After our forced stop over in Cairns Ian picked up our rented car in the morning before we headed to the Daintree. We were driving on the incredibly scenic Captain Cook Highway, which mostly follows right next to beach, with lookouts every 30 minutes. One of these was the Rex Lookout, which is a small grassy bank with a huge drop to the beach, making it perfect for hang gliders. We unfortunately did not see them in action, only when they were setting up. But the almost 180° view of the ocean was already worth it.

On our way up we had one major stop at Mossman Gorge. In the well-organised visitor centre you could buy your tickets for the bus that takes you up to the start of the rainforest track. The track was recently rebuilt and the short path that goes to the calmest part of Rex Creek is now elevated to keep the huge amount of visitors away from the forest floor. After a 10 minutes walk you can go down to the creek and, even though authorities don’t recommend swimming, you can easily have a dip in the crystal clear water.

We went on to the rainforest circuit which was around an hour and a half walk through the rainforest leading us back to the bus stop. Before going in the thick forest there was an amazing lookout, a perfect opportunity to take photos of the creek without people swimming in your shoots. This was the first time the amazing fauna of the place struck us. As we were admiring the view something bright blue came flew in our view. A group of Ulysses butterflies had a cruise above us, with their wings flashing sapphire blue. The more we walked in the forest the more we felt the ancient times surrounding us. Some of trees were as high as 30-40 metres and the huge ferns occupied the grounds. July was the perfect time for this walk, since being winter the humidity of the forest was bearable.

To get into the Daintree National Park you have to cross the Daintree River. The only way to do this is by ferry, so there is always a considerable line. Our car was standing in line for like 40 minutes before we crossed. We decided to catch the sunset at Cape Tribulation and only go to our accommodation after. As we were driving up kept our eyes open for the king of the rainforest… the cassowary. Cassowaries are about the size of emus but have a naked blue neck and a helmet reminiscent of a dinosaur. And then Lady Luck visited us again, as Sally exclaimed “cassowary”! We stopped on the road right next to it and all four of us were in rave. He was majestic. And also we were a bit terrified, the windows were only let down half, in case he finds us annoying. Cassowaries are the most dangerous bird on this planet, there claws can grow 4 inches long and they can practically kick you to death.

After the cassowary walked back into the dense forest we continued our journey to Cape Tribulation. We just managed to catch the last rays of sunshine going down behind the mountains. It was striking as the the last bit of orange reflected in the incoming tide.

As it got dark we headed to our accommodation, Daintree Crocodylus Village smack bang in the middle of the rainforest. The shared eating place was right next to the reception under a huge tent. It was not allowed for us to keep any food in the houses or eat there because the wild animals may fancy going into the houses after the smell. So all our food was stored in the self-serving kitchen in labelled shelves. James and I cooked some bolognese with spaghetti and the four of us had a Scrabble session before we occupied our houses. I say houses but they are more like tents. We had two rooms sharing a wall. The walls were green tent canvas, with a bed situated in the middle covered in a mosquito net against unwanted visitors. The toilettes and showers were situated in a separate building, and the warm water was only accessible in given time periods of the morning and the night to save energy and that the noise of the generator doesn’t scare away animals.

We had a lovely sleep surrounded by the sounds of the rainforest. Before we fall asleep a possum or a tree kangaroo jumped on the roof of our house. And I heard a cassowary nearby. In the morning we headed to Cow Bay. When we arrived the first thing that was waiting for us was the “beware of crocodiles” sign, because we were in the territory of the salt water crocodiles. The beach was stunning, with a tiny creek flowing into the ocean from the land and mangrove trees showing their naked roots. At one point I was struck by the fascinating idea that I could be approached by a croc from any direction.

Our next stop was to Jindalba, a circuit track which is part of the Daintree National Park. The forest was absolutely beautiful as the wooden track took us over creeks and next to hundred-year-old trees. Some ferns’ trunk grew as high as 1.5 metres, which takes them incredibly long time. Also you can pop into the visitor centre a bit back on the road and get a ticket for a guided walk of the track, but there were also very educational information signs all along the circuit.

After a quick lunch back at Crocodylus Village we headed out of the Daintree. We had an appointment to catch on the other side of the river. We’d booked a crocodile tour on the Daintree River. We ended up choosing Bruce Belcher’s Daintree River Cruises and we were not disappointed. Our chosen cruise was in the afternoon so we got complimentary drinks and snacks. Then we headed down to the boat. Our guide was Bruce Belcher, who, aside of being the founder, is famous in the area as a wildlife expert. We all got binoculars and headed out to the river. We had barely left the pier when Bruce spotted one of his regulars. In winter, salt water crocodiles, known as “salties” in Aussie slang, hang out on the beach and warm up in the sun as much possible before going to sleep in the water. So it was easier to find them with Bruce’s knowledge of their regular spots. This smaller male was about 1.5 metres, small for a salty. Bruce suspected that he hangs out so near the pier to be safe from the dominant male of the area. He was spectacular. A living dinosaur. As we headed up Bruce pointed out many birds for us. As we were looking for more crocs I spotted something blue. It was a kingfisher! The rare bird was sitting on a branch and stayed around for us a bit, showing off it’s beautiful white, orange and blue colouring. As we went on we saw two more crocs. One of them was a tiny youngster of 70 cm. The other one was on of the dominant females of the area. She was about 2 metres long, graciously sunbathing between some mangrove roots.

Our experience in the Daintree rainforest was amazing. We saw so much of the wildlife! We can consider ourself incredibly lucky with our cassowary spotting that nearly never happens to tourists. We were fully satisfied and only wished that we could have spent one more day in the Daintree as we headed towards Port Douglas.