Into the Jungle!

We left Green Island in heavy winds for a choppy hour boat ride back to Cairns where we picked up a rental car and drove up to the Daintree Rainforest. Not too long out of Cairns and we were in rain forest with steep hillsides ending in beautiful beaches, reminding me of a tropical Big Sur. The road was narrow and windy for much of the way. I am so grateful that Ellen is doing all the driving. The driving on the left still freaks me out (especially when vehicles are coming at you fast around corners). When I am in the passenger seat, I feel like I should be in control of the vehicle. I have no problem with the driving on the left when I am in the back seat.

We needed to take a ferry across the Daintree river, it goes back and forth about every fifteen minutes and is pulled across on cables. (Picture from the ferry at left) Once we crossed the river, the terrain immediately changed from cane fields to jungle. The most common road sign was a warning to slow down for cassowaries (huge forest dwelling birds with a nasty reputation). The speed bumps here (known as “undulations” are large and have big stones embedded in them to make sure you slow down. We stayed at the Ferntree Lodge.

On our way down for morning brekky there was a lot of commotion in the trees accompanied by cackling/chirping/shrieking. It was a large group (20 or more) of spectacled flying foxes, gathering in the trees. Some were already hanging, wrapped in their fleshy wings, others were hanging and wriggling around (grooming? getting comfy?), many were just flying around making a lot of noise. You could even here their fleshy wings beating. My camera does not zoom well, (but I could see them with binocs). Here is a picture that from http://www.auswildlife.com/2009/01/bats-flying-foxes