Me Tarzan, You Jane

What a day, where do I start?

Tarzan and Jane playing Silly Buggers in the Daintree National Park.  Jane is on the Rex Creek Swing Bridge. Tarzan is on the Rainforest Circuit Track at Mossman Gorge in the Daintree National Park.
And we've only travelled fifty two kilometres today.
The weather was mostly miserable after doing our obligatory walks at Mossman Gorge and The Rainforest Circuit Track.  So much more civilised than I remember it on our very first trip to Cairns around thirty two years ago (!!!!).

Fungi of the Daintree Rainforest.

Tarzan and Jane enjoyed some sightseeing in Mossman, they just loved the retro cafe.  A definite plus was the great coffee.  Jane taught the waitress how to make affogato.  Good one!
After the walks and a bit of sight seeing in Mossman town, that is St David's Church, The Sugar Mill and Souvenir Shops, we had a delicious light lunch at a very retro little cafe.

We camped at Daintree Village by the Daintree River which is alive with estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles. Centre right is the view from our campsite.  Absolutely stunning!
We drove the southern end of the Bloomfield track, eventually arriving at Daintree Village, alongside the Daintree River, mid afternoon.  The weather was mild, still sunny and slightly threatening.
We discovered a little camp ground across the road from the village itself, almost on the banks of the Daintree River and made enquiries about staying for the night. Next, we booked ourselves on the next Daintree River Tour which was leaving in less than an hour.
On the river we spotted a variety of wild life, from Rainbow Bee Eater Birds, to hatchling crocodiles sun baking in the forks of branches swaying over the water.
We saw a python twisted around a tree. a couple of very large crocodiles, (sunning themselves on the sandy banks), sailed past untouched, ancient rainforest jungle, and got tangled in a log below the crocodile infested water!  Luckily our tour guide got us out safely and back on shore we booked into our 'accommodation' for the night and set the fire for a dinner in the Dutch oven.
A covered area set us up for the night because it wasn't long before the drizzle shrouded us for the night.
As we sat, after dinner, chatting with fellow campers, I could hear splashing in the river below our camp ground.  I wondered to myself if that could possibly be the splashing sounds of crocodiles, but not wanting to sound too dramatic ignored them.
After more splashing I couldn't resist turning to look behind me to see if I could spot anything but it was too dark.
This caught the interest of one of the chaps we were chatting with and he asked, "did you hear that?  That sounded like a crocodile."
He suggested we grab a torch and believe it or not, we spent quite a bit of rest of the evening spotting crocodiles in the river with our torches...we could see their eyes shining just below the surface of the water!
The Daintree River is tidal, and as the tide came in,  lapping the top of the boat ramp below us, most of us wondered out loud to each, whether crocodiles every ventured up the village side of the river!

Beauty and the Beast at Windjana Gorge National Park

Last night we stayed at Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park in Derby.

It was good to be back in the tent. We had a good site and the amenities were clean and all in working order. It's amazing how many caravan parks we've been to that are poorly maintained. If something is out of order rarely do you get a discount because of it.

This morning we visited some historical sites in town. One was the Wharfinger Museum. It's a bit scary when you start finding useful things from your childhood in a museum!

The museums we have seen on this trip only highlight the hardships our pioneers would have endured. And to think that so many of them would have come to places like the Kimberelys or the Pilbara from such temperate climates and genteel societies.

What is even more shocking is to discover how the Indigenous Australians were treated and to see so many of them now looking so lost and soul-less. I can only observe and not comment on the situation because I believe I do not have enough knowledge in this area.

I only wonder if all the wrongs can ever be righted.

We visited the Old Derby Goal (Lockup) and I couldn't bear to be there...I could feel the injustices eeked out there as I walked up to the lockup. I left almost as soon as we arrived there, just stopping long enough to read the information boards on site.

Also visited the Bird Observatory but found it very poorly signposted and did not stay, even though there were lots of birds. (But we could not see them because they were in the fenced in bit).

We bought fuel in Derby, $1.62 a litre for unleaded and the LPG was $1.25. That is the dearest we've seen LPG. We haven't used LPG for some time now as we don't believe it's economical at these prices but keep the tank full for emergency only.

We had a short journey today. One hundred and sixty three kilometres to be exact and we rattled in to the Windjana National Park just after lunch.

The Napier Range is glorious, the boab trees are majestic and I just love them.

After choosing a camp spot, close to tap water and the amenities and in the shade of a couple of small trees we relaxed for a while and waited for the temperature to cool down a bit before traipsing down to the gorge.

Ahhh...crocodile country...we will be back tomorrow to do the walk when it's cooler.

Honey Pie thinks it's all a big joke until....

I said, "I think that's a crocodile there." And he said, "Nah, that's not crocodile.  Do you think it's a crocodile?  Nah, do you think it's a crocodile? Hey, it's really a crocodile!"

"Beauty"

Moonrise at sunset over Napier Ranger and Boab Tree.