Tonight we have two very tired young men, and a couple of very tired oldies...

We've had a very active couple of days up in the rainforest, with next to no time to stop and recharge our batteries, between the things to do. It's hard this evening, to make myself sit down and complete two days worth of blogs, when all I really want to do, is put my head on the pillow and sleep. But I know that would disappoint my legion of followers, who've had nothing last night, and are probably beside themselves for an update tonight, so here I sit... (Not having wireless internet, or even 3G connection is a major bummer, but we'll get by...) As a point of uselss information, there is no electricity mains supply north of the Daintree River, no mains water supply, no garbage collection, and no reliable mail supply... The permanent residents have to generate their own power, source their own water (not too difficult in a rainforest), remove their own waste (nearest tip 45km away, over the ferry), and collect their mail whenever the delegated person can be bothered to go and get it... They themselves, are not too bothered by no 3G coverage or internet connection, but they do have phone lines.

Our night in the Ferntree Lodge in the rainforest last night was great, we had dinner at the restaurant, and sat outside with all the jungle animals and birds, listening to their noises and calls. It's amazing how active the rainforest becomes at night time...

When we woke this morning, the rain had returned, and returned with a vengeance. It was fairly constant all day, and varied from light misty falls to quite heavy downpours. It mostly disappeared this afternoon, but has returned now, as I'm writing this. (I quite enjoy the sound of it on our caravan roof). It didn't have a huge impact on our plans today, as even the heavy rain doesn't penetrate the canopy of the forest, but it makes taking photos really difficult. There's not much light under the canopy in fine weather, so when it's grey and raining, there's even less light available. This makes the camera take longer to take a photo, and many of our shots are coming out blurry, as the shutter stays open for too long, and it's impossible to hold the camera still. Don't worry though, the advantage of digital is that you can take as many photos as you like, and only keep the ones you want, which has meant that there's still plenty of great photos for you to look at from the last couple of days. And they're worth looking at. The photos will make you want to come here yourself, and experience everything I'm trying my best to tell you about, and that trip will be well worth the effort, that much I can absolutely promise you...

The first thing we did after leaving the Lodge, was a quick trip to Cape Tribulation lookout. This was largely a waste of time, because the rain obscured nearly all the view, and left next to no visibility out to sea. It did however, give us a good look along the beach and the reef just off shore. I think this would be the same reef that the Endeavour hit off the coast, as she sailed north mapping Terra Australis, which required Captain Cook to put her ashore at Cooktown to make repairs. That's the reason he named it Cape Tribulation, as it's where his trials and tribulations began. (I'm sure I got that right, but someone might correct me...) We're going to Cooktown shortly, so I'm sure I'll get the full history there. We then headed back to a rainforest boardwalk we hadn't done yesterday. This one was the Maardja Boardwalk, and went through the rainforest, out into the mangroves and back through the rainforest. These walks are incredibly educational, and all the signs and information are presented in a way that's easy to read, easy to understand, and best of all, easy to remember. For instance, did you know that the mangroves along the coast are continually trapping the soils and sediment as it washes down the creeks, and are creating new rainforest habitat? The soil around their roots builds up, pushing the high tide mark further out to sea, then the saltiness drains away, and the salt tolerant plants move in to establish themselves in the new soil. After a while, detritus collects and rots around these plants, releasing nutrients into the soil, and the proper rainforest plants are then able to move in... See, now you don't need to come and read about it! (I don't remember how long this process takes, so if you want to know, you will have to come and read about it!) We've learnt about 'epiphytes', plants that grow and survive hand in hand with other plants - like birds nest ferns, basket ferns and some orchids. We've learnt how plants adapt to survive. The 'strangler fig' has it's seed dispersed by birds. The seed is deposited into a nook of another tree, normally above ground level, and germinates. It sends roots into the bark of the host tree, and gets it's water and nutrients from there. Once it's established, it sends lots of roots down into the soil, completely wrapping the host tree, which it now uses for support, and sends branches shooting skyward for light. Eventually, the host tree is killed, and rots away, providing more nutrients for the strangler fig. The fig tree remains standing there, completely hollow where the host tree once was, and looks like an amazing sculpture in the jungle... It's true, you'll see some in the photos.

Also, did you know that 70% of the plants in the rainforest are toxic to varying degrees, and the local aboriginal tribes know them all, and how to treat it? We're just discovering pharmaceutical benefits from some of these plants, that they've known for thousands of years!

As a final bit of useless knowledge (otherwise we'll be here a while), there's one type of tree that grows in the rainforest, whose seed will only germinate after it's passed through the digestive tract of the Cassowary. The seed is called a Cassowary Plum, and it's fatally toxic to any other animal. The Cassowary loves it, and is the only animal that can germinate the seed. The Cassowary is endangered, and continues to disappear through habitat loss and car impact. We lose the Cassowary, we lose that tree, and that tree is required by seven other animal and insect groups for their continued survival. That tree alone! This has all come about through millions of years of evolution, and we're at risk of destroying it right now, in our life time! Isn't that an amazing biodiversity right there? Doesn't it make you want to do something to protect it? They're trying, but they don't know if it's already too late...

There's a place up here, in Cape Tribulation, called The Discovery Centre. It's won numerous tourism awards, and is the best example of how to teach people about an environment or an ecosystem, that I've ever come across. It exists purely to inform the public about the Daintree Rainforest, and just how important it is to the entire planet. This isn't Australia's wilderness, it's the worlds wilderness. This should be a compulsory excursion for every school and every child in Australia, or something like it. There's so much to learn, in such an exciting way, it's incredible. We went there today, and our boys absolutely loved it, even in the pouring rain. We watched how the universe was created from the 'big bang', through the breaking up of Gondwanaland, the evolution of plants and animals and the formation of mountains and oceans, and the arrival of humans. We learnt about the ecology of the Daintree. We could have learnt about global wearming and climate change, but didn't stay long enough... You have to come, you owe it to your kids! They do a really good hot chocolate too!

On our way home to Port Douglas this afternoon, we stopped at Mossman Gorge for another rainforest walk which was recommended to us on the tourist map we were following... Best decision ever! It's another amazing walk, longer than the others at 2.5km, but very very rewarding. It takes you through the rainforest, over a suspension bridge across the river, crosses numerous little streams and past some incredible examples of the plants I've been telling you about. It's very accessible, and was by far the most popular walk we've been on, with tours and coaches in the carpark, but still well worth the visit. The boys had a swim in the river, which was amazing scenery (don't worry, the crocs won't come up the rapids downstream, so it's completely safe), and the walk through the jungle is just beautiful. The rain had stopped by this stage, but the foliage was still all wet, so the jungle was glowing and vibrant (and muddy). It really was the best way we could end the day, although by the end of it, we were all exhausted... (This walk went up and down hills quite a bit).

Back at home now, and we've had dinner, and the boys have gone to bed (it's only 7pm). Jeremy says he's going to read for a while, but he won't last... Dylan is already asleep... Jo is playing Bejewelled on iPad, and just scored over 3 million (has anyone got better?), but I saw her yawning earlier, so I suspect she won't last much longer either... Me, I'm the only one with any staying power! I'm not ready for.................................