Daintree National Forest

"Scarface"


Cape Tribulation


From left to right: Gloria, Tutu (aka Grandma Karen), Caitlin, Sean, Kailani and Baby Bear (Kai's beat-up best friend since last December, who's travelled 14 countries without a passport!)

08.05.08: We did another full day tour, this time up North to the Daintree National Forest, anther UNESCO World Heritage Sight. The tour company, Tony’s Tours, didn’t allow children on their “standard” tours, which usually hold 6-8 passengers. But, because we had 4 adults plus Kailani, it was cheaper to charter our own car, rather than the four of us going and getting an all-day babysitter for Kailani. We quickly found out why they don’t normally allow children when Kailani had a temper tantrum getting into the car seat and kept squirming out. I guess she really got used to not having to sit in one for the last 3 months in Asia. Chris, our guide, could not drive without her being in her seat, and had to pull over several times. But finally, with the help of movies on the PSP, she cooperated. Our first stop was a stroll around the Mossman gorge. Chris explained the evolution of the forest, pointed out several indigenous plants, toxic fruits and how they were used as medicine. We also had a rare sighting of a platypus. Then, we jumped on a boat cruise up a river for more crocodile sightings. This time, there were more crocs cruising around and the driver could get us up pretty close. He all knew them by name, ie “Fat Albert” and “Scarface”. Fat Albert WAS pretty huge! Next, we drove up the road and stopped for tea and a stroll on the beach at Cape Tribulation, where Captain Cook sailed his damaged ship for repairs. It was very scenic. We also saw a HUGE lizard just cruising around the picnic area. It must have been at least 6 feet long. It’s so hard to believe that those things are allowed to just roam freely amongst us tourists! Our next stop was for a picnic lunch, swim in the river and stroll through a private area in the Daintree National forest. Lunch was grilled steak, sausage and fish, several salads and damper. The later is a non-yeast bread, offered throughout Australia but the best was our first. It is eaten with butter and “brown syrup”. The bottle didn’t say what it’s made of, but it tastes like honey. Of course, you could also eat your damper with vegemite. But after a micro-taste of the stuff, I opted for the mystery syrup. The swim was in freezing cold water. But, Chris guaranteed that crocs won’t be swimming with you. They are smarter than us humans, and don’t swim in water that cold! I’m pretty sure we burned off our lunch trying to stay warm in the water. Later, Chris, who was getting married to a Thai woman two days later, gave us more commentary of all the indigenous animals and plants, the later was 80-90% toxic to humans. He pointed out soo many plants, trees and creatures in the forest walk that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Overall we were very impressed with the day, especially with the information we learned from Chris. Hope he had a good wedding!