Where the rainforest meets the reef.

I spent a couple of days around Cape Tribulation (Cape Trib), which is about an hour’s drive north of Port Douglas.  Cape Trib’s motto is “where the rainforest meets the reef,” because the Daintree Rainforest hits the coastline and the GBR.  It’s the only destination in the world where two World Heritage areas meet.  There are two main ways to get to this region: from the north you can drive the famous 4WD Bloomfield track down from Cooktown or from the south you can take the cable ferry across the Daintree River.  The area has stayed protected due to its isolation; if a bridge had been built across the river, it might have been covered with sugar cane plantations like a good portion of Far North Queensland (FNQ).  With very little development, Cape Trib is an escape into nature and relaxation.

Obviously, the area is supposed to be excellent for spotting wildlife.  The Bennett’s tree kangaroo lives here, but it is supposed to be even more elusive than the Lumholtz’s tree roo (found around the Tablelands) so I wasn’t expecting to see one.  Cassowaries do live here, and their importance has led to the installation of speed bumps on the road where cassowaries are known to cross.  Check out the signs.  Even though folks who weren’t even looking for one saw a cassowary, I had no such luck.

I tried a nightspotting tour to check out some of the nocturnal species.  I learned more about the flora and didn’t see much fauna.  No pythons.  We did see a couple of frogs, including a white-lipped tree frog hanging out high in a tree.  However, I was less impressed by this discovery when I saw such a frog hanging out on the wall inside a restroom near some walking trails a few days later.

The area is covered with many fan palms which are quite beautiful and excellent at providing shade.  New fans start out whole.  I heard that the splits of older fans might be an adaptation for cyclones.  Maybe they are just the result of strong winds?

I did hike up the Mount Sorrow ridge trail where you ascend 650 m in just 3.5 km.  There’s a section so steep and slippery that a guide hand rope has been added.  The views from the lookout point are worth the trip though.  I am not sure that these photos do it justice.

I also saw a couple of snakes, but I really thought I would have more luck in seeing wildlife in this area.  However, being unlucky may not be so bad… while running along the beach, I became a little worried (paranoid?) I would come across a crocodile!