Queensland is a region (immense!) In the north-east of Australia. In front there is the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef – seasickness a thousand to visit it, but this is another story. In the region the most important city is Cairns, on the coast, where we have been for a few days and where I have broken through with avocados (typical product). In fact, the climate here is decidedly tropical . And Gaia and I discovered what “rainforest” means . From Cairns it is easy to make excursions to the north, in the heart of the wet vegetation, following an extraordinary stretch of coast, reaching up to Cape Tribulation. An itinerary inside the Daintree National Park among rare animals, ferocious beasts, so much humidity and glimpses of breathtaking ocean , Cape Tribulation and the Australian rainforest are two “things” of Australia not to be missed.
PORT DOUGLAS AND THE DAINTREE NATIONAL PARK
Our idea was to wander around, trudging softly from beach to beach , sleeping on the sand, counting crocodiles (safe on a slow barge), in short, taking a slow trip into the forest and enjoying everything calmly – unlike the rest of our honeymoon . This is why we left Cairns – a true city, a port born for the miners in the 1800s – to sleep in Port Douglas . A small holiday village, further north, about 70 kilometers.
From this pleasant town, also rich in cafes, pubs and family entertainment, you can easily enter the Daintree National Park, a nature reserve famous for its biodiversity and for being one of the oldest tropical vegetation areas on the planet. It is the kingdom of mangrove, crocodile, fern and palm.
THE SCARED COCCODRILLI (AUSTRALIAN MARINI)!
Before entering with our car (for hire) inside the park, however, we decided for a small tour of the Daintree River, in search of the crocodiles . From Port Douglas follow the signs for the Ferry Crossing , a river crossing on a barge that will let you really enter the park. Nearby there are several companies that take travelers on the river with boats. Gaia and I took a one-hour “cruise”. Enjoyable. Rich in scientific information . But above all rich in animals: crocodiles everywhere! But also pythons and snakes, river birds, magpies, herons. Crocodiles are revered and feared by Australians. Feared because they eat everything from farm animals to kangaroos, especially wallabies (the little ones and cuddly ones). Christians also seem to eat and there are danger signs scattered all over the river. In fact they are marine and prehistoric monsters, some even over three meters .
