Friday, December 25, 2009

The Daintree Rainforest

We are so lucky to have the Daintree Rainforest right on our doorstep, and boxing day (the day after christmas) we decided to take a drive up north.
Just about 20 minutes north of Mossman is a turnoff to the Daintree ferry.  This is a cable ferry and runs every 10 minutes or so - the cost is 18.00, at the moment.  Locals can get a season ticket - hope that never changes.....   I find that as soon as we are off the ferry and start driving through the avenue of trees I feel utterly relaxed.
Alexandra range lookout
 is always a good place to stop and on a clear day you can see all the way back to Port Douglas.

Further up the range there are some lovely walks - I can never decide which is my favourite.  There is also the Daintree canopy for which there is a charge.  It is an elevated walkway and a high tower which you climb up and then can overlook the rainforest from on top.  They have  little recorders that you can carry around with you and get information on everything around you.  We stopped at Myall boardwalk, and today it was my favourite!

All the walks are so well maintained, and this one is a wetland area so is very shaded which is an especially lovely thing on a hot day.  These common ferns are all over in the trees and are called birdsnest ferns for obvious reasons.  they sometimes get huge!


this is a detail of the underside of the older leaves which die back and create the "nest" effect

As you can see there are often more than one birdsnest fern per tree!




I love these gnarly roots!

This is a curtain fig which grew around another tree and strangled it.

I love the way the light filters through the fan palms. 

There is also a  fan palm walk (maybe that is my true favourite) but that is being renovated.

the last stop was cape trib where we walked along another boardward to  a great lookout.  Scared a huge iguana along the way, but I was not quick enough with the camera for that!

A long lazy drive home brought to an end another perfect day spent in paradise!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The little town of Mossman

Yesterday afternoon we took a walk through Mossman and along a newly finished path towards North Mossman.  As you leave the town and head North you have a georgous tunnel of green raintrees.  These are very old huge trees that sweep across from one side of the street to the other.   On the one side under the trees is a grassy area that turns into a bustling market every saturday morning.  There is fresh local produce, crafts and plants.   Even a massage tent.  The old stone Anglican church is there and they have some tables and chairs where you can share a cuppa and a bikkie for a dollar or two!  How Australian is that!




Walking along the path which is separated from the road by a landscaped bed I notice my favourite tree in flower - the Poinciana.  Huge bright bunches of flowers and long arching seed pods.


The trees have such a beautiful shape.



The flower beds have wonderful really tropical flowers - this one a lobster claw heleconia.


The setting sun behind the park on the other side of the road reminds us that it is the wet season.... do these clouds mean rain tonight?   No matter - that is what makes it so green and lush.


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