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  • Day 8

    Daintree NP - Jungle and River

    May 21, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Lana and I woke up early today, going to breakfast to strengthen ourselves for the day.
    Today our group would drive to the Daintree National Park. We drove past huge fields of sugar canes that has just the right weather conditions in that part of Queensland to grow. Unfortunately, we don't get Australian sugar in Germany as it is mostly exported to Japan and South Korea.
    First we went to see the Mossman Gorge and learn a bit about the different plants and creatures living there. I still have the feeling, that I'm in a big, special zoo where everything is planned - it feels so surreal. The huge boulders in the Gorge are moved aside by the water. Millimeter for millimeter, but still. We also saw lots of huge spiders and learned how scientists melked some of them to create an armor and a cloak from spider silk. I really love science.
    We had some morning tea and drove further to the River Cruise along the Daintree River. We saw some tiny baby crocs, hiding behind the mangroves, and huge crocs swimming casually next to us.
    Our bus had to cross the river by ferry, as that was the only most direct way to the northern part of the Daintree NP. After we weren't eaten by the crocs, we jumped back on the coach which drove us up a very bumpy serpentine road to the Wula Wugirriga lookout where we had a stunning view over Port Douglas.
    Driving a bit further, we stopped at the Heritage Lodge to eat our very delicious lunch and dip our fingers into the cool creek afterwards. Luckily, you can swim in the creek without worrying about the crocs, but only 3 miles down the river, everywhere are signs to beware about the crocs. I actually think, they are becoming my favourite animals!
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