Back to Australia October 2014 | A rainforest smorg

It was a busy day yesterday. It's a bit of a drive up to Cape Trib but this is a great area for camping, boating, walking, hanging out on the beach, and just about anything an outdoorsy type would enjoy. Most of the Cairns beaches are along this route, and we spent a bit of time in Palm Cove, an upscale beach community of high rise hotels and shops. At Port Douglas we stopped at the wild life reserve--it's actually a commercial zoo of sorts--and I wouldn't normally choose something like that but there is no way you will see this range of wildlife in the wild and know what you are seeing, so I had a great time following the feeding tour, through the rainforest, grassland and wetlands areas and caught a few (ha) pics. I'll id them later. I'm just so thrilled to have a connection today, I hate to waste it doing homework!

The birds are pretty spectacular. Look for the cassowary--later in the picture show. This guy is young, maybe 2 - 3 years old. There's a baby, in the wild, very camouflaged, later, if you can find him.

I think this is either out of focus or hazy from the humidity but he's a beauty.

A friendly wallaby. And a very big nest. They are much bigger--the size of a small tent, in the wild.

Next stop: Cape Tribulation is across the Daintree River, where we cruised later in the day. Then lunch and a stroll on the beach. Bubble crabs make artistic designs in the sand that have inspired art and design here.

But the highlight is definitely this rare sighting while on a walk in the rainforest. It's a Cassowary. The hiway signs warning of Cassowary crossings are frequent. Colours in the head and neck are spectacular. This is a smaller cousin of the emu: much prettier but equally slow moving and, of course, unable to fly. They are endangered: cars, loss of habitat and predators such as dogs are their key enemies. We were told there are only 1800 left, but I guess there must be 1803 because this male (yep, the women take off and the men raise the babies), has three little ones. If you can find them, I'll buy you a drink when I get home. [Try double clicking to enlarge the photo and scan around. I know you can find at least one. I did, even after a glass of wine.]

On our last bit, a cruise up the Daintree in search of crocs, we came upon this one baby hiding along the edge of the water.

Where's Waldo?

Heading out for the day. It's been very relaxing, even though it sounds very busy. Board tonight at 4 pm. Looking forward to some lazy days on the reef.