Where the Forest meets the Sea

It's our last day at Ellis Beach and we're spending it just "chilling out".  A gentle breeze is blowing in from the sea and the waves are rolling rhythmically onto the beach almost at our doorstep. Butterflies are fluttering everywhere and there are all sorts of bird calls to be heard. 
When we first arrived here, a young Dutch couple with a small camper got themselves bogged in the sand and we helped push them out. When they left a few days later they gave us little a two man tent which had been given to them but which they didn't want to take with them when they returned home.  Philip has set it up for the children this morning, and they have been "camping" in it with their teddies and some morning tea.  The water is covering the beach right now, but the tide is just on the turn so in a little while we'll be able to go down and start building a sand castle.

Meanwhile, let me tell you about our visit to the Daintree yesterday. 
We left here nice and early in order to make the most of the day, and got to Daintree Village with time to spare before the first cruise boat was due to depart.  This gave us a chance to look around the information centre, where there were many interesting things to touch and see.  After a complimentary cup of coffee, the river boat took us up the Daintree River as far as the Cape Tribulation ferry.  A tour group which was on the boat with us disembarked at the ferry so that we had the guide, David, almost to ourselves on the return journey.  He was a wealth of information about the vegetation, wildlife and history of the Daintree River, and interesting to listen to. I had always thought that mangroves were trees in the fig family, but learned from David that the term "mangrove" actually refers to the group of plants- not all related to each other taxonomically- that live in the mangrove environment. What they have in common is their ability to thrive in salt water and mud.

I saw a few of these later in the day, but none close-or still-enough to photograph.

"Mangroves" include trees, vines and small plants like the ones in the foreground with the purple flowers (close-up below)

From there we crossed the river on the ferry and drove north. 

The sealed road ends at Cape Tribulation and we continued for a short way on the dirt road towards Cooktown, just to be able to say we'd been "off the beaten track".  We had wrongly assumed that we'd be able to get fuel at Cape Tribulation, and Philip stopped at the first suitable spot to fill the tank from the jerry can.  I noticed a narrow track winding into the forest just across the road, and realised it must be the path marked on a map we'd been given as "walking track to beach".  So, as it was definitely lunch time,  we decided to take our picnic basket and see where it took us!  The children described it as an "exploring track", and it did feel a bit adventurous pushing aside vines, climbing over fallen logs and ducking under the occasional low branch.

Eventually we reached a sign warning us not to enter the water and to be on the lookout for crocodiles, and after a few more metres we emerged from the mangroves and found ourselves on the beach.  We found a shady spot under a stand of pandanus and tried not to look over our shoulders too often while we ate lunch! If we'd had more time I would have loved to stay longer, but there were several things we wanted to do on the way home.

Some of the shells  and coral we found here.

The Dubuji Boardwalk took us through 1.2 kilometres of tropical palms, sedges and mangroves. The fan palms were amazingly beautiful, with the light shining through their big spreading leaves.  At several spots along the way we stood still just to listen to the sounds of the forest- the rustling of leaves, scuttling of small animals, chirping of insects and calls of many different birds. 

Further down the track we stopped at the Marrdja boardwalk, which wound through rainforest and eerie looking mangrove swamps to Noah Creek. 

A strangler fig forming an amazing sculpture!

Looking up into the strangler fig tree

Buttress roots give stability to the tree.

Cauliflory- the term for fruit which grows on a tree's trunk instead of its branches.

By this time we were all hot and tired, and we decided it was time to look in on the Daintree Ice-Cream Co, which we had heard was well worth a visit. They close at five and we got there just in time!  Set in beautifully kept orchards of tropical fruit trees, the ice-cream is made from their own fruit and available flavours depend on what is seasonal.  We had a mixed cup with four flavours: acacia seed (with a nutty, mocha-like flavour), mango, jackfruit and something unpronouncable but very yummy! The service was so friendly and personal, too. When the proprietress noticed Esther looking a bit glum, she came over and said, "You're not enjoying it much, are you? I totally get that. Let's see... what about trying a bit of blueberry?" (Philip happily finished the more exotic flavours she'd spurned!) 

To top the whole experience off, a cassowary wandered out of the forest, looking for fallen fruit in the orchard!  We had seen many infromation boards and signs saying "warning- cassowaries crossing", but hadn't really expected to see any of these rare birds in the wild.  They can get very aggressive so it's advisable not to approach them, but even seeing one at some distance was an experience.

And now it's "tomorrow", and fast approaching lunchtime.  Esther has been begging to have a picnic for lunch, on the beach in front of the caravan, so I am going to pack the picnic basket...

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Some hours later...
The children make friends wherever we go, and were particularly happy that there were some other childrencamping here for the weekend.  They helped one family of kids make a home for a gecko they'd found, with a "nest" for some eggs they thought might belong to it.

Later, they watched the same kids fishing, and were very excited when they caught some small crabs on the line!

As dusk fell, some other children they had been palying with were given glow-sticks and I suddenly remembered that Joannet had given us a packet of them when we left their house.  So, after they had each eaten a taco (prepared by Philip), we let them play in the dark for a while.

While we were eating lunch and discussing where we go from here, Philip asked whether any of us would mind staying for two extra nights and just doing "nothing" for a few days.  We all thought that sounded like a wonderful plan. I wonder what sort of  "nothing" the children will find for us to do tomorrow!