Cassowaries in the Rainforest

You may have noticed from previous posts that the kids and I have enjoyed building up a collection of photos of our favourite signs. So it was pretty exciting to find this one as we approached the Daintree:

Yep, definitely hadn't seen that in Canberra, but then again Canberra isn't renown for its tropical rainforest. Which is where we've spent the last few days, exploring the region from Mossman Gorge to Cape Tribulation.

We were all surprised that it wasn't nearly as hot and steamy as expected. The walks that we did through various parts of the rainforest were all undertaken in low-twenties temperatures and the only intense periods of sweatiness weren't as a result of intense humidity but from intense rugby-playing between the big boys and their new friend from New Zealand at the campsite.


The ferry ride across the Daintree River, which is surrounded by pristine forest from bank to bank, made it feel as if we were entering a secret place, despite the fact it is pretty much accessible to all.

The landscape was just as stunning as I expected it to be and the pristine images from Where the Forest Meets the Sea are spot-on.

Evie spent a good half-hour one morning selecting her best butterfly-attracting attire hoping that she could encourage a bright blue Ulysses butterfly to land on her during our walks through the rainforest.

Clashing floral shorts, top and a bright
spotty hat is apparently the best outfit
for attracting butterflies!

No luck on that front unfortunately, but two hours of productive beach combing at Cow Bay proved just as exciting.

And the cassowaries? Yep, we saw them. A dad and baby strode out of the forest near our camp each morning to pick up and swallow whole bright blue berries the size of Max's fist. Another animal ticked off our 'see in the wild' list.

Max beach combing at Cow Bay in splendid isolation