Australia

Barron Gorge is northwest of Cairns in Queensland, Australia. We arrived yesterday, June 8th, in Cairns and spent the afternoon and early evening exploring. This was one of the places we explored, though we were a bit disappointed by the lack of hiking. Today, June 9th, however, we were at the upper end of Barron Gorge and did some hiking there. Had a very good day there and at Dinden National Park, where we saw our first kangaroo, a big event for us though I'm sure a meaningless thing for most Australians.

Yesterday we picked up our oldest daughter in Cairns and went on to explore the Atherton Highlands. We went to Hypipamee National Park and saw both the crater and Dinner Falls there. Went on to Millaa Millaa and visited some of the nearby waterfalls. Saw Crater Lakes, Curtain Fig National Park and the Cathedral Fig Protection Area before going on to Port Douglas where we will stay for the next eight days.

We traveled up to Port Douglas Friday evening after exploring the Atherton Highlands during the day and are now staying in Port Douglas with other family members who traveled in on Saturday. Our guest house is only a few steps from Four Mile Beach and we watched the sunrise there yesterday morning.

Photographed outside our guesthouse, Heliconia psittacorum is native to the Amazon rainforests but considered an invasive plant here in the rainforests of Australia, though often found in gardens.

This beautiful butterfly was photographed in the town of Millaa Millaa in the Atherton Highlands of northern Queensland. We've seen quite a few of them but this is the only one that rested long enough for a photo.

This is the Mossman River which runs through Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest in Daintree National Park in northern Queensland. We hiked the trails in Mossman Gorge yesterday, an overcast and sometimes rainy day. The rainforest was spectacular and the hike superb even for those of our group who are less than avid hikers. Today we saw our first crocodiles and visited a sugarcane and cocoa plantation. So we've had a busy but wonderful trip thus far and have enjoyed the food and wine as well, though the beer is so-so.

Seen along the Daintree River, this Saltwater Crocodile is around four meters long. We went yesterday on a boat trip to see the crocodiles and saw over a dozen of them including some babies. Saltwater Crocodiles are also known as Estuarine Crocodiles. They grow to over five meters long and live for up to seventy years. This one was very friendly and spent the whole time smiling at us.

There's a story that goes with this photo. The photo was taken along the Manjal Jimalji walking track. Manjal Jimalji is the native name for a place known locally as the Devil's Thumb and the track or trail leads to a viewpoint in the Mossman Gorge of the Daintree Rain Forest. The track is difficult, requiring a river crossing and a very steep climb of 1000 meters in four kilometers. The day we hiked there the weather was also bad and the track was very slippery and narrow with a lot of spiny foliage to be negotiated. It was not, however, the difficulty of the track or the weather that defeated us but the leeches. My wife and I both had hiking boots, but our son, who was with us had only hiking sandals and had to stop often to pull the leeches off his feet. By the time we turned back one of his feet was quite bloody and seemed to attract even more leeches and my wife had picked up a few as well. We decided it was not worth the effort or trouble and turned back after several kilometers. I do not know what plant this is and would appreciate the information from someone who does know. That is one of the difficulties of hiking and exploring in an unfamiliar place - the birds, butterflies, insects, plants and trees are all unfamiliar.

This little bird was photographed in the Cape Tribulation area of the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland. He is perched on a plant of Crepe Ginger and was also feeding from the flowers. We were in the Cape Tribulation area all day yesterday and though the weather was not great, had a wonderful time. As with every day here we saw a lot of plants and creatures we could not identify and I had to find out what bird this was before I could post the photo.