Daintree Rainforest

By Jen.

Leaving the cool Atherton Tablelands, we descended into the warmer coast and into the Daintree Rainforest near Cairns.

Walking through rainforest is truly a different experience. While completely absent of grass, the forest below the canopy is entwined with living things. It truly is a plant-eat-plant world there, where everything uses its surroundings, including other plants, to get its essentials. Some plants, like epiphytes, form a symbiotic relationship. Others like vines and strangler figs are harmful and parasitic. Many plants form vicious thorns, needles, and poisons to fend off others doing like themselves. Mosses, fungi, and lichen cover nearly everything. What surprised me most was how few bugs were actually interested in us. In a rainforest, I expected mosquitos and other life-sucking insects to be plentiful and swarm, but we actually never even had to use DEET to get the bugs to avoid us.

An (I believe “elkhorn”) epiphyte on the limb, trying to get sunlight through the leaves. It also uses its own leaves to funnel dead leaves, water, and other nutrients to its core, which in turn also benefits the host tree.

We hiked through Mossman Gorge to get a taste of the UNESCO World Heritage Daintree Rainforest.

Apparently some trees in the forest bloom from their trunks!

Ever since Mossman Gorge (so several days by then), we had been searching for this beauty. It is a Boyd’s Dragon. For such a remarkable creature, he blends in really well. We only spotted him because some tourists ahead of us did.

Even the fungus here is different!

Jonathan found this large Cane  Toad in the nook of a tree, right along the path where he was about to step.  He was probably about 4-6 inches from back to front.  Another invasive species, cane toads were introduced to eat cane beetles.  It turns  out they don't really like the beetles, and since the toads are super poisons, they have pushed  out native frogs; poisoning  many predators in the process. 

Sadly, nearly all the rainforests in the lowlands have been logged to grow the crop that is the bane of the first world: sugarcane.

Equipment Update: Apparently being in the humid north put another nail in the coffin for my camera. Something either liquid or dust, got on the inside and brought out that nasty purple smear you can see in most of these images. The motor drive (for the zoom) started shuttering seizing a bit when you turn it on. Apparently I am too tough on cameras. I had planned on getting it fixed while I was in the states and didn’t need my camera, but I didn’t realize that authorized dealers can’t work on “gray market” (bought in another country) cameras at all (even not under warranty). So, I will be looking for another (cheap) camera when we get back to Cairns.