Daintree

Living in Port Douglas, we are fortunate to be surrounded by World Heritage sites. We have the Great Barrier Reef off the coast, and to the north the Daintree Rainforest. 

On the advice of some nice customers I had in the restaurant, John and I decided to use one of the local tour companies to get a tour to the Daintree, as we don't have our own car and were happy to learn a lot more through a tour guide. We used the local company called Tony's Tropical Tours and the lady on the phone when I made our booking was super nice. She gave us a great discount because we were locals and working at Sea Temple. Gotta love those perks!

On our day off we were up and ready to go at 9 for our day tour of the Daintree! It was great because we had a small group of  8 of us and everyone was old--as in we were the only people under 50 on the tour. No screaming children--which is glorious after working at a resort that is full of them. Everyone was nice and there was this little old lady who unfortunately was told there would be no stairs on the tour--there was most definitely stairs. It's a tour outdoors. So yeah, she had to sit in the van a lot but the rest of us had a great day!

We had a really nice and informative tour guide named Chris, whose Thai wife works in the spa at Sea Temple! He gave us a great tour and knew heaps of information about the area, the plant and animal life, etc . . 

Our first stop of the day was Mossman Gorge, just about a 20 minute drive West of Port Douglas. Most of the land is aboriginal territory and protected land, but there is a big boardwalk that goes through it where tourists are still allowed to venture. It was a small circle track, but along the way Chris gave us heaps of information about the plant life. We learned about strangler fig trees:

We also saw lots of trees and plants with poisonous leaves, we saw banana plants--which Chris clarified were actually herbs--bananas being the world's largest herbs, and we even saw a tree whose bark you can turn into  pulp, boil down, and use to make poison dart arrows! Apparently a similar tree grows in South America and Paupa New Guinea where the local tribes discovered the poisonous nature of this tree bark, but the aboriginals never did. However, the way the poison works is that it affects all of your muscles and breathing, but not your heart. So in the early 50s they used the bark as early form of anesthesia for surgery because if someone where on a breathing machine, you could use it to put them under without stopping the heart. Neato, huh!?

The next stop of the day was a crocodile tour along the Daintree River! The tour used one of the local companies, Bruce Belcher's Crocodile Tours, as the guy has been doing them for over 30 years! He was a really nice guy and knew a lot about the area and knew exactly where the crocodiles hung out on the banks--as they are very territorial creatures. Right from the get go we saw a baby crocodile hanging out on a branch!

We also saw a mother crocodile that had recently given birth to some babies. Apparently the tour boat went past the nest for months and never knew it was there--sneaky crocodile! So we saw the mom:

And a little bit further down we saw the babies:

Now, most of these crocodiles were relatively small maybe a meter and a half to 2. But the last crocodile we saw of the day was the big daddy whose name is "Scarface". This guy was huge! 3-4 meters (so up to 12 feet) long and definitely much wider than all the other females. 

We got some video up close as well!

After the crocodile tour it was time to venture into the heart of the Daintree. First, on the way up, stopping at a beautiful lookout over the Port Douglas region called Alexander's Lookout.

Apparently scientists first though that the Daintree was one of the youngest rainforests, as it's not particularly huge. Apparently, though, after running tests a few decades ago they discovered that the Daintree is actually the oldest rainforest on the planet! It dates back some 130 million years ago, when Gondwanaland was a continent. They have even found fossil records of that rainforest in the ice of Antarctica, when the continents were still attached. It once covered a large portion of Gondwanaland. However, the continents split up, moved apart, and as Australia began to heat up much of the rainforest died off, leaving the remaining in Far North Queensland. In the 80s and 90s apparently, some developers came in an parceled up the land and tried to sell it off for developments. There were lots of local protests and a lot of people, who had bought land, eventually realized the value of pristine rainforest and kept it as is. The only "development" is in Cape Tribulation and Cooktown, but even then is not developed like Port Douglas. Now, since we were on a tour and they have good relations with some of the land owners, we were able to take a walk through the rainforest on private property. We were in a middle section called Noah Valley that scientist say is the oldest portion of the Daintree. So, we were able to walk through the oldest portion of the oldest rainforest in the world! It was really cool and once again our tour guide told us a lot of interesting facts about some of the plant and animal life.

Throughout the day we had tried to spot the elusive Cassowary, a native Australian bird that is very much endangered, with a suspected 1,000-1,500 left in the wild. We didn't actually see any, unfortunately, but we did spot this fun graffitied sign:

In case it's not obvious, it's a sign to lookout for cassowaries and speed bumps, however it was graffitied years ago and the sings have been stolen at least 5 times. Every time they put up new ones, they have to re-graffiti them. 

The cassowaries eat certain seeds and pods and as they pass through their digestive track, the Cassowary imparts them with specific enzymes the seeds need in order to grow once they are deposited back out. This is why the Cassowary is called a "keystone" species as it's survival is critical for the survival of thousands of plant species in the rainforest. One of the seeds we were shown that was very popular among Cassowaries contained a clear liquid inside that contained arsenic! We also saw a big pod with seeds inside that was discovered to have anti-retroviral properties. So when scientists discovered this, these seeds were used in some of the first AIDS medicines. We also learned that scientists discovered a few years back that most trees in the world contain hemoglobin--the same stuff that is found in our blood. They have yet to figure out why and for what purpose, but it was such a fascinating discovery. It was a really neat walk and we were learning heaps. 

It struck me as we were walking through the rainforest and learning all the facts about the delicate balance between man and nature. Our tour guide Chris even pointed out the fact that as humans, we rely and benefit so much from the world around us/nature and that it without it--we could not thrive. The reverse, however, is a different matter. Without us, nature, the environment, would be just fine. 

The second to last stop of the day was the northernmost point you can get on the East Coast without having 4-wheel drive (if you want to drive along the coast that is--there is an inland road to Cooktown further north, but it takes much longer)--Cape Tribulation. It was a beautiful crescent beach, descent size, and not nearly as crowded as Four Mile can get at Port Douglas. We took a short walk up to the lookout point:

After a short walk along the beach it was time to leave and make our last stop of the day--ice cream!

On the way back to Port Douglas we stopped at a local ice cream store on a huge area of land with all kinds of tropical fruit growing. It was called the Daintree Ice Cream Company and they have 4 flavors of tropical fruit ice cream fresh everyday. You don't choose your flavors, they come in a cup with all four flavors to try, so John and I decided to share one and it was delicious. Most of the fruit I had never heard of before: jackfruit, soursop, wattle seed, and then the final flavor was blueberry. It was so yummy and a wonderful end to our informative and adventurous day!

Port Douglas!

We left Brisbane and drove about 10 hours north to a small blue collar town called Mackay. Our friend Laura, whose wedding we attended in NZ, is from there; though the main attraction in the area was sugar cane. There were fields everywhere and a huge sugar mill in town. Besides a few strip malls, that was about it. We stopped for the night in a caravan park and were planning to do a few walks the next day in Eungella National Park. Apparently there was a river in the park that was a prime spot for seeing platypus. Unfortunately, when we woke the next day it was pouring rain. We attempted to make our way to the park but soon passed a sign that said "very steep incline." To get to the park, we had to pass over a mountain with a very steep grade, and in the pouring rain and our large camper van we just didn't want to take the risk. So, instead we headed out early that day and started making the drive to Cairns. Our last destination before Port Douglas! As we drove further and further north, the weather cleared up and it got warmer and warmer. We even passed over the Tropic of Capricorn! We looked for some sort of sign, but unfortunately there wasn't one--we just knew it had happened based on the road map. We got to Cairns in the early evening, but didn't venture into the city at all, we just enjoyed the nice weather and made ourselves some dinner for the last night in the camper van. 

The next day, we dropped off the camper van and caught a bus north to Port Douglas! We had arranged one week in a backpackers to get ourselves sorted with jobs and accommodation. The place was alright, but it was a big industrial building with tile floors and cement walls, so everything echoed. And the kitchen was usually dirty. But, we had free internet and the owner, Mick, was a super nice guy. My first morning of work when I needed to get there pronto he gave me a ride in his truck!

But yes, our first two objectives were to sort out a job and housing. We had tentative jobs lined up before we even left Melbourne, we had both applied to be food and beverage attendants at a place called Sea Temple Resort and Spa and had both received call backs to come in for an interview when we arrived. 

Our first full day there we walked around town, walked along the beach, called the guy about jobs, caught the bus down to Sea Temple to have an "interview" which was really us walking around the resort being told about the job and then that was it! John started in two days and I started over the weekend! We were pumped! Got some contracts and our uniforms and headed back into town!

The next day it was time to find a place to stay. We had spotted a 2 bedroom townhouse online with a full kitchen, balcony, shared pool, etc all for what we paid less in Melbourne. We went down to check it out, filled in an application, and then walked back along the beach. Unfortunately, someone had already put down an application so we didn't get the house so our hunt continued. Eventually we found a studio apartment right around the corner from Sea Temple for really cheap.

The next day, before John started work, we spent the day relaxing on the beach. 

A few nights ago, for our our friend Thirza's birthday, we all had a bonfire party on the beach! 

Noticing a trend here? It's nice living in a beach town and it was a fantastic change of pace from Melbourne.

Port Douglas very much has it's charms. It was developed mainly by some big businessman named Christopher Skase, who built the Sheraton Mirage back in the 1980s and it was the fanciest place in town. Bill Clinton and Hillary stayed there when they vacationed in Port Douglas in September 2001. He was eating at one of the nicer restaurants in town called Salsa when he found out about 9/11 and I heard the Secret Service very quickly swept him out of town back to the states. Salsa still has a plate signed by him that's insured for $18,000 though--an expensive plate! The Mirage still looks like a hotel from the 80s, while Sea Temple is only 7 years old and looks new and swanky (it is 5-Stars after all). But it was discovered in the late 1980s that, after Skase filed bankruptcy for $700 million, all the money he used to build Port Douglas was swindled from people into a pyramid scheme a la Bernie Madoff. He fled the country to an inland of Spain, where Australia did not yet have an extradition treaty set up, and there he remained till' his death in 2001. Fun story, huh?

But still, compared to Melbourne it's a quaint beach town, though it still has lots of local shops and restaurants, a Coles, and a Target for most of your shopping needs. What it doesn't have, nor will it ever, via a vote by the town citizens themselves, are a McDonald or Burger King or the OZ version of Wal-Mart called Big W. It also cannot have any buildings larger than 3 stories. All these laws help it keep it's small-town feel, even while it expands as it becomes a popular tourist destination.  It's a nice place to live, but good lord are the people not very punctual. 

As we discovered when we ended up waiting 2 weeks until we could finally move into our own place! We had to keep calling and hounding the real estate company to check our references, to get in contact with the property manager, to approve our application, to set up an appointment, to actually sign the lease--blah blah blah. It took ages and by the end we were ready to get out of the backpackers! Especially by the second to last night when a drunk british couple came back at 3:30 a.m. and proceeded to have a loud, drunken fight in the hallway that echoed everywhere so everyone could hear. There is also a town shuttle that costs $4 for a one-way trip that is NEVER on time--they say they come every 10-15 minutes and I say bologna. More like every 30-40. Anywho, besides people not caring too much about getting things done on time, Port Douglas is nice! We live a 2 minute walk to the beach, and often make the 40-minute walk along the beach into town to save money on the shuttle. 

The other great thing is that we live a 15-minute walking distance to work--and we have been working A LOT, which is great! Everyone we work with is super nice (though you still get the lazy Aussies :P) and it's a pretty nice atmosphere. We mostly work in the restaurant, but they do breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are also heaps of functions and events, we have to run all the food for room service, and stock the Mini Bars in all the rooms every day. So between all of that there is lots of work to do, but it's pretty fun! We also got to go in one evening and have dinner paid for by the hotel and we always get 50% off whenever we eat there otherwise. It's a great gig and we're having a great time enjoying our 80* winter!

The next thing we are looking forward to is finally heading out to enjoy all of our surrounds!

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

The night John and I arrived in Australia we were sitting in the airport waiting for our shuttle, talking about everything that we wanted to see and do in Oz. I told him my number one thing was that I wanted to hold a koala. Our first full day in Brisbane, 8 months later, finally the time had come! Our adventure for the day was at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary located just 20 minutes outside the Brisbane CBD. We arrived pretty early in the morning, around 10 a.m. to give ourselves as much time as possible. The sanctuary is not just home to Koalas, though. They have lots of other native Australian animals--Tasmanian devils, wombats, platypus, Dingoes, birds, possums, and Kangaroos. But of course, they mainly have Koalas. But they had all kinds of koalas!

Old Koalas, male koalas, mommy koalas, snuggly koalas:

Baby Koalas:

I could have stayed there all day just watching them! You don't see them that active in the wild, so it was fascinating to watch them jump around from tree to tree (and man can they jump!) and watch them walk on all fours. 

But of course, the highlight of the day was when I got to hold one! We did it first thing in the morning, before the line got too long. I was so excited the whole time waiting and when it finally came to my turn, it only last about 30 seconds and it was hard to believe it actually happened! But it did!

Queensland is one of the only states in Australia where "Koala cuddling" or holding a koala as a member of the general public is allowed, but even Lone Pine has strict limitations. Each of their koalas can only be held for a maximum of 30 minutes a day, so they have them all on rotation and are closely monitored so they aren't disturbed too much. They show you how to hold them--providing ample support--and tell you to stand still and not talk to loudly around them, as they have sensitive ears. But even though it was only 30 seconds, it was awesome! Mine was so cute and cuddly I wished I could have taken him home. 

But holding Koalas isn't the only activity they have at the sanctuary. They have different talks and presentations for the different animals, of which we attended a few. 

They also have a big Kangaroo/wallaby area where you can buy a bag of Kangaroo food and feed them. 

There were so many and of different colors and sizes. They were very comfortable around humans and we even got to get close to one that was carrying a joey in it's pouch!

All in all it was a memorable day. I got to hold a Koala!! 

Lamington National Park

Before heading into Brisbane, we made a quick stop the following day at Lamington National Park to fit in a few walks. The drive up to our campsite was quite a steep one, but even at the top of a mountain the weather was noticeably warmer that what we had left behind. The next day's weather wasn't fantastic, with patches of cloud and rain, which was unfortunate for those without a rain coat. But the walk was through some temperate rainforest, which was nice because it provided a lot of cover. The first walk led us to an old aboriginal cooking cave, located beneath a huge rocky overhang. It was a lot larger than what the pictures make it seem. The placard said the aboriginals would use the cave for shelter and cooking during periods of bad weather. 

The other short walk led us out to a nice lookout called Bellbird lookout that gave some nice views over the valley. Along the way we spotted several small wallabies that turned out to be called pademellons. They were so cute!

Our next venture was to the other side of the park via a different very long, steep, and windy road to a place that was a big resort but had a rainforest canopy walk on the property that was free to access. On the way there we passed by a group feeding some birds while they were flying and landing all over them. John and I stopped just to get a look and one bird decided John's head was a good spot to land!

After that we ventured out onto the short rainforest canopy walk. It's accomplished through a series of swing bridges that are connected between big trees starting at the top of a slope---that way you just walk straight onto it and then gradually the ground moves further and further away. At one point, you can climb two sets of ladders to reach the very top of the canopy and get a great outlook over the whole area. It's a very small space and only 2 people can go at once, but it was a great view!

After that, it was time to make the one hour drive into Brisbane, where we would be staying for the next two days and finally accomplishing the #1 on my bucket list: hold a koala!