The Oldest Forest in the World

We got up early this morning to catch a bus for the Daintree rainforest, which is thought to be the oldest forest in the world. Being an old home, it has old inhabitants... including crocodiles! We started our day with a river boat down the Daintree river where we met (at a bit of a distance) a large male crocodile who was pretending to be a log in the water, a lovely female croc warming herself in the sun on the bank, a shy female in the water, and an adorable baby croc on a little branch. On the opposite side of the river, we came across a little yellow bellied snake, who looked rather cute and innocent, but our guide informed us that this little snake was actually quite deadly. But it stayed in the tree and we stayed in the boat, so all was well.

After the cruise, we enjoyed a delicious morning tea with scones at a restaurant near the river. The whipped cream and jam filled me up too fast, but Jeremy saved the day and ate my second scone.

Next, we took a short but rough drive in a rather ridiculous zebra painted truck through the rainforest, crossing several streams and a lots of rough road. Our guide told us that in one square hectare of the Daintree, there are more different kinds of trees than in all of north America and Europe combined. There is amazing life in the trees - ferns grow in the branches, creating a life on life effect.  There were a few sharp vine-like palm trees that are very strong and were once used as knifes to fillet fish by aboriginals. We saw ginger plants and all kinds of fancy trees - some that you might recognize their names from an expensive bottle of lotion at the body shop.

The bumpy road through the rainforest eventually took us to cassowary falls! Jeremy braved the cold temperatures to swim in the water under the falls. I nearly jumped in until I saw the giant eels and got a little creeped out. So I waded and photographed Jeremy instead. Then it was time to leave the beautiful rainforest behind, and we drive back to Port Douglas.

In addition to the beautiful views of the forest covered mountains and the sea, the drive home took us past many sugar cane fields! There was also a banana plantation, a cocoa farm, and lovely rolling fields of grazing dairy cows. In summary, Australia is simply one deliciously sweet chocolate banana milkshake.

Back in town, Jeremy and I enjoyed a nice walk along four mile beach (though we didn't quite make all four miles) and then through the downtown to a tasty pie shop. There, we ate crocodile pie flavored with lemon and ginger. It was delicious! We also stopped by a restaurant on the wharf that feeds a grouper named George. He was huge!

Along the road, we spotted a Tarzan-style root hanging from a tree, and I couldn't resist swinging. After taking a silly photo, we walked over to a nearby tree that had an interesting flaky texture to its bark. A friendly local fellow evidently noticed we were newbies (I suppose something about me excitedly exclaiming that I was Tarzan at sight of a rather common Australian tree in my Canadian accent may have given us away as tourists...). This fellow was very kind and explained to us how the incredible trees grow - from the top down, with birds carrying seeds into the top branches. Then the seeds grow roots like the one I swung on to the ground, eventually strangling the original tree. He also told us that the flaky tree we saw was actually called a paper tree, and explained that the aboriginals used it as a cooking surface and as a baby carrier (I assume not both functions at the same time).

Finally, we watched the sunset at the point and walked back to the hostel for our last sleep in Port Douglas. I have all new roommates tonight, and they are nice. One girl played classical music while I wrote this blog post.