To enter the Daintree Forest you first cross the Daintree River on a car ferry. It is an apt way to enter this incredible prehistoric world, home to the Kuku Yalanji people for at least 60,000 years. The Daintree is reputed to be the oldest rain forest on earth at approximately 135 million years, millions of years older than the Amazon rain forest. It is also home to a large number of unique, plant, animal and insect species found nowhere else in the world. Listed as a treasure under the UNESCO World Heritage Site it is a fascinating place. We were taken for a walk through the forest with our guide pointing out some of the unique plants and insects along the way. The plants are diverse and the majority are older than plants in most places in the world. Many are poisonous or very spiky. We were shown a particular tree that produces strychnine and were warned not to touch it. We didn't! The forest is shady and although it can be very humid the temperature was pleasant for our visit. One thing I did notice was the absence of bird song or any earthy bushlike aroma. Our guide told us that the trees high above would be full of birds but they have learned to call only when necessary.
Boardwalks protect the roots of the lush, tropical vegetation.
Primeval mud. You can really imagine dinosuurs walking here
The one bird we were hoping to spot was the cassowary, the large flightless bird native to New Guinea, North Australia and some surrounding islands. They are the third largest bird on earth growing to 6ft tall and can weigh more that 70 kilos. They are vital to the life and health of the forest as they disperse over 100 species of plants in their droppings. Shy by nature they can become very dangerous and aggressive if cornered or if their nests are approached, lashing out with large, lethal claws. Apparently they, and some lizards, are the closest living things to the dinosaurs which would once have roamed this forest. We had eagerly peered into the trees hoping to spot one and were just about to give up and leave the forest when suddenly a male and his chick walked right across the path in front of us. We were thrilled, watching as the adult led his chick down to the stream to drink. Our guide was as excited as we were, he said in all his years guiding he had never seen cassowaries drink from a stream.
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| You can just see the feathers of the chick at lower left of the male. It is the males who look after the young |
Lots of ohs and ahs and photos and then, well satisfied, it was time for us to go for a cruise on the Daintree River for a bit of crocodile spotting. We were in luck, right at the start of out cruise we spotted a croc sunning itself on the river bank, actually it was the only one we saw on the hour long cruise up and down the river. Nevertheless we did see some beautiful birdlife including the graceful white heron. It was a pleasant restful cruise through the rain forest with us all fervently hoping we didn't end up in the river full of crocodiles.
We all enjoyed a tasty fish lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Mossman River, and a quick stop at Daintree Ice Cream Company for a small tasting pot of exotically flavoured ice cream.
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| Flavours were wattle seed, sapote and mango |
Then to our final stop for the day, Mossman Gorge. Such a beautiful place and a great way to end a special day. The gorge was glowing in the afternoon sun which was bouncing off the rocks and forested slopes and reflecting in the pristine waters of the river. We took a short stroll along the pretty forested river bank and spent some time mesmerised by the flowing water before reboarding our bus and heading back on the long drive to Port Douglas.
This trip was a great experience, I would recommend it to anyone who loves nature, it had been on my "must go to" list for a long time. It was a great privilege to walk through such ancient forest, pretty much unchanged for millions of years.
Note: This was a small group tour of only 8 people plus the guide. We left from and returned to Port Douglas approximately 68kms each way.
