No sun? No worries!
18 days in the land down under.
18 days in the land down under.
Queensland, Part 1
This part of the trip was primarily about the rainforest and the reef. To get
the best possible flavor of the rainforest, we decided to stay right in it for a
couple of nights, followed by a longer stint in a centrally located
accommodation—and importantly, one that provided us with a little more
space and some laundry facilities.
Our flight to Cairns on Virgin Blue was uneventful—we saw nothing but
clouds all the way north. The airport is small, and we were quickly on our
way in a blue Toyota Corolla hatchback. It didn't have enough room to
conceal all of our luggage, so we just planned our travel to avoid any stops
on days when we were moving between accommodations. And anyway,
we were anxious to get up to our rainforest accommodation.
The drive between Cairns and the Daintree River (and beyond), especially
beyond the northern beach suburbs, is quite scenic—well, for the
passengers anyway. The driver will have other concerns. At times, it winds
along the coast with (perhaps) more turns and curves than we expected. A
good re-introduction to driving on the left! We ended up making this drive
about four times, and we didn't tire of it. Just watch out for those speed
cameras.
We booked our first two nights in the rainforest at Daintree Wilderness
Lodge. Allie saw the photos of the “treehouse” cabins when we were
researching last year, and that was her number-one request.
Our stay in Sydney was nice, but it was not until we reached this
accommodation that we really felt we were someplace “different.” The
seven or so cabins are nicely appointed—not luxurious but very
appropriate for the surroundings. Our room had a queen and a single and
a nice sized bath, along with a front porch and an array of windows and
skylights for viewing the surroundings. With the high canopy, it remains
fairly dark most of the time. A light, steady rain fell from the time we
crossed the Daintree River until sometime early the next morning—adding
to the ambiance. A very nice cooked breakfast comes with the room—eggs
Florentine one day and pancakes the other. There’s also a very nice open-
air restaurant for dinners. It was too cold to use the pool. The only real
downside was the heavy presence of mosquitoes—particularly for Marisa,
the mosquito magnet—but, that’s not unique to the lodge. We enjoyed this;
a very unique stay. A$220 for a triple room with breakfast.
From here, our primary activity was a full-day, private rainforest walk with
Pete Baxendell, who came highly recommended on this forum. Pete
picked us up in his Range Rover at 8am, and over the next nine or so
hours, we learned more than we ever imagined about the flora and fauna
of the rainforest and about how the indigenous people took advantage of
these resources. Notably, the rain stopped before we began our tour; it
was still cloudy, but dry weather certainly added to our enjoyment. We
spent about four hours in a bit of forest not far from the lodge—trekking, tip-
toeing across the rocks in a creek, swinging on vines, and even using one
to swing across a creek. Well, Chris and Allie went gracefully across like
Tarzan and Jane. Marisa, on the other hand, went less gracefully into the
water on her backside (in fairness, a lingering bike injury from a few weeks
prior did contribute...). Oh yes, we actually saw a cassowary, or what Chris
thought looked like a man in a bird suit walking away from us.
Pete then drove us north of Cape Tribulation to a swimming hole on the
Tachalbadga Creek, where we had nice boxed lunches and then went for a
swim. It was here that we learned to lick green ants for a jolt of vitamin C—
and a strong taste that isn't unlike biting into a Starburst. Pete also
introduced us to the wonderful “miracle fruit.” He first cut up a ripe lime and
instructed us to take a tiny bite from it. The overpowering citrus-y taste left
Allie sputtering. He then produced a bag of several small, red-skinned
fruits that apparently originated from Kenya. We sucked on these for about
six minutes (Pete was adamant about that amount of time) and then spit
them out. When we bit back into the limes, we found, to our surprise, that
they were as sweet as can be! We finished up with a walk on Cape
Tribulation beach. All in all, a very enjoyable and informative day—one that
really gave us a nice appreciation for the area.
We also did a few other things while in the area north of the Daintree River:
Next: Queensland, part 2
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
This part of the trip was primarily about the rainforest and the reef. To get
the best possible flavor of the rainforest, we decided to stay right in it for a
couple of nights, followed by a longer stint in a centrally located
accommodation—and importantly, one that provided us with a little more
space and some laundry facilities.
Our flight to Cairns on Virgin Blue was uneventful—we saw nothing but
clouds all the way north. The airport is small, and we were quickly on our
way in a blue Toyota Corolla hatchback. It didn't have enough room to
conceal all of our luggage, so we just planned our travel to avoid any stops
on days when we were moving between accommodations. And anyway,
we were anxious to get up to our rainforest accommodation.
The drive between Cairns and the Daintree River (and beyond), especially
beyond the northern beach suburbs, is quite scenic—well, for the
passengers anyway. The driver will have other concerns. At times, it winds
along the coast with (perhaps) more turns and curves than we expected. A
good re-introduction to driving on the left! We ended up making this drive
about four times, and we didn't tire of it. Just watch out for those speed
cameras.
We booked our first two nights in the rainforest at Daintree Wilderness
Lodge. Allie saw the photos of the “treehouse” cabins when we were
researching last year, and that was her number-one request.
Our stay in Sydney was nice, but it was not until we reached this
accommodation that we really felt we were someplace “different.” The
seven or so cabins are nicely appointed—not luxurious but very
appropriate for the surroundings. Our room had a queen and a single and
a nice sized bath, along with a front porch and an array of windows and
skylights for viewing the surroundings. With the high canopy, it remains
fairly dark most of the time. A light, steady rain fell from the time we
crossed the Daintree River until sometime early the next morning—adding
to the ambiance. A very nice cooked breakfast comes with the room—eggs
Florentine one day and pancakes the other. There’s also a very nice open-
air restaurant for dinners. It was too cold to use the pool. The only real
downside was the heavy presence of mosquitoes—particularly for Marisa,
the mosquito magnet—but, that’s not unique to the lodge. We enjoyed this;
a very unique stay. A$220 for a triple room with breakfast.
From here, our primary activity was a full-day, private rainforest walk with
Pete Baxendell, who came highly recommended on this forum. Pete
picked us up in his Range Rover at 8am, and over the next nine or so
hours, we learned more than we ever imagined about the flora and fauna
of the rainforest and about how the indigenous people took advantage of
these resources. Notably, the rain stopped before we began our tour; it
was still cloudy, but dry weather certainly added to our enjoyment. We
spent about four hours in a bit of forest not far from the lodge—trekking, tip-
toeing across the rocks in a creek, swinging on vines, and even using one
to swing across a creek. Well, Chris and Allie went gracefully across like
Tarzan and Jane. Marisa, on the other hand, went less gracefully into the
water on her backside (in fairness, a lingering bike injury from a few weeks
prior did contribute...). Oh yes, we actually saw a cassowary, or what Chris
thought looked like a man in a bird suit walking away from us.
Pete then drove us north of Cape Tribulation to a swimming hole on the
Tachalbadga Creek, where we had nice boxed lunches and then went for a
swim. It was here that we learned to lick green ants for a jolt of vitamin C—
and a strong taste that isn't unlike biting into a Starburst. Pete also
introduced us to the wonderful “miracle fruit.” He first cut up a ripe lime and
instructed us to take a tiny bite from it. The overpowering citrus-y taste left
Allie sputtering. He then produced a bag of several small, red-skinned
fruits that apparently originated from Kenya. We sucked on these for about
six minutes (Pete was adamant about that amount of time) and then spit
them out. When we bit back into the limes, we found, to our surprise, that
they were as sweet as can be! We finished up with a walk on Cape
Tribulation beach. All in all, a very enjoyable and informative day—one that
really gave us a nice appreciation for the area.
We also did a few other things while in the area north of the Daintree River:
- Nighttime rainforest walk on the hotel property. We actually did this
before our trip out with Pete. It was interesting as well, although
raining and pretty slushy. We saw some Boyd’s Forest Dragons
and a few birds. You do get a whole different perspective at night.
It's a little spooky, in fact—can you say, Blair Witch Project?
- Daintree Rainforest Discovery Center and Canopy Tower. By now,
we had come to know quite a bit about the rainforest, but mostly
from the bottom. This offered a different view, down from the top of
the canopy. We did not see much wildlife, though.
- Cooper Creek cruise. We saw one crocodile sunning itself (well
trying to anyway, despite the lack of sun) on the bank, and we
learned more than we ever expected to know about mangroves.
- Daintree ice cream—good for a quick stop. Favorite flavor:
wattleseed.
- And, of course, we took the Daintree River ferry over and back.
Next: Queensland, part 2
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
Daintree Ferry
Australia home
Planning considerations
Sydney
Queensland, part 1
Queensland, part 2
Queensland, part 3
Red Center
Yarra Valley
Melbourne
Getting there and getting around
Planning considerations
Sydney
Queensland, part 1
Queensland, part 2
Queensland, part 3
Red Center
Yarra Valley
Melbourne
Getting there and getting around
Our cabin--Daintree Wilderness Lodge
The rainforest canopy
Rainforest walk with Pete Baxendell
Boyd's Forest Dragon, seen on our night
walk
walk
Mangroves, Cape Tribulation
