Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Saturday 2 April: Rain and strong winds in Cairns made for a murky sea with high swells, so I decided to wait until Cape Tribulation for a Great Barrier Reef trip. There is no public transport north of Cairns and no sealed road north of Cape Tribulation, so I'm part of a two-day minibus tour of the Daintree area with a day off in Cape Tribulation, hopefully for a Barrier Reef boat trip. At our breakfast stop there are White-lipped Tree Frogs then we are on the Daintree River spotting baby 10-month old Crocodiles before looking at strangler figs and ancient woodland on Marrdja Boardwalk. Three scientists are here catching fresh-water Moray Eels to fit with tracking devices. They have netted three today, a good toll considering only one is working while the other two are on Crocodile watch. Sunday 3: Seas are still heavy so there no reef trips today. Instead I take a walk into the rainforest and back along the beach. "Don't cross the river too low down or high up" I'm breezily warned "too low and the stingers will get you, too high and it will be the crocs." Despite the heavy rain (it is after all a rainforest) it's a good and thankfully uneventful day.
Monday 4: We return to Cairns via Alexander Range Lookout with views over the mouth of the Daintree River and beyond, then stop at Mossman Gorge before crossing the river on the Daintree chain ferry (84th mode of transport), then proceeding to Port Douglas with it's little wooden church.
Photos of Daintree and Cape Tribulation.