08/03/2026 – Daintree Rainforest…it rains in the rainforest – even in the “dry season”!
We arose early and went to enjoy the breakfast at the lodge. Dave enjoyed his cereal and fresh fruit while Kathy ate a lot of bread, freshly baked bread not just any old bread. It was still warm from the oven! Afterwards, we set off to find some “tracks” (which we call “trails”) and do some “trekking” (which we call hiking.) We headed north and tried to find the Dubuji Boardwalk. After the road we were on stopped being a road and started being a goat path, we stopped along the side of the road to evaluate our situation. We decided that we missed our trailhead and needed to turn around. Just then, a park employee drove up and advised us that we should probably turn around. Great minds think alike! We eventually found the trailhead and walked the short boardwalk through a swampy area. We were excited as we spotted our first mammal that we could identify (at least the first one that doesn’t fly and hang in trees!) We saw a wild pig!! It was a nice walk and they had interpretive signs along the way to educate us about the rainforest ecosystem.
After that grand trek, we were famished, so lunch was next on the agenda. We asked a couple of nearby rangers which of the two food shacks nearby we should eat at. They pointed to the one across the road. We went there and saw a sign advertising “barraburgers”. Once we were advised that they were made of fish (presumably barracudas), we opted for something else – bacon beef burger for Kathy and a chicken burger for Dave. Kathy topped hers off with a berry smoothie, while Dave chose the smoothie made with peanut butter. Yum! Dave won the tasting wars in this case! His smoothie was way better than Kathy’s.
We did another small boardwalk trek called the Madja Boardwalk. There, we saw a walking stick, but not much else. As we were leaving though feeling disappointed that the extent of our sightings was a walking stick we spied some large fruit bats fighting each other high in the trees. It was amazing to see so many just hanging out high above us. We then decided to go to the third of our three destinations that were going to fill our 3 full days here in Daintree. We went to the Discovery Center and walked through an elevated boardwalk midway up in the forest. Just after we parked, we saw a bunch of people gathered around pointing their phones at something. What is it, we asked? A cassowary!!! This is the third largest bird in the world and the one that Google warned us was the most dangerous encounter we could find in Daintree! And there was some guy, 3 feet from the bird snapping photos. Dave did get some photos from a respectable distance. We did the walk carrying umbrellas provided by the Discovery Center. They said it has been the wettest “dry season” any of them can remember. Time to head back to the lodge and get ready for din-din. We will also ask the front desk staff about setting us up with a tour or two for the next 2 days. We wanted to hike a trail called Coopers Creek, but a sign at the trailhead said people can only walk this trail with an official guide. Bummer!
08/04/2026 – Crocodile Dave
After dinner last night, we asked the front desk about booking tours for the next couple of days. They were happy to oblige. We asked them about the Coopers Creek tour, which was recommended to us by a lady in the grocery store. The guy said he could call and make a reservation if we wanted. He made the reservation, and explained the details afterwards. That’s when we found out he had booked a boat tour to see crocodiles, instead of the hiking tour to see birds! Oh, well, we still have time here and we can book the hiking tour for another day.
This morning we were able to book the hiking tour, which begins just down the road from where we are staying. While at breakfast, we chatted with another couple from Arizona who had been on the Pro Dive Barrier Reef tour with us. Chris and Jessica are heading to Bali to do some more diving after they leave Australia.
We made it to the croc tour. It was run by one guy and his boat. He takes the same route every time and knows where the crocs are – and where they aren’t. Right across from the boat launch was a female croc hanging out on a beach near the mouth of Coopers Creek. The captain said she pretty much ran the first two kilometers of the creek and chased any other females away. He said that the government had killed a couple of males lately who had attacked some humans who got too close despite the many warning signs. The female was getting lonely so he had developed an app for her: Snap Me Up! (The captain had a cheeky sense of humor!) There was a man fishing on the other bank – pretty brave/stupid in our opinion. We saw another female up the creek a ways, and then saw a giant male (about 10 meters in length!) on the way back downstream. Aside from the 3 crocs, the only other thing we saw was a kingfisher.
After the croc tour, we went for lunch and reunited with another couple we had met on the Pro Dive Tour. This couple was from Munich and they were spending several weeks tent camping in Australia. They are headed to Alice Springs in a couple of days. After lunch we did another couple of small hikes and then headed back to the lodge. The lodge has TV’s in each room, but they have no reception. They do provide several dozens of DVD’s which you can take back to your room. We watched the old movie, “Stalag 17”, and now we know where the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes” came from. Even some of the characters names from the movie match some of them ones on the series.
08/05/2026 – A nice day filled with walkabouts
After our usual breakfast (cereal and fruit for Dave, peanut butter and marmalade on freshly made bread for Kathy), we went for a walk down the dirt road near the lodge. Not much happening there. But, then we headed for our 10 am hike along Coopers Creek. There were 9 of us, plus the guide. The guide owns the land we were to hike on. He led us along a path and explained various things about the nature of birds, bugs, and vegetation in a rainforest. It is a very complicated and intricate tale. He showed us spiders that were so camouflaged that even after he pointed it out, we still could not see it until he took a photo of it and zoomed in on it. He explained about a tree that evolved a unique way to cross pollinate. The male trees heat up an extra 17 degree Celsius at 11 am. This excessive heat drives the weavels off him. They walk over to a female tree which has not heated up and carry the pollen with the male tree with them. At 4 pm, the female tree heats up, driving the bugs back to a male tree which by then has cooled down. They then carry the female’s pollen over to the male tree. Who on God’s green Earth could have imagined that for a reproductive cycle?? The guide told us many stories about how nature is so interwoven that if any one thing is removed, it adversely affects so many other species. And the native aborigines understood this harmony and enhanced it over the hundreds of generations they live there before being expelled by the government.
After the nature lesson on Coopers Creek, we drove south about an hour and a half to Mossman Gorge. We had lunch, then trekked our favorite track of the entire trip. The track had some hanging bridges, and elevated boardwalks, but most of it was just boots on the ground hiking over roots, rocks and dirt. It was glorious! Our favorite kind of trail.
On the drive back to the lodge for our last night in Daintree, we stopped at a campground which had a bar/restaurant that serves wood-fired pizzas. Dave spotted a pizza on the menu that most resembled the kind of pizza we like best in the US, and it, too, was glorious! Our favorite meal of the trip.
Kathy, prior to her getting ready for bed, went over to reception to log into the internet and complete her French lesson. Dave should have come with her. While sitting at an outdoor table, a cute little bandicoot wandered into the area. A local guide explained to Kathy the difference between a bandicoot and a kangaroo rat. She also tried helping her get a picture of it to show Dave. You know the saying: no pic, no proof… it didn’t happen. Unfortunately, it was not in the picture. We didn’t even manage to get a picture of its bum as it scurried into the underbrush. Dave is just going to have to take her word for it this time.
Time to head back to the barn for our last night before we fly back to Sydney and then our flight home.
