Red Elephants in the Rainforest

Mossman Gorge we thought you would drive to a carpark and then begin your walk in the rainforest.  But no!!  What we are beginning to call the good old Queensland upsell,  you must pay to get in, this does however include a shuttle bus up the hill to begin your walk.  The walk is very well marked and is a boardwalk for some of the way.  There is a very jumpy swinging bridge that is of course loads of fun for kids and big  red elephants to cross.  Walking through the giants of the rainforest you feel very small and insignificant.  The trees reach high up to the sky with the first branch way way up.  The roots of the trees reach out as far as the tree is high.   Ferns are huge and green and reach out above your head.  Everything is very green.  This rainforest that has been here for eons will still be here way after we are all pushing up daisies.

Ferns

Perfect tree for climbing

The day after we headed over the Daintree River to the Daintree.  This was very exciting as we crossed on a barge all of us including Brindi, poor Willow stayed behind at the Wonga Beach caravan park.  As we crossed we all had our eyes open for crocodiles but there were none to be seen.  Five minutes across the river we came to a wonderful lookout that gave us a great view back down the coastline to Port Douglas.   On recommendations from fellow travellers we went to the Daintree Discovery Centre.  For a not small fee  we where given guide books and self guided headsets.  There was one guide for adults and a different one for the kids.  We then proceeded to walk through the rain forests on boardwalks listening to our headsets that where very informative.  The boardwalk started at rainforest mid level so half way up the trees and above the ferns.  We then climbed a 5 level Rainforest Canopy Viewing platform this gave a us a great birds eye view of the rainforest.  We cam down then walked at floor level.  The kids enjoyed the interactiveness of the walk but did get a little hungry towards the end.  We took our lunch in and had a picnic lunch.   We then proceeded up towards Cape Tribulation.

 We where on high alert as this is cassowary territory and there where signs along the road to slow down and take care.  As we where beginning to give up hope  "STOP Cassowary!!"  Brindi came to a screeching halt and out we all got.  I have learnt that if you come across a cassowary they can become quite aggressive and it is best to put something between you and the bird,  I choose Mr Red Elephant and the kids choose me.  What a magnificent creature so much more colourful than the old Emu.  It has two  red dingle dangles hanging from his beak  a vibrant two tone blue neck and to top it of a big knob on top his head.    We stalked Mr Cassowary for a while and didn't seem to mind he criss crossed back and forth across the road.  May I mention that  prior to this spotting we had been looking in the rainforest for our friend  but it seems that his 6  toes are a bit precious and he prefers to walk along footpaths.

So up to Cape Tribulation, must say we where a little underwelmed.  We did however do a good walk on the way back down that walked half through the mangroves and the rainforest was rather pleasant.

All Red Elephants slept well.