Hello once again friends & family:
This morning is our last day at the Thala Beach Lodge - as we ordered our breakfast we learned that our German waiter used to be a tennis pro/instructor at the Riviera Country Club - and now he is serving coffee at a restaurant in the middle of no-where's-land. He was very friendly, and claims to really miss Pacific Palisades (if his visa had been renewed he would still be there).
We soon boarded yet another tour van, and today we headed up north to the Daintree National Park: a World Heritage Site since 1981 that has been forever spared from logging...a part of the world that has been unchanged for 150 million years. Millions of years ago, ALL of Australia was covered in rainforest. This rainforest is believed to be the oldest rainforest in the world! We drove through the town of Mossman where it sure looked a lot like Maui on the way to Haiku House - sugarcane lining one side of the road, and the ocean on the other, with the mountains in the background. Sugar cane production is a distant second to the #1 industry up here - Tourism!
Our first stop was Mossman Gorge where there were nice, easy walking trails into the rainforest. Our guide was a young fellow named Dave, who was flirting mercilessly with two 20 year old ladies who were traveling together - personally I think they were much more interested in each other than in Dave, but it made for an amusing ride. Dave told us all early on, between facts about the rainforest and the various birds & insects we will find there, that last summer he met a girl who lives and works in NYC at "some place called Juicy Couture" and he was flying out to meet up with her next week, and try to talk her into moving back to the wilds of Australia with him. They have known each other for ONE night - he's convinced she'll say yes! Oh young love...
We took a riverboat ride through the rainforest, in search of crocodiles... apparently one was sighted sunbathing on the shoreline, but it seemed like everyone saw it except me. Remarkably there is a large house being built right next to the river, which literally crawls with crocks at other times of the year. hmmmm...The captain told us that there are over 300 species of birds in the rainforest, and over 40,000 different species of insects.
We then headed further north to the Cape Tribulation area where we walked on the huge vast beach, then hiked through the rainforest to a beautiful crystal clear river where we all went swimming. It was quite a hot & humid day today, and that river was soooooo great to jump into. To end the day we stopped at The Daintree Ice Cream Company for ice cream made from the local fruit trees. YUM!
BREAKING NEWS: Our tour van dropped us off at the end of the day to our NEW Port Douglas Hotel - when we drove up I exclaimed "I have seen heaven and it is the Sheraton Mirage Hotel"! Finally out of the wilderness, and into a huge, well lit, American-looking monstrosity of a hotel with 5 acres of saltwater pools, Playstations in the rooms, lights and lamps EVERYWHERE ("I can see...I can see!!!"), and air conditioning to beat the band. NO snakes to be found anywhere (so far) - but tennis courts, a spa, and an 18 hole golf course. It was just what the Dr. ordered...Willie went exploring, and I hit the seafood buffet.
Early to bed tonight YET AGAIN, as tomorrow we depart at 8am for a gondola ride over the rainforest. Until then, I'll see ya mates!!!
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