Welcome to the Jungle

Trip Start Oct 01, 2005

158

Trip End Jul 21, 2007

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Flag of Australia Cape Tribulation, Australia
Thursday, October 12, 2006

Cape Tribulation was named by Captain Cook after his ship ran aground on Endeavour Reef just offshore. It is an unspoilt area of rainforest that has escaped the wholesale destruction of the rest the countries once abundant rainforest over the last 100 years and has remained relatively unchanged for millions of years, with thousands of species of plants, trees and animals, some found nowhere else in the world. It's hard to believe that most of the East coast of Australia used to be covered in rainforest but has been cleared for profit.
Coming from the South the only way onto the cape is to cross the Daintree River by cable ferry and on the other side you enter into the thick forest and drive along the coastline under the tall canopy. The increased humidity and frequent downpours are all indications that you have passed into a different climate.
We immediately dropped our bags and took a walk down the beach

Driftwood

. The trees and vegetation grow right onto the sand and in places even out to sea, the inlets clogged with thick mangroves. In the afternoon Kerry and I decided to go jungle surfing which is where you get hoisted up above the canopy in a harness and fly from tree to tree on a zip line. It's bloody good fun as long as you're OK with heights. Unfortunately Kerry isn't comfortable stood on a metal platform precariously attached to a tree 20 metres in the air so didn't enjoy the experience properly. The mating call of the rare tree monkey turned out to be pants filling. It worked out alright in the end though as we were 'fast tracked' along the five stations and got down quickly. The guys who run it are really nice and knowledgable about the forest. One of them told us how the aboriginal people wo used to inhabit this area buried their dead in the hollows left behind after the strangler fig has killed the unfortunate host, and when the British colonists discovered the remains they thought they had found the victims of carnivorous trees!
Late that night we went on a stroll into the jungle with a guide who showed us among other things, glow in the dark fungus, lizards asleep on thin vines, Huntsman spiders and bandicoots. To be honest, the jungle doesn't appear to be as alive with creatures as you imagine it will be, even at night. There's not a huge amount of bird life to see and no monkeys swinging through the trees. The interesting thing is the plant life and how all the plants grow together for strength and tangle up to form the protective canopy where it can absorb all the precious sunlight

Kerry and Mary

. Some of the trees are amazing, the massive roots snaking away along the floor instead of deep into the soil as only the top foot of earth is of any nutritional use as the fallen foliage rots into the ground.
The next morning we went horse riding and it was a really well organised set up. There were seven punters and two friendly staff all walking along in a line through the forest. We even got to go down onto the beach and ride along for a while, and on the way back they taught us how to trot and then canter the horses which was great fun. We stopped for a break and a swim at a fresh, croc free waterhole and said hello to the resident turtle.
We left that afternoon all having had a worthwhile albeit short trip into the jungle.