Daintree River Wild Watch
The day started with a cruise with Ian "Sauce" Worcester on the Daintree River. We had gone out with Ian on our previous trip in 2007 and knew we wanted to spend as much time as possible with him this time as well. Trish had booked us for this morning and we walked down to the boat launch at 6:15 am.
Ian really works at getting you good camera opportunities on his smaller boat. We went both up and down river, and up Barrett's Creek, which involved going under the bridge for the road into Daintree Village--something the bigger boats cannot do. Steve got some good video of the Azure Kingfisher and Shining Flycatcher, and we see a huge (over 4 meters) croc.
There's a nice young couple from Israel on the boat with us this morning and the girl asks if Ian can get closer to the croc. He answers no, he's got grandchildren. Their English wasn't strong, so I'm not sure she got it, but I giggled.
It was a beautiful morning on the river, the water still as glass. I think they say something like 'Daintree, where the rainforest meets the sea.' Here, the rainforest meets the river. It's hard to describe how incredibly lush it is. The trees, and vines, and ferns, and more are so dense, and there are spots where the land rises almost vertically from the river. This is probably lucky for us since it would have made it hard to clear before it was protected.
Jindalba Boardwalk and the Elusive Cassowary
After the river cruise we returned to Red Mill House for breakfast then Steve went off birding for awhile while I showered, read, and wrote for awhile, with the occasional look into the garden at butterflies.
About noon Steve came back to get me and we headed over the Daintree River up to the Jindalba boardwalk.
The ferry is interesting. It runs on cables, one on either side, and is simply cranked across the river.
The boardwalk isn't far, and almost as soon as we get out of the car we see Cairns birdwings mating. This went on for, no kidding, an hour or more. Naturally we got video. We walked the short loop boardwalk, taking our time as Steve shoots video and I look at plants and butterflies.
A group comes by and told us they saw a cassowary walking by. Hmm. No one acted very excited, were they pulling our leg?
We continued around the boardwalk, taking our time, and when we returned to the parking/picnic area we sat down for some water, fruit and cheese. And who should walk up? The couple who went on the nocturnal tour with us with Alan Gillanders! They are really nice people and we chatted awhile, and then they told us they had just seen the cassowary from the boardwalk! Darn, I guess the other guy wasn't fibbing. We decided we had to make the loop again just in case, but, no luck.
By the way, the Cairns Birdwings were still at it.
An early Christmas Gift
Trish had given me two ferry coupons so it would be a little cheaper to cross the river. I lost one in the parking lot at the boardwalk and was ready with my $13 at the ferry. The ferry worker waved me onto the ferry when I told her, and finished her work of loading the ferry. As we approached the other shore, she came up to me, leaned in the window, and said I had an early Christmas present and not to dole her out! She earned the right to wear that merry Santa hat she was wearing.
A Christmas Eve Dinner
With limited options in the village, we had arranged with Trish to prepare a meal for us at Red Mill House. She prepared a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and sausages, homemade bread, and a really fresh salad that I thinnk had mint in among the greens, and was crunchy with macadamia nuts. Steve got mango, and I got passion fruit and papaya after. A XXXX Gold rounded out the meal.
Caroline and John from the UK have arrived, and their passion is mammals. We all chat, sitting out on the veranda, and later look for the nocturnal mammals.
Butterflies of note:
Cairns Birdwing
Bordered Rustic
Common Crow
Orchard Swallowtail
Ulysses Swallowtail
Orange Bush-Brown
Hamndryad
Large Green-banded Blue
Green-spoted?
Birds of note:
Azure Kingfisher
Black Bittern
Great necked heron
ShiningFlycatcher
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