Day 75 Daintree Rainforest, Queensland

Early start today as we are being collected at 7:20 to be driven to the Daintree Rainforest in northern Queensland, one of the oldest rainforests on earth and a World Heritage site. Pretty much on the dot this Landcruiser 4x4 pulls up with Kerry our guide and driver for the day. Bill hops in the back and I grab the front seat as it was on offer. A short drive around the block and we pick up the other four passengers on the trip, Americans from New Jersey, Marguerite and her partner Dan who are studying for a semester at Brisbane Uni and their mothers Lesley and Lisa who are only here on holiday for a couple of weeks. After about 50km we crossed the Daintree River Ferry which is the main way into the Rainforest. This is a chainlink ferry just like the Sandbanks one so we were quite at home. Just after we crossed the river the heavens opened and the rainforest lived up to its name. The rain had slowed slightly by the time we reached the Alexandra lookout so we stopped for a photo rather than wait till the return trip and good job we did as the visibility was rubbish on the way back. We stopped briefly at Cape Tribulation but by this time it is chucking it down so Kerry decided that we will push on north and stop on the way back. The tarmac road ends here and only 4x4 vehicles can continue north. The published northern most stop on the tour was to be Bloomfield Falls but we couldn't get all the way there as the road had been washed away but we did get up around half way to just past Stingray Bay, so named by the stingrays that come in at high tide. The tide was out and it goes out for about half a mile and all that is left is a hole where they have been feeding. We then continued for a few kilometers further, crossing over several creeks that were rapidly filling up with the rain. he return journey took us to Cape Tribulation crossing back over the by now very swollen and fast flowing creeks for a cup of Daintree tea which is grown in the rainforest, very nice it was too. We were all getting quite wet each time we stopped; Bill and I had rainwear as well as the umbrellas they provided, but the others had only worn skimpy clothing and despite the warm rain and temperature were getting quite cold so we had to put the heating on in the car; Kerry didn't even know how this worked as he had never used it but thankfully those of us from colder climbs knew only too well how to switch it on! Just before lunch we stopped for a cruise down Copper Creek; well cruise is an interesting word that is used for pretty much any water travel these days. This was a vessel that put us in mind of the African Queen and the water looked pretty much the same as the film too. Not a croc in sight though, which is what we were looking for, save a snout of a small one that was only just visible. They were obviously staying in the water to keep out of the rain! Mangroves were on either side of the river where we spotted a very dejected looking Swamp Heron and a beautiful Kingfisher, but not much else unfortunaely. Lunch was at the Daintree ice cream company where we were scheduled to stop but not until later but they had a huge canopy which helped keep the rain off. Good lunch but identical to yesterdays; not really surprising as it run by the same company. The ice creams are all hand made on the premises and change daily using fruits, nuts and seeds that they also grow and there were beautiful tropical gardens here as well which would have been wonderful to walk around had the weather been better. The last stop on the tour was Mosman Gorge. This was the only boardwalk we went on as the rain had slowed a bit by then; we all got bitten to bits though even though we had liberally covered ourselves in repellent. The gorge itself was quite dramatic with the water flowing rapidly and consequently none of us felt like swimming. Apparently there are no "nasties" in this water but it was too fast for it to be safe, it didn't look too inviting either as it was very murky. Thirty minutes or so later we were back in Port Douglas where of course it was dry and whilst not sunny there was some blue sky visible.....