After a relaxed breakfast, we explored the beach a bit more, and the kids prepared “giant sand cupcakes”, decorated with bits of shell and coral. On our way south we stopped at a place promising a live butterfly and insect exhibit. The live specimens proved scarce – a couple of stick insects, a tarantula and a large cane toad at the lobby. But the dried insect collection was impressive, as was the place itself. The whole compound, including lots of woodwork, ironwork and masonry, turns out to be the lifework of a single person, now in his sixties. In ddition to the beautiful handcrafted furniture, stands and display cases, the walls were decorated with his drawings and paintings. Perhaps the most striking object was a carnival mask he prepared for some mask competition. The mask was made of thousands of insects wings and parts, and was truly remarkable (and indeed won the first prize).
Our next station was a small ice cream factory, preparing fresh ice cream from exotic fruit grown on the property. The selection for the day included Davidson Plum (a kind of rainforest fruit resembling a plum and favored by cassowaries), Yellow Sapote, Coconut, and some beans whose name I forgot, which are roasted and ground, and have a somewhat nutty flavor – slightly resembling cocoa or coffee. We tried all four and they were all delicious. The large orchard had dozens of different fruit trees, all marked and named, and we enjoyed strolling around and discovering the huge variety of tropical fruits, most of which we never heard of. Our fruit discovery and bird photography journey was interrupted by the rain, and we continued on our way out of the park. Before boarding the ferry back across the Daintree, we paid a mandatory third visit to the Discovery Center. We were slightly disappointed not to be ushered in by a cassowary this time, but Daniel and Tamar enjoyed the huge replicas of dinosaurs and other extinct ancient animals that used to roam the area – like a giant wombat and one of the world’s largest prehistoric birds – which we hadn’t paid enough attention to on the previous visits.
On the other side of the river awaited another compulsory stop – a short boat trip in crocodile country. We learned about the habits of the Estuarine Crocodiles (also know as Saltwater Crocodiles or “Salties”), and saw the dominant male in this area of the river, as well as some smaller individuals and some yearlings. The guide was impressed with Daniel’s budding nature photography skills and enthusiasm, and attempted to give him good shooting opportunities, explaining to the other passengers that we should give him the proper conditions to develop his hobby. When he heard that Daniel has his own cassowary photos he kept murmuring “that’s unreal, that’s unreal…”. He wasn’t too knowledgeable about the local birds, but we did spot a buff-breasted paradise kingfisher, several honeyeaters, and a darter basking in the sun.
In Mareeba, a small tropical town at the north end of the Atherton Tablelands, famous for its coffee production, we made a resupply stop, and stocked up on groceries, wine and beer. We headed to our campsite for the day – the nearby Granite Gorge Nature Park – when the sun was already setting. On our way to the park a large group of Agile Wallabies were seen hopping along in a nearby field, then crossing the road and disappearing in the bush. Further down, on the dirt road leading to the camp, we saw a snake crossing the road. When seen under the headlights, I first thought it was a young python (it was using rectilinear locomotion “caterpillar style”, as pythons usually do, perhaps because it was cold), but it turned out to be a brown tree snake, in a locally common banded morph they call here “night tiger”, and with an unusually dark, nearly black, band coloration – a real beauty. After we all looked at it closely, I put it into a pillowcase, to be examined and released in the morning.
When the kids were already asleep, we took a short night tour around the camp with headlamps and flashlights, despite the persistent light drizzle. We located a couple of possums (both common brush-tail and green ring-tail) and a sugar glider that demonstrated its remarkable capabilities, gracefully gliding from one tree to another. We also saw some of the Mareeba Rock Wallabies for which the place is renowned, hanging around as if it weren’t the middle of the night.
Family Trips 