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Well, I had one day to spare before I headed to Brisbane after my scuba course wrapped up - so I booked a day tour to Cape Tribulation which is a rainforest area north of Cairns.
We headed out pretty early with a small tour group. Man, the roads were windy and bumpy. I also chose the back of the bus which didn't help.
Sights we saw that day included a great rainforest walk. It was really neat to enter a tropical rainforest. It was very lush and green (shocker!). And, surprisingly it was also a sunny day. Which make for nicer photos too! We also saw quite a bit of wild life - fish that had yet to swim out to sea (as many are born in the pools in the rainforest), birds, and bugs.
We had a nice lunch stop in the rainforest - where you could swim in a refreshing small creek (crocs were far down stream - so we were assured!) and go for a quick canoe ride. I opted for the canoe ride which was very nice. I was also excited as we saw 6 small turtles that looked like they were newbies to swimming and quite entertaining as well.
We also went on a croc hunt. Well, on a boat that lead us down the river to search for crocs (just to take pics though - no Steve Irwin let's dangle meat over the boat!). The morning tour had seen zilch. So, I was crossing my fingers our afternoon group would see something - even 2 eyes poking out of the water. But, it was a hot day - so they likely to keep it pretty low in the water I guess. But, our group was super lucky. I had given up looking (because you have no idea what you are looking for) and shut my eyes - only to be awaken with a 'right over there' - and I'm sure the guide threw in a 'Crikey' for kicks! But, there HE was. Out of the water - a GIANT croc - still as could be on a small little island. He was completely out so we could just see how big he was. Let's just say that I would pass on a close encounter. Apparently he was over 12 feet long - but he looked bigger to me! His tail was massive too. But, we continued our journey and found another one - a much 'smaller' female (still big to me!) - but she was laying low in the water near the trees - you could only see her eyes and a bit of head. Then the guide saw something that I would have no idea was a croc. He managed to see a baby croc (looked like a stick from far away). He was no bigger than a foot and a half and super small - only about a year old. Looked cute too. I resisted the urge to jump off the boat and swim for a cuddle though. But, our croc hunt was quite successful I thought and I left with all my limbs too.
The day was a long one as you had to travel quite a way to get to destination points. But, it was neat to see the rainforest in a closer fashion and crocs from far away. Thank god for zooms on cameras.
previous travel blog entry
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