This past weekend has been very fun and I really lucked out on the weather for my trips. On Saturday I went to the Cairns Flecker Botanical Gardens for a field trip for my Biodiversity of Tropical Australia class. We stayed there for the whole day and got to see all of the plant families that we've been learning about over the past few weeks. Not all of the plants at the gardens are native to Australia since there are quite a few Asian plants there as well. I liked the Aboriginal plant section the best because the indigenous people had so many different uses for the plants; there's one that they used to help with marine stinger wounds, one used to kill fish in rivers, and also one that has tiny blueberry-like fruits that can be used to make one salivate and make them feel less thirsty. There are many plants and fruits that are safe for humans to eat...but it isn't recommended to eat them unless you are 100% sure that they are safe. We heard about a professional botanist that just took a tiny bite of a plant that he thought was safe to eat and went into cardiac arrest in less than a minute. Just like a lot of the animals here, the plants can be extremely toxic as well. In the final 2 hours at the gardens, we went on a rain forest hike primarily to learn about the primitive and ancient plants that once inhabited Australia. We had hoped to see some cassowaries, but we were informed that they have all been killed by dogs. It was very hot out and it was a steep hike...so by the time I got back to the lodge I was exhausted.
On Sunday, we took a guided shuttle up to Port Douglas, which is about an hour's drive from JCU. I had gone up to Port Douglas once before, but it's a truly gorgeous area of north Queensland so I was very excited to go again. It was a bit cloudy out, so the sights weren't as breathtaking as before, but the water looked more turquoise because we haven't had as much rain lately. Once we got to Port Douglas we got to walk around for a couple hours before lunch. There are markets every Sunday there so it was interesting to see all of the handmade crafts, jewelry, and clothing. Before the BBQ we also had time to go down to the beach and take some pictures (since like all of the other north Queensland beaches, you can't swim this time of year without the protective nets due to marine stingers). I have swam within the confines of the protective nets quite a few times at Palm Cove, but it is still a little nerve-wracking since the tiny (but still excruciatingly painful and sometimes fatal) jellyfish can still get in through the holes. Also, a couple days ago at one of the beaches I go to, a woman was swimming inside the net and a large crocodile popped up next to her, so needless to say the nets aren't 100% safe.
After lunch, we drove another 45 minutes to the Daintree rainforest to go on a river tour of the Daintree river and see some crocodiles and other wildlife. We got there a little early but we got to sit and talk to our shuttle driver/guide which was interesting because he is an Aborigine and also knows a lot about the land and wildlife. Only 3 of us on the trip were from JCU and there were only about 9 or so other students from Europe (they were going to the English speaking school in Cairns), so we practically each got our own seat on the boat. Once we got on the boat, only about 2 minutes passed before we saw our first crocodile. Saltwater crocodiles are the largest crocodilians in the world and the males can potentially grow well over 1,000 pounds. They can live up to 100 years old and although their brain is only about the same size as a ping pong ball, they have been known to cleverly stalk prey by observing their daily routines and finding when they are most vulnerable. We were told that the crocodiles are capable of jumping out of the water and grabbing things (or people) from the boat, but the last confirmed crocodile attack on the Daintree River was nearly 20 years ago when a woman was taken by one when she went for a drunken swim. The crocs that we saw were used to tourists and didn't even flinch when the boat went by them, and they were very docile and we were told that they would be docile unless one of us fell into the water...then they would think that there was struggling prey in the water and would attack.
On the tour, we saw 3 crocodiles...2 females and 1 adolescent. There were 5 huge crocodiles around the area (each over 1,000 lbs)...but we didn't get to see them. We thought we might get to since they like to attack the feral pigs as they swim from the island to the shore, but we only saw the smaller females. The floods had ruined a lot of the crocodiles' nests because before the crocodile hatches its eggshell becomes porous so that it can breathe through it...but because of the flooding, the babies drowned inside their eggs. It was sad though because there is this one female croc that has been standing guard over her nest for 3 months waiting for her babies to hatch, but they are never going to...but eventually she will give up. I was so excited to see my first saltwater crocs (since they are basically the main reason why I wanted to come to Australia), and I'm very glad that the first ones I saw were wild as well and not in captivity. We also saw a lot of different types of birds including cockatoos and kingfishers as well as white-lipped tree frogs. I'm going on another river tour in April for my reef and rainforest trip, so I'm hoping I might be able to see some more wildlife that lives in the Daintree river (sharks, pythons, other snakes, sting rays, etc). Although apparently I just need to stick around the lodge to see some snakes because a couple of my friends found the world's 2nd most venomous snake, the eastern brown (a taipan), outside their window.
