Tropical Tour with Tony

Today was another tour day to see the sights around Port Douglas. It was also another HOT and humid day around 100 heat index. We boarded our bus with tour guide Tony of Tony's Tropical Tours with 4 other people visiting from England. Our tour would encompass the popular spots of Mossman Gorge, the Daintree Rainforest, and Cape Tribulation.

An exclusive Rainforest wilderness experience with our first stop at the renowned Mossman Gorge, and an introduction to this unique world heritage area awaits you with a guided walk and photo opportunity, then onto the Daintree River to join a river cruise, home to a diverse ecosystem and the elusive "Estuarine" crocodile. Observe stunning native and migratory bird life, butterflies and breathtaking scenery.

Unfortunately, the first part of this tour was a bit of a snooze.  The Mossman Gorge tour was essentially just an elevated walkway through the forest, about a quarter-mile in length.  Outside of the forest dragons and wild turkeys, there wasn't much to see.  

Along the river that cuts through the gorge, large flies were on the attack.  These flies could take a chunk out of you when they bite, but were slow moving and easily smackable.  While the site had some significant plant life, the stop felt a bit like filler.  

Another part of the tour that felt a little like a filler activity was the Daintree River Crocodile tour. We only came across one small adolescent crocodile toward the very end of the tour, but the ride was a nice, slow, relaxing trip nonetheless.

Crossing the Daintree River we journey to Alexandra Lookout to enjoy sweeping views extending from the Daintree River Estuary to the Coral Sea, then onto Noah Valley, a World Heritage Listed private property which supports some of the most spectacular, pristine rainforest found anywhere in the world.

We stopped for afternoon tea along one of the beaches on the way to Alexandra Lookout. It was a welcome opportunity to get out of the van and stretch our legs a bit. The beach was beautiful, and very private.

Take a stroll along "The Stairway To Paradise" and view one of the most primitive flowering plants still existing, and enjoy a refreshing swim in the crystal clear rainforest stream, while our barbeque lunch is prepared in our unique setting, a private treehouse surrounded by rainforest.

We then make our way for an interpretive guided rainforest walk in the heart of the Daintree rainforest. Noah Valley is acknowledged as a 'refugium' where plant species have survived undisturbed for millions of years with numerous species not known to exist anywhere else.
We follow on to Cape Tribulation, with a stop at Kulki Lookout for unsurpassed views of the rainforest and beach, being the only place in the world where two world heritage listed areas meet, then, if time permits onto the Daintree Ice Cream Company, before making our journey home.

The Daintree Rainforest was wet and tropical as we learned about all the plants there. As expected being in Australia, there were several deadly animals and plants in the rainforest but we managed to avoid them all (whew..). 

We did, however, see plenty of Golden Orb Spiders.  The female Golden Orb spider can grow up to 2 inches in size, not including leg span.  The males only reach about 1/3 of that size.  The venom of the Golden Orb spider is potent, but nonlethal to humans.  It has a neurotoxic effect similar to that of the Black Widow.  

The male Golden Orb Spider

Several species date back to the prehistoric age. Because of the rare species of plants and animals living in this particular rainforest, it’s listed as a World Heritage Site which catalogs, names and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.

After a morning of sweating it through the Gorge and Rainforest, we stopped to have lunch and a swim at a swift moving cool stream in the rainforest. 

After our swim we headed up to Cape Tribulation before we started our journey back to Port Douglas with a stop at the Daintree Ice Cream company for a treat on our way back. Flavors of the day: Soursop, Wattleseed, Raspberry, and Jakfruit.

We topped off the evening with a meal at the Hi Tides Café down the street from our hotel.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Port Douglas and head back to Sydney!