Beautiful Queensland (3)
Well, when I last wrote I was about to have my dinner... very nice it was but our order wasn't exactly what we had ordered. Being very French when the occasion arises, I queried this with the waitress who didn't seem to take the hint that I was after a discount when she presented us with the (over priced for what we had) bill... Not being one to be easily deflated when it comes to discounts or complaints, I took this up further with management and they scrapped both items off the menu altogether. Our $50 bill ended up being just $10... much more reasonable... and we even had an extra treat as a long nosed bandicoot even came into the restaurant to the amusement of all guests - but not to the staff's. Janet was well impressed, she said she was too British to do that... though, she did remember the lesson well and used it later on in another similar situation also got a discount on her own merits. So, there you go my other British friends: take heart... whenever you are justified, speak up ! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain... and you do benefit the businesses involved by giving them a chance to improve, honest!
After a good night's rest and a yummy breakfast overlooking the beautiful & tranquil river we made Mossman Gorge our first stop. It is a renowned swimming spot, lots of crystal clear swimming holes, etc. but the water was almost too shallow (many rocks showing). Still the water seemed to be a lovely soft green and there was lots of ferns and moss around the banks to make it look very lush. We were told by a guide there that it was a very speical place with an incredible variety of plants and flowers - up to 18 different wild orchids in this park. We ran out of time to walk the 1h30 trail and headed up North to the Daintree instead. We drove till we got to a recommended spot for cruises. Most cruises will try to find you crocs (some can be up to 7-8 meters long, eeek) but I was mainly interested in birds & flowers... Still, as the only time we could do the cruise was over lunch, it was all a bit quiet, but relaxing anyway.
After that we drove a bit more till we reached a wide river that could only be crossed over with a 'moving platform'. They could take about 5 cars and 2 coaches and with ropes you were pulled to the other side. Both times we were lucky and the platform was almost ready to go when we arrived - total fluke, otherwise we would have wasted yet another 15mns, a small but significant amount when you have SO much to see if in just a few hours.
Janet had read in Lonely Planet about an ice cream shop that had produced up to 3,000 different flavours from exotic fruits and we just felt we had to try this. It was probably the most popular place we visited with cars and cars piling into their lovely cark park (tropical garden settings) to try the flavours of the day. They had 4: mango and coconut (standard) but also wattleseed and blacksapote. The latter was very brown and a bit like chocolate but not quite as nice and wattleseed tasted a bit like 'rum & raison'. I totally loved it. I even asked for another generous scoop. To think that I may never taste this ever again in my whole life made me feel quite sad... One of the other things we never had time to do but really wanted to do too was to go to one of their local farms to try out the local tastings of local fruits they had a list of about 40 that I had never even heard of that were too fragile to ever make it to the local markets or supermarkets, but you could enjoy them 'on site' and they'd tell you all about them, etc. Sounded fascinating and just my kind of thing as I love trying all sorts of new flavours, but it'll have to be for next time ! Whenever 'next time' is....
Janet then thought she'd have lunch on the beach and we were looking for a small cafe but got lost and ended up down a track road that led us to the Cow Bay beach instead of a beach cafe. We thought we'd wasted some precious time (5kms there & back) when I suddenly spotted a cassowary on the side of the road, picking at things on the ground, almost right by my side... I was like 'Look !!!' but by the time we stopped the car and reversed the tall bird had made a dash for a bush and Janet only managed to see the back of him with this blue neck sticking out. We were SO excited... We had been told that they are very rare and didn't hold much hope of seeing one at all, the only ones who the sightings tend to be in car parks (where they can hang around waiting for food if some idiots had started to feed them) or by the side of the road. Once they are in the forest, they could be a few meters away from you and you just couldn't see them anymore, they are so well camouflaged (despite the distinctive blue neck) that they simply become invisible to the average person. So, talk about 'a blessing in disguise'.
We tried to repeat the experience over the next 24 hours by having our eyes peeled into the forest, trying to scan back and forth as much as one can when you go 40-60km/hour but, to no avail. Every time we got out of the car to have a look at a beach I was a bit skittish I have to say as these birds are magnificient but can be deadly. They have 3 powerful claws on their feet and they tend to attack and throwing themselves forward, with their claws towards their opponent's belly in an attempt to disembowel them.... great ! A guy told us he was attacked by one once being on a bike, the bird followed him and really tried several times to claw him but he managed to get enough speed to escape its wrath without a scratch. They advise everywhere you go NEVER to approach them, never to run away from them and to always walk away from them backwards with your rucksack in front of you to protect your gut as it's what they will aim at! I was seriously nervous whenever we heard the slightest noise... whereas I never felt any fear looking for tigers or jaguars because I know they are less likely to attack. But the cassowary is the forest's most important ally as it can disperse more than 100 seeds of trees and without it, the forest and all creatures who rely on it will die. Hence it is absolutely vital to save this bird and some books said that there was only 50 left in Queensland... another stated 1,200. I'm not even sure how one does a census like that to be honest... these birds travel so fast, how would you know 'this' one is not the same as 'that' one? Their habitat has been shrunk over the years because humans wanted more farmland (same old) and we've constructed more roads across the national parks for tourist and commercial purposes... so, the few that are left constantly need to cross roads to look for mates or more food, hence you have to be so careful when you drive. They have actually tried really hard to help the birds survive, they have warning signs everywhere on the road, posters in all the tourist shops ('be cass-o-wary') and they even have lots of bumps/sleeping policemen to force people to slow down to 40km/hour.
After our big thrill we kept driving North, passing lots of banana and sugar cane plantations and high mountains with shrouded mist on the top. It was like a see of green, the Emerald Coast really. It reminded me of the Caribbean's in that sense, even the light was amost fluid. But as expected in a rainforest area, we had several showers a day and could never go far without an umbrella. There were many colourful flowers too... entire trees covered in red bloom... just an arresting sight.
We also enjoyed a board walk among mangrove trees, which was relaxing. Janet had never seen mangroves before and she'd have never gone on a walk that didn't have boards as she has a real phobia of leeches. I never think about them much until she reminds me.
By then unfortunately I was starting to feel very out of it because of another migraine starting and so instead of going down to Port Douglas (which I just couldn't face - another 2 hours back on the road) we checked into the Fern Hotel in Cape Tribulation. I thought I'd been there before, but didn't.
We immediately went to enjoy the outdoor pool. I counted about 25 species of trees and palm trees surrounding it, it was lovely. Quite warm water too. AND we were surrounded by flying foxes (i.e. bats with fluffy cream faces and long brown bodies). We also had a whole colony right by our bungalow. They are supposed to be 'friendly' and we truly didn't expect to see them bickering at 4pm. I assumed that all bats were nocturnal but these guys were quite active... Well, they mainly stayed on their trees, hanging upside down in a cocoon shape as they do, but quite a few were fighting or cuddling and it almost looked from a distance (we'd lost our binoculars by then - we've lost LOTS of things !) that we saw some mothers and babies interact or feed. They were actually quite cute and every time one of them would fly over the pool it was like being in Batman ! :) It's not often you can observe wildlife so close whilst having a good swim !
I then made the mistake of going to dinner and ordering what I thought was going to be a plain tomato soup but it came full of double cream. That was more than I could handle by this point and it didn't last more than 30mns in my stomach... I got worse and worse as the evening dragged on, could not even stand candle lights and had to be in bed by 9pm. I had planned to call my mother, to write lots of post-cards, update my blog, I had to write it all off. Unable to stand any light at all by then. We could have fed some turtle in the pool of the restaurant where we went as they wanted to give us some turtle food, but absolutely nothing appealed to me anymore, I just wanted my bed and total darkness. I still feel it's better it happened to me than to Janet though as I have no idea what we would do if our 'driver' had been out of service the way I was that night, boy.... no fun. And no-one has ever heard of a blind driver, right ? It is the one thing you definitely you cannot do with your eyes shut !!! The owner of the restaurant felt so sorry for me (he gets migraines too so totally sympathised) that he gave me 2 super dooper tablets which seemed to help - but only after I'd spent a good 10mns in the bathroom suffering !!! But it was a case 'no pain, no gain' if you know what I mean. I felt instantly better afterwards though I still wanted my bed ! Janet was very mumsy and happy to nurture, bless her.
We had planned another fun packed day after that and just had to get better...
Well, when I last wrote I was about to have my dinner... very nice it was but our order wasn't exactly what we had ordered. Being very French when the occasion arises, I queried this with the waitress who didn't seem to take the hint that I was after a discount when she presented us with the (over priced for what we had) bill... Not being one to be easily deflated when it comes to discounts or complaints, I took this up further with management and they scrapped both items off the menu altogether. Our $50 bill ended up being just $10... much more reasonable... and we even had an extra treat as a long nosed bandicoot even came into the restaurant to the amusement of all guests - but not to the staff's. Janet was well impressed, she said she was too British to do that... though, she did remember the lesson well and used it later on in another similar situation also got a discount on her own merits. So, there you go my other British friends: take heart... whenever you are justified, speak up ! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain... and you do benefit the businesses involved by giving them a chance to improve, honest!
After a good night's rest and a yummy breakfast overlooking the beautiful & tranquil river we made Mossman Gorge our first stop. It is a renowned swimming spot, lots of crystal clear swimming holes, etc. but the water was almost too shallow (many rocks showing). Still the water seemed to be a lovely soft green and there was lots of ferns and moss around the banks to make it look very lush. We were told by a guide there that it was a very speical place with an incredible variety of plants and flowers - up to 18 different wild orchids in this park. We ran out of time to walk the 1h30 trail and headed up North to the Daintree instead. We drove till we got to a recommended spot for cruises. Most cruises will try to find you crocs (some can be up to 7-8 meters long, eeek) but I was mainly interested in birds & flowers... Still, as the only time we could do the cruise was over lunch, it was all a bit quiet, but relaxing anyway.
After that we drove a bit more till we reached a wide river that could only be crossed over with a 'moving platform'. They could take about 5 cars and 2 coaches and with ropes you were pulled to the other side. Both times we were lucky and the platform was almost ready to go when we arrived - total fluke, otherwise we would have wasted yet another 15mns, a small but significant amount when you have SO much to see if in just a few hours.
Janet had read in Lonely Planet about an ice cream shop that had produced up to 3,000 different flavours from exotic fruits and we just felt we had to try this. It was probably the most popular place we visited with cars and cars piling into their lovely cark park (tropical garden settings) to try the flavours of the day. They had 4: mango and coconut (standard) but also wattleseed and blacksapote. The latter was very brown and a bit like chocolate but not quite as nice and wattleseed tasted a bit like 'rum & raison'. I totally loved it. I even asked for another generous scoop. To think that I may never taste this ever again in my whole life made me feel quite sad... One of the other things we never had time to do but really wanted to do too was to go to one of their local farms to try out the local tastings of local fruits they had a list of about 40 that I had never even heard of that were too fragile to ever make it to the local markets or supermarkets, but you could enjoy them 'on site' and they'd tell you all about them, etc. Sounded fascinating and just my kind of thing as I love trying all sorts of new flavours, but it'll have to be for next time ! Whenever 'next time' is....
Janet then thought she'd have lunch on the beach and we were looking for a small cafe but got lost and ended up down a track road that led us to the Cow Bay beach instead of a beach cafe. We thought we'd wasted some precious time (5kms there & back) when I suddenly spotted a cassowary on the side of the road, picking at things on the ground, almost right by my side... I was like 'Look !!!' but by the time we stopped the car and reversed the tall bird had made a dash for a bush and Janet only managed to see the back of him with this blue neck sticking out. We were SO excited... We had been told that they are very rare and didn't hold much hope of seeing one at all, the only ones who the sightings tend to be in car parks (where they can hang around waiting for food if some idiots had started to feed them) or by the side of the road. Once they are in the forest, they could be a few meters away from you and you just couldn't see them anymore, they are so well camouflaged (despite the distinctive blue neck) that they simply become invisible to the average person. So, talk about 'a blessing in disguise'.
We tried to repeat the experience over the next 24 hours by having our eyes peeled into the forest, trying to scan back and forth as much as one can when you go 40-60km/hour but, to no avail. Every time we got out of the car to have a look at a beach I was a bit skittish I have to say as these birds are magnificient but can be deadly. They have 3 powerful claws on their feet and they tend to attack and throwing themselves forward, with their claws towards their opponent's belly in an attempt to disembowel them.... great ! A guy told us he was attacked by one once being on a bike, the bird followed him and really tried several times to claw him but he managed to get enough speed to escape its wrath without a scratch. They advise everywhere you go NEVER to approach them, never to run away from them and to always walk away from them backwards with your rucksack in front of you to protect your gut as it's what they will aim at! I was seriously nervous whenever we heard the slightest noise... whereas I never felt any fear looking for tigers or jaguars because I know they are less likely to attack. But the cassowary is the forest's most important ally as it can disperse more than 100 seeds of trees and without it, the forest and all creatures who rely on it will die. Hence it is absolutely vital to save this bird and some books said that there was only 50 left in Queensland... another stated 1,200. I'm not even sure how one does a census like that to be honest... these birds travel so fast, how would you know 'this' one is not the same as 'that' one? Their habitat has been shrunk over the years because humans wanted more farmland (same old) and we've constructed more roads across the national parks for tourist and commercial purposes... so, the few that are left constantly need to cross roads to look for mates or more food, hence you have to be so careful when you drive. They have actually tried really hard to help the birds survive, they have warning signs everywhere on the road, posters in all the tourist shops ('be cass-o-wary') and they even have lots of bumps/sleeping policemen to force people to slow down to 40km/hour.
After our big thrill we kept driving North, passing lots of banana and sugar cane plantations and high mountains with shrouded mist on the top. It was like a see of green, the Emerald Coast really. It reminded me of the Caribbean's in that sense, even the light was amost fluid. But as expected in a rainforest area, we had several showers a day and could never go far without an umbrella. There were many colourful flowers too... entire trees covered in red bloom... just an arresting sight.
We also enjoyed a board walk among mangrove trees, which was relaxing. Janet had never seen mangroves before and she'd have never gone on a walk that didn't have boards as she has a real phobia of leeches. I never think about them much until she reminds me.
By then unfortunately I was starting to feel very out of it because of another migraine starting and so instead of going down to Port Douglas (which I just couldn't face - another 2 hours back on the road) we checked into the Fern Hotel in Cape Tribulation. I thought I'd been there before, but didn't.
We immediately went to enjoy the outdoor pool. I counted about 25 species of trees and palm trees surrounding it, it was lovely. Quite warm water too. AND we were surrounded by flying foxes (i.e. bats with fluffy cream faces and long brown bodies). We also had a whole colony right by our bungalow. They are supposed to be 'friendly' and we truly didn't expect to see them bickering at 4pm. I assumed that all bats were nocturnal but these guys were quite active... Well, they mainly stayed on their trees, hanging upside down in a cocoon shape as they do, but quite a few were fighting or cuddling and it almost looked from a distance (we'd lost our binoculars by then - we've lost LOTS of things !) that we saw some mothers and babies interact or feed. They were actually quite cute and every time one of them would fly over the pool it was like being in Batman ! :) It's not often you can observe wildlife so close whilst having a good swim !
I then made the mistake of going to dinner and ordering what I thought was going to be a plain tomato soup but it came full of double cream. That was more than I could handle by this point and it didn't last more than 30mns in my stomach... I got worse and worse as the evening dragged on, could not even stand candle lights and had to be in bed by 9pm. I had planned to call my mother, to write lots of post-cards, update my blog, I had to write it all off. Unable to stand any light at all by then. We could have fed some turtle in the pool of the restaurant where we went as they wanted to give us some turtle food, but absolutely nothing appealed to me anymore, I just wanted my bed and total darkness. I still feel it's better it happened to me than to Janet though as I have no idea what we would do if our 'driver' had been out of service the way I was that night, boy.... no fun. And no-one has ever heard of a blind driver, right ? It is the one thing you definitely you cannot do with your eyes shut !!! The owner of the restaurant felt so sorry for me (he gets migraines too so totally sympathised) that he gave me 2 super dooper tablets which seemed to help - but only after I'd spent a good 10mns in the bathroom suffering !!! But it was a case 'no pain, no gain' if you know what I mean. I felt instantly better afterwards though I still wanted my bed ! Janet was very mumsy and happy to nurture, bless her.
We had planned another fun packed day after that and just had to get better...
posted by Sylvie at 1:21 AM
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