We are up and out early. We have a 9:30 wildlife tour on the Daintree River. It is our one last chance to see the endangered Cassowary here in the NP.  I have my eyes peeled. The road is curly and slow going so it makes it a little easier. We make a turn and there he is, a daddy Cassowary about 5 feet tall and two little ones. They ae intently foraging along the roadside. Dad eyes us a bit but they are pretty intent on eating so we get a nice long look before they wander off into the thick vegetation. Hooray! We move on, catch the ferry back across the Daintree then make it just intime for our boat ride. The focus is crocodiles but turns out their presence is intertwined with the presence of a huge colony of bats. Trees are hanging heavy with hundreds of bats and inevitably limbs break and clusters of bats crash into the river or along the shore. Crocs rush in for an easy meal. We come across “bumpy” who is lying in wait for that very event. A huge amethystine python is curled up in high branches his body swollen with bats he has come upon. This daytime roost along the river apparently moves up and down the shore every month or so. Food chains are weird. We come upon a mangrove heron (looks like our green heron) and a Tawny Frogmouth (like our nightjars). The frogmouth is so still on the nest that she looks just like a branch. Thanks, Bruce, for a fun informative ride.
One more stop, Mossman gorge. It is a pretty good stop but really a mini taste of the rainforest more appropriate for those who don’t head all the way to Daintree. We enjoy it though and see a huge golden orb weaver and another Ulysses butterfly.
We move on to the Atherton tablelands to check out wine, coffee growers, cheeses and chocolates, waterfalls and some more unique Australian wildlife if we are lucky – and a little less rain. Tomorrow maybe, we have been rained on off and on this entire drive.
Home tonight is the Mareeba Rodeo Grounds – I asked at the visitor center where the best place is to see kangaroos – we haven’t seen many yet. Her answer, the rodeo grounds so here we are and there are lots of kangaroos here and on the golf course next door! Hopefully they won’t be a nuisance by morning.
We stopped and bought a closed container to attempt to keep the mice out of all the tasty treats. Here is hoping.