Daintree Rainforest

Alex and I arrived in the Daintree Rainforest on Tuesday after leaving Cairns.  On the way, we made a few stops at a couple of the smaller resort towns including Palm Cove and Port Douglas.  Palm Cove is a beautiful little beach town about twenty minutes from Cairns.  We each picked up a smoothie for breakfast and spent the morning walking along the ocean.  It was a peaceful way to start the day.

Rex Lookout

After leaving Palm Cove, we drove to Port Douglas.  Once a former fishing village, it has grown into a very pretty resort town.  

Flagstaff Hill - Over looking Four-Mile Beach

Four-Mile Beach

Sand Bubbler Crab

While in the Daintree Rainforest, we are staying at the Daintree Ecolodge & Spa.  Our hotel room reminds me of a tree house as we are up on stilts overlooking the trees.  There was no internet and no television, so there was no choice but to slow down and enjoy the sounds of the rainforest!

The Daintree Rainforest is estimated to be over 110 million years old and is the oldest rainforest on earth – even pre-dating the Amazon Rainforest!  This region is also the only place in the world where two World Heritage listed sites meet: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.

We spent all day Wednesday in Cape Tribulation.  After taking a 5-minute ferry across the Daintree River, it is about an hour north to reach the top of Cape Tribulation.  Along the way are multiple lookouts and walking trails.  We spent some time at the Dubuji Boardwalk.  This 45-minute trail meanders through a coastal mangrove swamp with huge fan palms and vines reaching high into the sky.  It was an easy walk through the forest and was a nice way to safely explore the area.  There are saltwater crocodiles inhabiting the area surrounding the Daintree Rainforest, so you want to be sure to steer clear of the water! 

Mount Alexandra Lookout

We also spent some time along the Kulki Boardwalk where the trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking Cape Tribulation Beach and the Daintree Rainforest.  We lucked out with some blue skies and no rain and ended up walking along the beach for awhile.  

During the afternoon, we visited the Cape Trib Fruit Farm where we sampled different tropical and exotic fruits and took a guided tour of the farm.  We tried about 12 different fruits including: breadfruit, mamey spaote, soursop and mangosteen.  I do not think I had heard of a single fruit we tasted!  The woman giving the tour was a second-generation tropical fruit farmer and provided so much information about the fruits and where they originated (mostly from Southeast Asia and South America).  It was a really enjoyable afternoon. 

Before getting on the ferry and heading back to our hotel, we made one last stop to Floravilla Ice Cream.  This shop uses all-natural ingredients from the rainforest to create unique flavor of ice-cream.  Alex tried the Black Sapote and I chose the Triple Chocolate.  It was the perfect way to end our time in Cape Tribulation. 

Wednesday we headed south and started our day at Mossman Gorge.  Located in the southeast corner of the Daintree Rainforest, there are several hiking trails which traverse through the forest and past the Mossman River Gorge. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon back in Port Douglas where we ate lunch at The Little Larder and walked around the shops and along the beach.  

Our final excursion for the day was a riverboat cruise down the Daintree River.  Our hotel recommended the company, Daintree River Wild Watch, and it was such a fun experience.  We ended up being the only people on the boat and our guide was awesome.  He was probably in his late 70's and knew so much about the rainforest and the wildlife (especially the birds).  We spotted four crocodiles, lots of birds, and greatly enjoyed our time on the water.  Being in the rainforest, the weather seems to change every 10 minutes!  We went from rain, to clear skies, and back to rain in a matter of minutes! 

This part of Australia was definitely different compared with other regions we have traveled to.  It was so green, lush and wet!  At one point when we were driving back to Cairns, I had Alex pull over and you could see the clouds hovering over the rainforest and clear skies just outside the wall of trees!  I posted the pictures below.  The first picture is overlooking the rainforest and the second is looking in the opposite direction!  Cloudy skies in one, clear skies in the other!  

Clouds on the left...

...Sun on the Right

Well, Alex and I have officially wrapped up our time in Australia and this will be my last blog post from the Land Down Under.  We are staying overnight in Cairns one last time and will be heading to the airport tomorrow where we will fly back to the States.  This has been an amazing journey and I know we both feel so fortunate to have had an opportunity to travel to so many amazing places over the past year.  It feels very bittersweet knowing we will be seeing family and friends very soon, but sad realizing it may be a very long time before setting foot again in Australia or New Zealand.  I have enjoyed looking back at our photos and we have spent a lot time over the last few days reminiscing about our favorite experiences, places and foods we've enjoyed.  It has been a wild ride and I'm sad to see it come to an end.  Cheers to a wonderful past year!