RHH's photos with the keyword: manjal jimalji

This is called a creek, but seemed more like a river, and rather deep at that when we were crossing it. That's however, is only part of the story in this photo. The day it was taken the girls wanted to go shopping, so my wife, my son and I decided to go back to the rainforest and hike in a less touristy area than Mossman Gorge. We settled on a hike to the Devil's Thumb lookout and soon discovered the hiking away from the tourist areas was a different experience. At this point we had not even begun the hike but had had trouble finding the track and were facing hiking through the water here. Even after this the track was hard to find in spots, very steep and with the light rain that was falling, very slippery. We had to deal with a lot of spiny plants including Hairy Mary, Wait-a-While Palm, and Lawyer's Cane, but it was the leeches that defeated us. My son, who had only hiking sandals could not keep the leeches off his feet and we finally turned back. So, while the photo suggests a quiet peaceful hike through the forest, it was anything but.

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.