Sunday, July 11, 2010

Day 53: Warm, wet and wild

We packed up fairly early leaving the Atherton Tablelands and coming down off the plateau out of 2 days of mist towards the coast. All along the top of the plateau is rich farming land – they grow everything there – tobacco, coffee, lychees, maize, avocados, mangos, market vegetables.   We are struck by the contrast between the east and west coast of Australia – the west coast so dry and arid with spots of green (usually where there is a river) and the east coast lush, tropical and so unbelievably green.  There were some absolutely gorgeous lookouts on the winding road down to sea level with views out across the ocean, volcanic looking islands dotting the horizon, and the lovely patchwork of farmland and tropical rain forest all intertwined along the coastal plain.  Of course it is hot!  And wet!  You get the feeling (even in winter) that things grow as you watch them here.  We had hoped that leaving the Atherton Tableland we would be able to dry out from the mist that had engulfed us for two days, but when we came down to the coast ..... rain!  Sigh!  Well I suppose it is called rainforest!
The result of all this wetness and warmth is lots of large insects, beautiful birds and other wildlife.  Yesterday we saw in a bird hide, the largest spider I think I have ever seen, complete with a locust in his mouth.  Then in the lovely caravan park where we are staying, right on the beach front, under palms with coconuts, we saw a massive lacy monitor – he must have been all of two meters long and was going through the rubbish bins!  He was rather shy (as he should have been – naughty thing eating out the rubbish!) and dashed off up a tree as soon as he saw us.  He was HUGE!  Unfortunately we don’t have a picture because he was too fast but he had lovely markings – a bit similar to Cassie’s snake, with a black background and lovely light yellow lacy pattern all over.  Rich has been busily opening coconuts for us – we all had sore tummies last night after a bit too much fresh coconut – but it is hard to resist something that is free. (Cass and I had worked out a plan of action if he cut one of his fingers off (see the photos) knowing how accident prone he is – but so far so good! J   This area is VERY touristy compared with where we have been and there is very little that is free – so we took full advantage! J
At present we are staying close to The Daintree, which is a vast national park that is pure rainforest. (This area receives 11 meters of rainfall a year – Warragul gets approximately 1100 mm). Further south, is Port Douglas and Cairns.  As Cass flies home on Saturday we will spend the next few days in this area (desperately hoping the sun will come out so we can dry up a bit!  Packing a wet tent is a real trial to the soul!)  Cape Tribulation is on the agenda to explore today – this is the furthest north that we will go on the east coast (and we will have to take a ferry over the Daintree River to get there - still not as far north as Darwin however).  Then tomorrow we move closer to Cairns and will check out the markets at Kuranda and various natural sights .... waterfalls etc.  (There is no shortage of beautiful things to look at here).  On Thursday we hope to go out to Green Island, which is on the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkelling and an opportunity to see some of the beauty of this natural wonder.  Friday in and around Cairns and then we say cheerio to Cass and start to move south – her a bit more quickly than us!
Wow – I was just commenting to Rich again yesterday – what an incredibly diverse place Australia is – and how blessed we are to be experiencing it in this way.  Every day brings new excitement and new sights that are just so eye-popping – probably the biggest struggle is not to get too blasé about it all!  

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