Australia, Daintree: A Cassowary Drinking Water at a Roadside Stream

Our bus left Mission Beach around 5:00pm, heading north. It took a couple of hours to get to our next destination, Cairns. The bus journey was okay and we were glad to be on a short journey for our last ride with the Premier Motor Service bus company. Just before we arrived in Cairns, we sent Carl a text to let him know when we would be arriving at the bus station. Upon arrival at the station, we retrieved our bags when the driver unloaded them, but we had to wait another 15 minutes or so for Carl, who was driving to Cairns from Palm Cove, a small beachside town where he had booked a house for a few days. When he showed up in his rental Nissan 4WD vehicle, we had already purchased beer and were ready to check out the place he rented.

Carl, Dan's friend from work, had been living in Australia for the past 2-1/2 years and was travelling in a few of the same areas that we had planned to travel during our last month away from the UK on our around-the-world trip. He drove us to Palm Cove, which took half an hour, and then pulled the 4WD vehicle into the garage of the house he rented. The house was situated in a quiet residential area right next to the beach. When we arrived at the house, we took our bags inside and Carl gave us a tour to show us where we would be sleeping for the next few nights. For dinner, he used the barbecue grill on the back patio of the house and cooked up some chicken and pork ribs. We ate well, and a lot, that night, and chatted until it was late and we were all too tired to continue talking.

At one of the streams, we spotted a majestic pair of Ulysses butterflies, and a wompoo pigeon

Breakfast the next morning was eggs, bacon, mushrooms and toast. Carl suggested that we visit Daintree National Park that day, a well-known tropical rainforest in northeastern Queensland famous for being able to spot endangered cassowary birds. A cassowary is similar to an emu, but has a thin horn and blue and red colourings around its head. We gathered the belongings we would need for a day in the rainforest and Carl headed north.

Before leaving Palm Cove, Carl stopped the car in the main centre of the beachside community. The beach was nice and there were many cafes, bars and restaurants facing the water. The town was very pleasant and seemed really laid back. He then carried on driving north past Port Douglas until we reached the Daintree River where a small ferry would transport us and the rental car across the crocodile-infested waters.

The ferry operated by a pulley system, which we thought was rather clever. There were steel cables on either side of the ferry that shortened and lengthened to pull a boat in to either side of the river. The ferry itself was small, but large enough to accommodate several vehicles. People were not allowed to step out of the vehicle onto the ferry while it was moving.

As soon as we were over on the other side of the river, we kept our eyes peeled for cassowaries amongst the trees on either side of us. Some areas of the forest were quite dense, and even if a cassowary was near the road, despite its size, it would have been really difficult to spot one. The only way to get a good sighting of one was if one was crossing the road in front of us, or if there was an opening in the forest to either side of the vehicle, like a small grassy plain or river bed.

When driving through the rainforest, the first area of interest we stopped at was the Walu Wugirriga (Alexandra Range) Overlook. We pulled the car over in the parking area for the lookout point and walked over to the viewing platform. The view was beautiful, we saw Mount Alexandra surrounded by dense rainforest and the ocean in the distance, a great panoramic view from Snapper Island to Port Douglas. We took the obligatory photo there and hopped back in the car where Carl continued to drive farther north, deeper into the national park.

The next point of interest was down a side road not far from the first overlook. We went on a short walk with Carl, around 700 metres, into the rainforest. The path we took was the Jindalba Boardwalk; at the start of the road leading to the trail was a rainforest discovery centre which had its own canopy walk offering a chance to (possibly) see various wildlife native to the area. We asked one of the staff at the discovery centre what we would likely see and she was honest with us by explaining that most people do the canopy walk to check out all of the rainforest's plants, flowers and trees.

In order to avoid paying $25 AUD each (£11, or $22 USD), we skipped buying entrance tickets and walked along the Jindalba Boardwalk instead. We didn't see any wildlife during that walk apart from some birds, spiders and insects, but we did see a lot of plants, flowers and trees that were listed in a Daintree Interpretative Rainforest Guide that had been left by one of the previous tenants at the house Carl rented in Palm Cove.

During the walk, it was the hottest part of the afternoon and experience this year had taught us that it was not a good time to see wildlife, since they were wise and slept in the shade during that time. Plus, we have found that many of the managed walks in the jungle, with a wooden boardwalk, are normally devoid of animal life because the creatures become too scared to hang around an area with frequent humans passing by their homes.

The boardwalk was quiet and there were only a couple of other people in the area at the time we visited. The hike was an easy one through dense rainforest, very lush and green, but we had no luck seeing a cassowary rustling around in the undergrowth of the forest. During the walk, our energy levels increased and we had started to sweat in the humid forest, so we were happy to jump back into the air conditioned vehicle once we finished the walk.

For the next hour or so, we continued driving north through the national park and up to Cape Tribulation. There were a few streams at the side of the road and we stopped along the way to take photos and look for crocodiles and cassowaries. At one of the streams, we spotted a majestic pair of Ulysses butterflies, and a wompoo pigeon. Around lunchtime, Carl stopped at a cafe that he knew of and we took a seat at a table after ordering food. Dan and Kyle shared a large chicken burger and huge bowl of potato wedges; the portions were enormous and we both struggled to finish all of the food. Feeling completely stuffed, we made our way back to the car.

At Cape Tribulation, we walked out onto the beach and looked at the cape where Captain Cook had once sat to plan his safe passage through the Great Barrier Reef to make his way back out to sea. Around the pleasant beach area, we saw many warning signs advising us of jellyfish and crocodiles that seem to wreak havoc in the area. We also saw an unusual bee's nest that had been created between a few large, thick leaves of a tree. The nest seemed very unprotected and vulnerable, but it was a fascinating thing to see.

Since we were in a 4WD vehicle, Carl was quite excited about continuing the drive up the coast after the sealed road had turned into a dirt and gravel track, which began not far from the turnoff to access Cape Tribulation Beach. Once on the rougher road, it was time to test the 4WD's potential. The track took us across streams that had washed out the road; that made the journey exciting as we could feel the vehicle slip and slide on the rocks under water that was fairly deep at times. Parts of the road became so steep during the journey, that it made the ride a little scary and thrilling.

After driving several miles on the 4WD gravel road, we had to cross a wide river at the entrance to an Aboriginal settlement that was completely cut off from the outside world, apart from the road we had taken to get there. The name of the town was Wujal Wujal and there were many newer looking houses there, some of them pretty big. We waved at a couple of the local villagers and had a little drive around the town. There wasn't much going on there and it was very quiet so we decided to leave and head back south to Palm Cove.

During the drive back, we finally got the opportunity to see a cassowary! It was standing near the side of a road in a stream, looking for food or drinking water. We were surprised at how little it bothered the bird when four cars pulled over at the side of the road so its passengers could take photos of it. In the end, the large bird walked back into the rainforest without a care in the world.

Extremely happy to have seen a cassowary, we got back in the car and Carl continued driving. A few moments later, we saw a couple of wild pigs dart out in front of our vehicle and into the rainforest to our left side. The pigs were the last animals we saw that day. Back at the house, we ate another barbecue dinner that Carl had cooked and we tried to watch the DVD film "Hollywoodland". Although the film began, we didn't even get halfway through it because we were all so tired from the day's events. It was time for bed and we were looking forward to the next day.