The Delightful Daintree

The Daintree National Park has been on our list since the begining of the trip and so it was with much excitement that we entered into this famous World Heritage Wilderness Area. It did not disappoint.

The Daintree is the only place in the world where the evolution of plants and animals can be 'tracked', sorry if you are still into the Adam and Eve story. The Park has a prehistoric feel as you drive and walk amongst the amazing rainforest and mangroves.

Mossman Gorge was stunning with vast amounts of water pounding over rocks making them smooth and round over time. Like dinosaur eggs the rocks sit, waiting for another drastic change in climate to hatch maybe?

We arrived early and beat the other tourists, so we felt like it was just us exploring this vast landscape. The tree roots and branches were the most amazing creations of mother nature. If you pick any large root and follow it you quickly realise it winds it way for meters and meters, up and down like a roller coaster in search of the best light by which to grow.




A ferry crossing was our entry into the other part of the Daintree and this is the part you see on all the postcards. It is where the rainforest meets the ocean. This meeting like that of a bright green shirt and bright blue skirt is belted by mangroves. Clearly Mother Nature knew the rules. The mangroves, while not as pretty as the forest, had me fascinated. The trees that grow in this area have unique ways of surviving. They wind their roots up down and around, create snorkels for themselves to breath and support roots and sent down to stablise them against the battering coastal winds.

The mangroves also 'make' land. If left alone the mangrove forests will make about 1m a year. I just thought that was fantastic.

Around the National Park cane fields and banana plantations are abundant, lining the roadside like a guard of honor, as you drive through this spectacular part of Australia.

We purchased some Innisfail Bananas and they are the best we have had. Creamy and delicious!

Lots of love, Krystal

Week 21 Update: Big Hat Country

We're in QLD and it's State of Origin Time!!! (Go QLD)

We traveled from Mataranka and made it into Port Douglas after four long days of driving. In between, we went through Bob Hatter Katter country, where nearly everyone we encountered on the highway wore a big big hat in the car.

North Qld is home to many National Parks but none more famous than the Daintree. The park is split into two sections and one needs to catch the barge to cross the Daintree River to access the coastal section. It is a combination of rainforest, jungle, beach and mangrove with sugar cane plantations littered everywhere. A very unique and beautiful place.

Km Traveled: 25299!! Booyay we have reached 25000 clicks. (2664km in the last week)

Places visited: Three Ways, Camooweal (for lunch), Mt Isa, Julia Creek (for lunch), Richmond (for some dinosaurs), Charters Towers (for a free shower!), Townsville, Cairns, Port Douglas.

Highlights: the beautiful thermal pools in Mataranka; cute little desert mice scurrying over our tent all night; friendly QLDers, the welcome sight of Mt Isa (reminds me of Broken Hill); the beautiful east coast and the sugar cane plantations; and the amazing Daintree NP. There is also an awesome ice cream place (Floraville) at Cape Tribulation but I'll let Krystal tell you more about that one.

A very weird setup. Surely this is illegal to have a wooden hut on the back of the ute. Remember it in Terminator 2?

Many trees in the Daintree coil around each other and fuse together. We found this unique one on a quiet section of the park.

Some lost chooks in the Daintree!!

Sometimes it's wee...a sad tail.

I have hummed and harred over publishing this little gem of a story. I have wondered what future employers will think if they find it, I have wondered what my children will think if they read this and then I have wondered what you our readers will think. In the end the joy of telling a good story has outweighed my embarrasment.

We were driving along a long stretch of Outback North Queensland road, not much too see and less to do. It was nice and warm and we had about 600km of driving until we reached Charters Towers and our rest stop for the night. It is dry in this part of the country and if you do not drink enough water you end up with a cracker headache. Having had a coffee and 1L of water already I really needed to pee.

The need to pee and doing so on the side of the road is not an issue. We have been traveling for 5 months now so squatting by the side of the road does not bother me and it is often cleaner than road side toilets.

I told Mark I needed to go and he said he also needed a pee, clearly he was employing the same water drinking strategy as I was.

We pulled over in a little stopping bay and, as is my custom, I squatted near the ute in the little gap between the ute and the trailer. This affords me a little privacy and preserves what little dignity I have left after showering nude, out in the open in most National Parks.

Marks habit is to stand very close to the ute and pee on the other side of the tyre to prevent any "splash back" that my land on his shoes. Ever the neat and tidy man in my husband.

I had my back to him and was doing my business when I feel a little splash on my bare buttocks. I quickly realise that, as it was not raining, my husband must be getting his "splash back" on ME!!!! 

"AHHHH...stop...you are weeing on MEEEE!!!!" I scream.

"What???" Says Mark..."Oh, oh shit, oh sorry."

It was awful but very very funny.

Mataranka Madness!

 Mataranka Hot Springs!

Taz the Fisher Woman

Mal and his Tubes!

It was with great excitement that we reached the small town of Mataranka. Not only is this town the place where the novel "We of the Never Never" was set it is the place where our friends and ex neighbors Taz and Mal live!

Taz and Mal invited us to stay at their place which was so generous and we greatfully accepted the offer. Taz took us fishing for barra. We went to an amazing secret spot on the roper river and put our lines in. Taz and Mal taught us how to cast for barra and we found out that you have to "act like an injured fish" to attract the barra. Despite all taz's skill we didn't catch a fish. It did not matter though as what more could we ask for but good friends and a beer in a beautiful part of Australia.

In Mataranka Mal acted as tour guide and took us swimming in the hot springs where we used our snorkels to view the amazing underwater rainforest that is hidden in the deep blue water. The springs are about 32 degrees every day! Beautiful!

Mark fitting in at the Mataranka Pub

We were also treated to chips, gravy and beer at the local mataranka pub where mark dressed in a flanie so as to better fit in! We had a great time, thanks Taz and Mal for having us and sending us off with a yummy bacon and eggs breakfast.

Beautiful

Next... Queensland!

Week 20 Update: Mataranka

Quick update!

We are in Mataranka spending time with Taren and Malcolm, doing some barra fishing and dipping in the warm thermal pools.

We stayed at Edith Falls the night before. I had my first attempt of trail running on the 8.6km track to the Sweetwater pools. It is dangerous but addictive and enjoyable.

Total km count: 22635km!

Sweetwater Pools at Edith Falls, Katherine

Thermal Pools in Mataranka. A constant 34C all year round.

Boris the Bullet Dodger (Hlavica)

The Lost City, Litchfield

We were sad to leave Darwin and to say goodbye to Kel, willo and black bean. Thanks for a great time! We then ventured into Litchfield National Park. It is famous for its magnetic termite mounds and beautiful waterfalls and it did not disapoint.

Magnetic Termite Mounds

Waterfalls

Mark with the Tripod

We swam in the plunge pools, bush walked through the spooky collection of rocks called the lost city and went skinny dipping. We were determined to use our photography skills to get se of those perfect water fall shots. You know the one...where the shutter speed is left open and the water looks like mist. It is this ambition that has led me to dedicate this post to Boris Hlavica our photography teacher and excellent photographer from Broken Hill. It is Boris who taught us that some shots are BORING! The light must be right and sometimes you have to camp on a hill for 5 days.

To see some of Boris' amazing photography just click the link.

http://www.imagesofaustralia.com.au/

We did not quite camp but we did end up waiste deep with our tripod in the water. After lots of giggles and a few slippery moments we thought we had some good shots. What do you think?

Olive Python

 It was on return from our waterfall exploits that this big mumma python frightened the hell out of us! After our initial shock we watched this 3m python in awe. He was beautiful.

Litchfield was very accessible, even to 2wd. It is a must.

Next we are off to see Taz and Mal! Excitement!!!

Love krystal

Kakadu is fantastic!

Gumlong Falls Kakadu

  

 

            Kakadu du du!

We ventured into Kaladu and the level of excitement in the car was off the charts! We had been looking forward to Kakadu National Park since leaving home and we were pumped.

I was going to use my Croc Dundee hypmotising trick, you know the one!

Amazing Art

 At this time of year the Jim Jim area of kakadu is usually closed. This was disappointing but luckily most other areas were open. Kakadu is a huge national park with a diverse landscape with so much to do. It pays to plan and research to get the most out of your trip.

We visited a fantastic bird hide where all manner of birds and lilly pads can be viewed. It was magic. Speaking of magic the whole of kakadu has a magic feeling. It is such a special place, the never never. It gives you a feeling that this is a spiritual place, a place that is not only beautiful but magical.. We are so lucky to be able to visit.

The ancient rock art in kakadu is also fantastic. With over 7000 sites in the park it is the best in Australia. There is even a painting of a tasi tiger that, was at one stage, on the mainland. The history, the stories and the records are recorded for us to see on the rock walls in Kakadu.

We camped in the camp grounds in the park which were excellent with toilets and showers. They are $10 a night per person which includes the mosquitos. The mozzies are so bad when we laid in the tent to sleep we could hear them buzzing outside, trying to get in. It was aweful. The mozzies like Mark much more than they like me so he is now painted in calomine lotion. They were so terrible to deal with that we tried sleeping in the car after we killed the many that were camped in there. This was a fruitless mission however, as it was to hot to stay in the car and the mosquitoes seemed to find their way in anyway.

We did lots of bush walking and splashed outing a cruise. It was a cruise on Yellow Water Billabong and was worth every cent. We saw so many animals including crocodiles and brolgas. It was fantastic to see the sun rise over this amazing water way.

We visited gumlong camp ground and waterfall which is a less visited site in Kakadu as it is down a dirt road. It was amazing and we spent a good amount of time sun baking and going for a dip when we were hot.

Yellow River Cruise

Kakadu was amazing and was well worth the entry fee. On the way into the park we were stopped to do a survey. One of the questions was:
"How did you hear about Kakadu?"

The answer was "...well...I have always known about it, its just one of those things...right?"



I think that is the reason that it is worth the effort to visit the National Park. It lives up to its reputation and is truly magical.

Love Krystal