Daintree & Cow Bay - no mobile phones!
Today we took the short drive to the Daintree area which is for the most part along a coast road with some lovely views of sandy beaches, some rocky shores and a crystal clear blue ocean. Unfortunately for the first part of this I took a photo only to discover I had no SD card in the camera. I had left it in the computer the night before intending to delete the photos on it before I put it back in the camera. D’oh! After a little while we were able to stop and I retrieved said card and placed it back where it was most useful; in my camera. I took a few photos at our loo stop at Mossman because it is such a pretty one. They have painted the public conveniences with rainforest related images and it has three large trees in front of it that are just full of epiphytes! Ribbon fern I believe they are, and they just cover all the branches. It also had a really new playground with shade sails over it so it makes an ideal stop for a family with young children. I took some photos of the ferry crossing across the Daintree River also. It is a vehicle crossing which is worked by cables and basically, you just drive your car onto the ferry and sit there for five minutes or so until it is across the other side then drive off and continue on your journey at the other side. We stopped first at a lookout that had a spectacular view of the Daintree River going into the sea and Snapper Island. Photos of course!
Our next stop was the Daintree Discovery Centre where they have a boardwalk and a viewing tower in the rainforest itself so you can wander through and look at all the plants and, if you are lucky, wildlife without damaging it or it damaging you. It costs $25 to enter and for $5 you can have an audio interpretive guide that has special numbered places – Audio Stations - along the way where you can punch the number into the guide and listen to an explanation of the area you are looking at. An Interpretive guide book is also supplied that gives slightly different information and pictures to help in identifying the various plants and animals. The experience is divided into four independent tours – Aerial Walkway, Canopy Tower, Cassowary Circuit and Bush Tucker Trail and there are numbers at various stations along the way to help you find information in either the guide book or with the audio guide. It works quite well but you probably need to go more than once if you really want to learn a lot and cover every aspect of the experience. I believe you can have your book stamped and go back for the next five days without having to pay for entry again. It was very interesting and very tiring. The best bit was seeing the Ulysses butterfly flap its way through the forest on at least four occasions, in fact one time one met up with another and then they both disappeared among the dense trees again. Lots more photos!! I didn’t get any of the Ulysses despite my best efforts; they move very quickly.
Next we needed to get to Epiphyte B&B in Cow Bay where we are staying for the next two nights. It was easy to find and we were greeted by the amiable and helpful Ernie. He showed us to our abode; the Golden Orchid Retreat which is just divine. We are away from the main house and have spectacular views all around. Ernie helped us to work out some things to do for the next day and night and booked them for us, as well as booking our restaurant for tonight. The wildlife here seems abundant with a cassowary being sighted by guests over the last few days. There are geckos around our cabin apparently and there are so many birds and insects from a very quick wander around the extensive grounds that we did. It will be a lovely stay here!
No mobile phones here so I put this up via dial-up on the land-line here. Have to wait till we have mobile internet again folks!
Our next stop was the Daintree Discovery Centre where they have a boardwalk and a viewing tower in the rainforest itself so you can wander through and look at all the plants and, if you are lucky, wildlife without damaging it or it damaging you. It costs $25 to enter and for $5 you can have an audio interpretive guide that has special numbered places – Audio Stations - along the way where you can punch the number into the guide and listen to an explanation of the area you are looking at. An Interpretive guide book is also supplied that gives slightly different information and pictures to help in identifying the various plants and animals. The experience is divided into four independent tours – Aerial Walkway, Canopy Tower, Cassowary Circuit and Bush Tucker Trail and there are numbers at various stations along the way to help you find information in either the guide book or with the audio guide. It works quite well but you probably need to go more than once if you really want to learn a lot and cover every aspect of the experience. I believe you can have your book stamped and go back for the next five days without having to pay for entry again. It was very interesting and very tiring. The best bit was seeing the Ulysses butterfly flap its way through the forest on at least four occasions, in fact one time one met up with another and then they both disappeared among the dense trees again. Lots more photos!! I didn’t get any of the Ulysses despite my best efforts; they move very quickly.
Next we needed to get to Epiphyte B&B in Cow Bay where we are staying for the next two nights. It was easy to find and we were greeted by the amiable and helpful Ernie. He showed us to our abode; the Golden Orchid Retreat which is just divine. We are away from the main house and have spectacular views all around. Ernie helped us to work out some things to do for the next day and night and booked them for us, as well as booking our restaurant for tonight. The wildlife here seems abundant with a cassowary being sighted by guests over the last few days. There are geckos around our cabin apparently and there are so many birds and insects from a very quick wander around the extensive grounds that we did. It will be a lovely stay here!
No mobile phones here so I put this up via dial-up on the land-line here. Have to wait till we have mobile internet again folks!
1 comment:
Hi Kimbo & Fin, wow sounds like you are having a great time. We have just booked a Flight to Cairns for early October staying at Palm Cove for a few days then travelling by car back slowly back to Brisbane over the next week. Can you recommend any particular places to stop that are of particular interest. Lets know more about the caravan parks etc to stay along the way. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Love Maggie & Sam X
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