After getting an electric shock from one of the park’s power-points last night and having to change our lead to another, this morning was helping the council rep understand the problem. He advised me to visit a doctor to get a check-up but this was more about not getting sued than any reasonable advice. Not that we were about to sue anybody, we just wanted the safety switch to stop tripping.
Once the mini-interrogation had finished we drove off for a day trip around the Daintree. Humorously we were very under-equipped to do so having not filled the almost empty fuel tanks and having no cash on hand we ended up returning to Wonga Beach prematurely.
When these matters were attended to, and we took the correct turn-off we were soon waiting in line to catch the barge across the Daintree River. This is the only access point and was quite a novel way to enter this region. As we sat on board, being pulleyed across the water, we wondered what we might see in this rainforest, and how many crocs might be sitting in the river waiting for us to drop over the edge? Fortunately, the ferry ride was non-eventful and we were soon enjoying the drive under a canopy of trees that shaded its roads.
Our first stop was Jindalba, a free boardwalk through the rainforest. The walk took us nearly an hour to complete and in order to keep the kids amused we set them an activity of finding 3 different types of fungi and 3 different butterflies. It kept them interested in the detail rather than rushing ahead and enabled Deb and I to take our time enjoying the gorgeous wilderness.
We even came across a male Cassowary and two of its young resting in the shade. We overhead one of the tourist guides state that seeing one of these in the wild is the equivalent of seeing 10 crocs – based on their specie numbers remaining.
Leaving this very dangerous bird alone, we headed off to explore more of the island finally coming to a halt at Cooper’s Creek where a car had slid off the bridge and was hanging precariously in the water. It seemed that no-one was hurt and help had already been organised so we pulled a U-Turn and went in search of some lunch.
But, before we satisfied our hungry stomachs, we took a detour down to Cows Bay to visit the coast noticing that it wasn’t too dissimilar to what we had experienced already at Wonga Beach. So, with a quick five minute stop we were back searching for lunch. We finally found some at a café not far from the boardwalk we had visited earlier.
With most of this portion of the island already explored and our access limited at Cooper’s Creek, it seemed the only option available was to return back to the park. We were pleasantly satisfied that we had seen as much as we could and the return barge trip was as fun as the initial journey.
Back at the park, Deb and I decided to join some of the local oldies for their “Happy Hour” session while the kids enjoyed playing games in the sand. It was a great time to spend an hour talking with some more adult company and interesting to meet some of the local characters.
After dinner, we hunkered down in the van as the near gale-force “breeze” hurtled through the park delivering more rain and keeping us from falling into a deep sleep.
