A crystal clear river just outside Mossman. Here we spotted our first Boyd's Forest Dragon.

Mossman Gorge, Boyd's Forest Dragon

From Mossman Gorge we drove on to the Daintree River where we had to cross the Daintree River Ferry. Once you have crossed the ferry you know you have truly arrived in the Rainforest. It is as much symbolic as a feeling you get when driving off the ferry into the forest. We arrived just in time for the nightwalk 20.00 - 23.00 that we had booked at Crocodylus Village. At the nightwalk it was just another couple, us and our guide 'Possum'. Very knowledgable about all the rainforest plants and creatures we encountered on our trip. A land snail the size of your fist, white kneed crickets the size of a mouse, amethystine python, stick insects, Huntsman spiders, tree frogs, Cape York melomys and a pademelon.

White kneed cricket, Cape York Melomy
Amethystine python, Huntsman

Crocodylus Village is quite different from other places we have spent the night in -the way that their electricity is produced by a generator that is turned off between 12.00 - 06.00. The next morning we had to get up at 04.45 to catch the 06.00 ferry. And because it is pitch black in the rainforest at night they lent us a lantern so we had some light to get dressed by and to find our way from our hut through the rainforest to the reception area and the carpark. The rainforest is a wonderful place but if you are looking for a nice quiet night you are mistaken. If you sleep in a hut where a bit of canvas shields you from the outside world take note that the rainforest is full of sound at night and not at all the peaceful retreat you might expect it to be. There were numerous times we were awoken by the sound of crickets, frogs, birds, flying foxes. Needless to say we made it to the ferry just before 6AM and we saw hundreds of
flying foxes fly over. We had to catch the 6AM ferry in order to make our next tour. Daintree at dawn with Chris Dahlberg.

Welcome Swallow on the Daintree Ferry, Papuan Frogmouth

He has a list of all the birds we had seen or heard that morning 19/10/08 on his website. After that we went back to the Daintree rainforest and up to Cape Tribulation stopping at several boardwalk rainforest walks before we arrived at our next stop for the following 2 nights Cape Tribulation Resort & Spa where we stayed in their Rainforest Retreat cabins. Again insect mesh does not block out all the noises you hear at night. From here we did many more nice walks throughout the day.

On Monday it was time to go back to Cairns again. We had taken the coastal road up so we planned on driving back to Cairns via Atherton and the Hinterland and take the inland route. The landscape is remarkably different once you have crossed the Great Dividing Range. It's arid and there were heaps of huge termite mounds about. Midway we came across a sign with Mareeba Wetlands where we decided to drop in. It is quite amazing to see this little oasis. Because it was getting very warm again and we were time constrained we chose to do a bird watching cruise in one of the lagoons. Before we did the cruise the guide was kind enough to point out to me another amethystine python that was resting under the roof of the outhouse building. Again we had seen some beautiful birds among them an osprey and Jesus Birds.

Mareeba Wetlands, Jacana/Jesus Bird

?????, 3 cormerants

From here we drove on to Atherton and we followed the scenic drive along Lake Tinaroo. Which went from a nice bitumen road to a 28Km unsealed road our RAV4 would be jealous of. Sadly we had a standard 4-door rental car and progress was slow. When we finally reached bitumen again we stopped at the Cathedral Fig Tree. A huge strangler fig.

Unfortunately the photos don't do justice to its size

Than we had to rush on to Cairns as the City office of Europcar closes at 17.00. We made it in the nick of time, but it meant we didn't have time to check into the hotel first and now had to get a taxi for our suitcases. It was nice to sleep in a 'quiet' environment again. =) Although in the end I do think I still prefer the 'jungle'. The following morning we had again an early rise. (Whoever said a holiday was supposed to be relaxing?). At around 08.00 we were picked up for our 2 days of snorkelling and stay aboard the Ocean Quest (more catered for divers) on the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef. It was great we snorkelled 3 times at various places on the first day. And we finally saw Nemo. Of all the places where we had snorkelled on the reef before we have never seen him. Not sure why. And also for the first time we'd seen sharks, White Tip Reef Sharks. We each saw 3 of them and 2 we saw together.
In the evening there was some entertainment in the form of a movie and some of the staff members played some music on the coffee deck. When we went outside we turned our heads away from the ship's lights and the music and let our eyes adjust to the darkness. A night sky full of stars unfolded. Truly an amazing sight and we were the only ones seeing it and taking notice. On top of the boat it was even more amazing with Cairns being 65Km to the east there was no light pollution and you had an even more amazing 360 degree view of the Southern night skies.
The second day we had our first snorkel at around 06.00. Again an early morning but well worth it. Maybe because of where we were but it seemed we saw loads more fish. We also saw Green Sea Turtles one of them even chose to spend some time with us before swimming off again. In those 2 days we spent a total of 6 hours of good snorkelling. On the way back to Cairns the sea was a bit rough and so were some of the other passengers were worse for wear. Not us, fortunately. It was nice to be on dry land again.

Wildlife from Cairns' Esplanade:
Spoonbill, Pelicans, Fiddler Crabs and our favourite a huge Mudskipper

The next day we took it easy and walked around Cairns and visited the Cairns Wildlife Dome above the Cairns casino. A wonderful place to visit if you feel you haven't seen or are not able to see some of the wildlife the area has to offer. Because the tickets are valid for 5 days we decided to visit it again the next day in the time we had left in Cairns before we had to fly back again.

Saltwater Crocodile, Eastern Water Dragon,
Papuan Frogmouth, Eclectus Parrot

Funnily enough I said to Caroline how hard parrots can bite only the day before. And it was quite funny when we heard a shriek and saw an eclectus parrot that had landed on a man who promptly dropped his camera. After he left I wanted to have a closer look at this 'naughty parrot' that had now settled on some branches. An excellent photo opportunity and before I knew it the parrot was on my shoulder. It first tried to get my glasses so I quickly took those off and then it nibbled softly on my ear before digging its beak in my shirt piercing it 3 times and subsequently in my shoulder tearing the skin and also leaving a nice bruise. Of course the parrot was quite amused and did not want to leave anymore...... What a week it was.