Chapter 7- Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation, Australia

In Port Douglas I was getting a bit antsy because of all of the tourism and shopping. Cape Tribulation and the Daintree rainforest were about the furthest north someone could go without a 4X4. Hanging out in the rainforest for a while sounded like a fine idea. I met a guy from L.A. who happened to be driving to Cape Tribulation and he offered to give me a ride up. I prefer this option to hiring a tour company because it's cheaper and you get more freedom. The hiking paths were all incredible. The tropical rainforests are massive and dense. Trees and vines are all interconnected and clinging to one another, trying to get to the top canopy for the sunlight. Although most of the rainforests were chopped down during the past two centuries the Daintree Rainforest has made it and is now protected by the government.

Before anyone goes into the rainforest the Australian government wants everyone to be aware of all of the things that could hurt you...which is basically everything. The common slogan you hear is "come to Australia, something might kill you." The obvious first danger are the crocodiles. This is their home and every year a few people get too close to the water and regret it.

Don't go into the ocean during the summer months. Box jellyfish and a smaller invisible jellyfish called a Irakundi can incapacitate you with incredible painful stings.

Hell, even the plants can hurt you. This stinging plant stabs you with little shafts that embed in your skin and cause irritation and pain for months.

The elusive cassowary. I'm no scientist, but I think this creature is the closest thing alive today to the dinosaurs. Imagine: a big bird that can grow six feet tall. It has a hard spike/horn on its head that it uses to smash through the forest at high speed. Instead of feathers it has black hair-like quills covering its body. They are an endangered species and their only threat is getting hit by cars. I was determined to see one before I left the rainforest because they could be gone someday.

Searching for a cassowary is no laughing matter. Check out this sign warning you what to do if you get attacked by a cassowary. Check how it warns that they attack with both clawed feet. These guys remind me of the raptors in Jurassic Park. Now here's a mission worth writing home about.

No cassowaries here...

A rope bridge

This is a giant fig tree. The way they work is they start as a vine that climbs up to the top of an existing tree. They slowing grown around and choke out the host tree over years and years. Eventually the host tree dies off and a gigantic fig tree like this one remains. They are an impressive sight.

Here is another strange plant characteristic. The bush has branches/roots that grow from the middle of the tree down to the ground. I imagine it gives them access to more water.

This is a freshwater creek that lets out into the oceanb. They said that crocodiles live here but I didn't see any. I didn't want to get any closer to the water because I was by myself and I kept thinking that nobody would even hear me scream.

The beaches provided tons of photo opportunities.

What's peculiar about this picture. Have you ever seen tree branches that reach out beyond the waves in the ocean? I hadn't. This is the only known place in the world where the rainforest overlaps the ocean. At high tide some trees are in the ocean. I suppose they've learned to live in salt water. Weird eh?

So I had been walking around for a while looking for this damn cassowary. I went ninja style creeping down a shallow creek. You all should've seen me. It felt like a little kid again climbing around the creeks by my house in N.J.

I finally go tired of the ninja game and decided to go to a watering hole that people often use to cool off. And when I got there...

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Victory!

There it was, just chilling with some people at the watering hole. Just when I stopped looking, it just showed up. Brilliant. This cassowary was obviously acclimated to people. No claws or headbutts. It just ate some berries and walked off.

At night the forest creatures emerge because of the cooler temperature. There are many of these little turkeys walking around.

This is a rodent(can't remember the name)that is about the size of a cat or small dog.

I almost walked on this snake when it was crossing the pathway. Luckily this guy Todd who works there saw it and stopped me. Thanks Todd.

Big bug

On one of my last days I went on a huge hike to the top of a place called Mt. Sorrow. It was the hardest thing I've done here in Australia. 3.5 kilometers and most of it was steep as hell. When I first started I spooked a cassowary and I got to hear their aggressive noise. It was like a loud breathy grumble accompanied by the sound of 70 pounds of bird crashing through the forest. Luckily it ran away from me, but I still got a nice jolt of adrenaline. After a few hours of hiking, and resting, and hiking some more I reached the top lookout which had these incredible views. I was a few thousand feet up and the rainforest was incredible when viewed from this perspective.

I hiked back down and took advantage of the modern amenities of the resort. For 25 bucks a night, this place was great. Its called the Cape Tribulation Beach House, and I highly recommend it.



There is no separation between you and the rainforest. They took special care not to disturb any of the nature. Here a Goana lizard walks across the ceiling tarp.

These are a couple of nuts from Europe. I hung out with them for a night and they were seriously crazy. The kid second from the right was surfing on the van while it was swerving down the twisty dirt road at night. I was in awe of their insanity. These camper-vans are a very common sight in Australia.

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I loved every minute of the rainforest. It was a great place to chill and get focused for the rest of the journey. From Cape Tribulation I took a bus to Cairns, a plane to Sydney, and now I'm in this Internet Cafe pleased to be up-to-date with the blog. (Knock on wood) I should be in Bangkok tomorrow night. Stay tuned for Part II, where Chuck searches for the path of the Buddha in Asia.

-Thanks for Reading-