Hiring one of the best cars money can buy we headed North from Cairns towards Cape Tribulation. Our first point of call was Daintree for a cruise on the river, the main attraction being the Saltwater Crocodiles that live along the coast and in the river systems of Northern Australia. The Saltwater Crocodile is the worlds largest living reptile and responsible for more attacks on humans than sharks. At up to 5m in length and weighing 770kg it would be difficult to evade their jaws in the water, on land they can sprint short distances but only in a straight line, apparently if you zig zag they won't catch you not that I plan to put this to the test.
No I did not choose this color
After a few minutes aboard our Daintree river cruise we came across a resident croc called Scarface (below). Fat Albert another local was nowhere to be seen.
Our boat driver was an expert in crashing into the river bank to get us close to the wildlife such as this green tree snake
Moving on from Daintree we continued up the coast to Cape Tribulation, a beautiful bay fringed by Rainforest and Mangroves. The cape was named by Lt James Cook in 1770- after his ship rand aground on one of the reefs "because here began all our troubles". The rainforest is home to thousands of species of birds and animals including the elusive Cassowarie.
A view over Cape Tribulation
From wikipedia "All cassowaries are usually shy, secretive birds of the deep forest, adept at disappearing long before a human knows they are there" We came across one standing in the middle of the car park at Cape Tribulation. The 2004 Guinness Book of Records list the Cassowarie as the worlds most dangerous bird, standing at almost 2m in height with sharp claws.
There are only around 1500 in Northern Queensland and the locals have put up quite a creative sign asking car drivers to slow down.
Highlights: The beach at Cape Tribulation was stunning
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