Well, notch up another awesome day!!

The weather wasn't bright and sunny like yesterday, but the clouds were high, the rain held off, and there were occasional glimpses of blue sky and sun. We left Port Douglas early this morning, and travelled north on the Cook Highway through Mossman and other small, outlying communities to Daintree Village. Daintree Village is nestled right on the edge of the Daintree River, which is where all the cruise boats depart from in their search for crocodiles. The village is beautiful, but very small, and you constantly have the feeling that you'll turn around to find a large croc has wandered up the boat ramp, and is roaming the streets... There are no dogs in Daintree Village...or kids for that matter... We stopped here for a quick morning cuppa, didn't see any crocs, and jumped on the car ferry to cross the river and make our way to Cape Tribulation. The distances we travelled are insignificant, but it was a very slow trip, as the road is tight and twisty and up and downy, and around every corner is the most amazing view... It's impossible to not keep stopping and taking photos. In places, the road edge is so overgrown with jungle, that the canopy grows out and over the road, and completely blocks the sky. It gets very dark underneath, and it's like you're driving through a green tunnel with daylight just filtering through to show you the road ahead. The plants up here are incredible, and are among the oldest plants on the planet, with some having evolved since before animal life even began... This section of the rainforest is over 135 million years old, from Gondwanaland, whereas the Amazon, by comparison, is only 40 million years old...

We did a couple of boardwalk rainforest tracks, and had a walk along some of the small but pristine beaches, but I couldn't possibly begin to describe how magnificent this area truly is. Photos can't do it justice either, it's unspoilt and untouched, a paradise as nature intended it, and it far surpasses anything we could possibly create... Oh, if you're headed up this way, don't forget to call in and try an icecream from the Daintree Icecream Co, they make their own, and use all the tropical fruits and flavours that you'd never find in a Baskin Robbins. Like chocolate and chilli, or mango and ginger, or dragonfruit (that one's very yummy), or honey and macadamia... After doing a couple of walking tracks, we went to Ferntree Lodge, where we were spending the night, and checked in... It's not a razzle dazzle hotel by any means, but it's clean and comfortable, and has the best gardens and backyard of anywhere in the world, so we couldn't complain. We had a quick lunch in our room, before the bus picked us up to take us to our 'rainforest surfing' activity for the afternoon.

Rainforest Surfing is a series of zip lines or flying foxes strung up through the jungle, which take you from platform to platform through the trees, giving you a unique ride and views of the jungle from all the different heights. They strap you into a harness, attach you to the cables, and you walk off the edge of the platform, and let gravity take over... The guides control the speed of your glide through the forest, and occasionally stop you so you can take advantage of the views and scenery, and take photos etc. Sometimes you 'zip' as a couple, and other times you go alone. You can hold on, or let go, or even travel upside down if you feel like it... It's a great feeling, and the surroundings are, of course, spectacular... We all loved it, even Jo, although she got a bit shaken up in some of the higher sections. When one of the guides started playing games with her rope though, making her go fast then slow then fast, and stopping her in the middle of a section, where she was left to dangle between platforms, she was NOT impressed!! We thought it was hilarious fun and games, and Jo was fine when she got to the platform, but it was an episode she'd rather forget (like we'll ever let that happen). All in all, we spent about an hour zipping through the jungle, and it was a great family activity, which we could all participate in and enjoy...

For the last couple of hours of daylight, we decided to drive as far as we could along the 4wd Bloomfield Track. I was hoping to get to the Bloomfield River, and see the Bloomfield Falls, but we were too close to running out of daylight, and had to turn around before we got there. We did get more than half way along the track, and it's a fantastic trip, with heaps of amazing scenery. It's not difficult (when we did it), but it's definitely 4wd only, and I can imagine it being very rough in bad conditions. There's numerous creek crossings (not deep when we did them), but if the rain is about, and tides are high, they'd present a challenge, and we were advised you need a snorkel for the Bloomfield River crossing. Getting over the couple of mountain ranges is interesting too. They are an almost vertical ascent up one side, and descent down the other, and I can honestly say I've never been on roads that steep before (that's the truth)... We've decided now, that because we aren't doing Cape York, and didn't complete the Bloomfield Track, that we'll do them both in the same trip, when we come back to the Cape with friends (and brother!). (Yes, that means you, you'd better start planning it!!) The other interesting sight we saw was all the backpackers with their camper vans parked on the side of the road, swimming in a river that clearly had a "NO SWIMMING. CROCODILES." sign posted on the bank. And it's not as though they didn't understand, it was a pictograph sign, they just didn't care... Maybe they think it's all made up? Oh well' it's not as though the world will miss a few less backpackers, is it?

It's been another good day, the weather has held out for us, and we've done some fun things together...

Let's keep that ball rolling...