Tony's Tour

Daintree Rain Forest Stream

Pink flower at the tea house.

Baby estuarine crocodile outlined in red.

I never saw a cassowary but they are around here. : (

Pretty vine plastered to a tree trunk.

This palm is several centuries old.



The golden orb spider weaves a golden web.



Cape Tribulation in northeast Australia.

Today we left with Tony's tours to head north into the Daintree rain forest.  We were picked up at our apartment and toured with a retired couple from Canada and a dentist from England.  The woman from Canada had the same shoes as I did (Keen sandals).  Hers were purple and mine were green.  I had a purple shirt on and she had a green shirt on so I offered to trade but we weren't the same size so it never would have worked out.  Both of us loved our new sandals that we bought just for this trip.  The sandals were comfortable and supportive and leave funny looking tan marks on our feet.  Our first stop was the Mossman gorge.  Here I saw my first aborigine people who worked at the Mossman Gorge Visitor Center.  The center was brand new and our tour guide mentioned that this is the first time they've had to go in through the center.  He mentioned Aboriginal people probably wouldn't keep their jobs long because of poor work attendance.  He said, "Something happens to a member of their family and they don't come back to work for a week."  I thought to myself that I took a week off of work when my mother passed away and how is that any different?  The gorge was beautiful.  The river cuts a deep valley as it speeds from the mountains down to the Coral Sea.  The water is clear and fast.  Our guide walked ahead of us.  Suddenly he stopped walking and backed up.  I saw a golden spider web woven across the path with a big hole in it where his nose went through.  The spider was big too.  Our guide knew a lot about ecology and evolution.  Perhaps he was racist but he was enthusiastic about nature.  He said he lived an "alternative" life style.  He lived north of the Daintree river in a house on a hill without electricity or running water.  He used the water from the stream behind his house. He drank the water unfiltered.  He had propane for his refrigerator and for lights at night.  If it ever got cold he could warm up his house by lighting candles.   After visiting the gorge we were driven to the Daintree river where we stopped for tea and muffins.  We were loaded onto a boat and taken upriver to see birds and to look for crocodiles.  Several boats were taking tourists to see all the sights.  We saw fruit bats, a whistling kite, a great egret, a fig parrot, an emerald dove and one baby crocodile.  When the boat docked on the other side of the river we were loaded into the van again and taken north of the Daintree river.  We had lunch in a tree house.  Our guide brought out the cold food, set the table, and went down to a kitchen area to bring up the grilled meat, fish and vegie pattys.  We had damper (an Australian bread made of flour, salt and water) served warm with butter.  We had 3 kinds of salads and much fresh fruit.  We had the chance to swim in the river (no crocs here) but the thought of going into a tiny bathroom in this heat and changing clothes was too much for me.  I decided to wade instead.  The river had a strong current and was cold.  I saw a shrike thrush fly by.  We drove up to Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook who actually wasn't a captain yet when his ship hit a reef at this area.  We learned the story of Captain Cook from our guide as we drove south again.  To cross the Daintree River in a vehicle you have to take a ferry.  There is  no bridge across.  We waited in line with 4 other vehicles until it was our turn to drive onto the barge and be towed across.  On our way south back to Port Douglas we passed fields of tea and sugarcane. We stopped at the Daintree Ice Cream Company where they sell four scoops of tropical fruity ice cream for $6.  I passed on the ice cream.  I was still full from my lunch in the tree house.  When we got back to our apartment I went swimming in our pool in the dark and with the pool lights on.  Swimming felt great after our day in the rain forest.