Daintree Rainforest

The Daintree Rainforest (strictly a tropical seasonal forest), is a region located on the north east coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman and Cairns. At around 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi), the Daintree is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australian continent. Along the coastline north of the Daintree River, tropical forest grows right down to the edge of the sea.

There is outstanding coastal scenery that combines tropical rainforest, white sandy beaches and fringing reefs just offshore. This is an extremely rare combination.

After much searching we decided to do Billy Tea Safaris. We started the day off with about a 2 hour beautiful drive.

Much of the Daintree Rainforest is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site, being listed by UNESCO in 2015 in recognition of its universal natural values highlighted by the rainforest.

You may have heard of Australia’s Daintree Rainforest being compared to the likes of “Jurassic Park.” It is the world’s oldest rainforest and its ecosystem is one of the most complex in the world. Some of the earliest land plants on the planet can be found in the Daintree, along with ancient trees and wildlife dating back to the Dinosaur era.

Hoping to see some crocs, we started out Daintree River Cruise…

FINALLY saw one, not confirmed it wasn’t fake but we will take it…

Puzzle–nut Mangroves…its like a natural rubix cube

After an uneventful river cruise we headed into the jungle

Cassowaries, genus Casuarius, are ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) that are native to the tropical forests of New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia), nearby islands, and northeastern Australia.

Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit, although all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food, including shoots and grass seeds, in addition to fungi, invertebrates, and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when provoked they are capable of inflicting injuries, occasionally fatal, to dogs and people.

Cassowaries are very important to the rainforest. They eat fruit that look like the one below (this is an a dried fruit, when they are ripe they are bright blue) After the Cassowaries eat the fruit, they walk around and when it comes out, it is how the fruit gets distributed.

One that is ripe…

These very sharp vines are on everything!!

Ferns so old that they were here during the dinosaurs.

Walking through a jungle that is was around with the dinosaurs were here, we had quite an appetite.

It is ok to have bottled mixed drinks in Australia!

And to just let your pet snakes out on the grass to get some exercise

After lunch it was time for a dip in the river, fruit tasting and some Billy Tea!

Billy Tea – very easy to make, boil water, throw tea in…

Then swing the bucket around so the tea leaves go to the bottom.

In 1981 the Great Barrier Reef was listed as a UNESCO site – The Daintree received its UNESCO World Heritage Listing in 1988…This is the only place in the world where two UNESCO sites meet…