CLAUDIA & CARSTEN'S WORLD EXPEDITION

Cairns here we come!

Australia was in the list of the "countries where we most likely would like to live", so we decided to visit while we had the chance to meet our friend Shane, whom we met in Zimbabwe. Shane lived in Cairns, so we started our Australia adventure there. We flew over very dry land for about an hour when we reached Australia, but when we reached the East Coast we could clearly see the impact of the rain in this area. Everything is tropical and green.

Mission Bay beach

Home with friends

Our first days we spent with Shane and his parents in the South Mission Beach area.

We are going fishing!

Shane's dad had a nice fishing boat, so we used it one day.

Do not put your feet in the water!!

First piece of advice when you are in Queensland....crocodiles are always around and you cannot see them.

Trying to fish bait

The crab pods

Fishing bait

Off fishing we go

Carsten was super happy.

My first fish

I have to be fair and say that I just pulled it up, it was Shane who actually caught it. This one was a Trevally.

Very strange fish

It was some kind of toad fish, but we couldn't find out exactly which fish it was.

Mud crab

Please be big enough....

so we can put you on the barbie tonight....he was! he was the only one big enough, all the other ones we had to return to the water.

Cassowary warn signs

Cassowaries are related to ostriches and ñandus and they are native to this area of Australia and Papua New Guinea. We were very lucky to see them a couple times along the road. Shane's parents would sometimes see one female and her chicks feeding on the papayas from their garden, but we were not lucky to see them while we were there.

Australia has very funny road signs

Australians are very good at turning road signs into funny signals.

Cassowary

Cassowary

These animals walk many kilometers a day and feed mainly on fruits, so they play a key part in the ecosystem by dispersing fruit seeds around the jungle. If cassowaries disappear, the trees they feed on will disappear too.

Cairns bay by night

Roadtrip to Daintree Rainforest

Alexandra Viewpoint

Was named after Alexandra princess of Denmark. She was the daughter of Christian IX, and she married King Edward VII of the UK back in 1863. Alexandra was sister of Queen Margrethe's great- grandfather.

Special trees in the rainforest

Water

Our camping spot in Daintree

We were lucky to borrow Shane's car while we were in Cairns.

Cape Tribulation

Tribulation is a state of great suffering and trouble. The Cape was named like that after Captain Cook and his ship the Endeavour got stranded on this coast in 1770. No kidding he must have been in a state of great trouble and suffering....

No comments...

Be careful of the boxed jelly fish..

Cape Trib beach

Hiking Mount Sorrow

Remember the jungle of South America

It was steep....

Beautiful lookout point at the top

Great Barrier Reef at the end

Happy!

Cooking dinner at camp

Meat!!!

Going for a drive

Wujal Wujal

Is an indigenous area around 30 km north of Cape Trib. We didn't see any indigenous people.

Visit Hartley's Crocodile Adventures

The largest crocodile ever seen was called Krys and he was shot in 1958 in Queensland, Australia. That crocodile was supposed to be 8.64 mt long. This replica in Hartley's is called "Big Ted" and is 7.9 mt long.

Croc Farm

Crocs are raised here in order to use their skin and meat.

Tiny but can still bite

Trip through Hartley's Lagoon

White Bellied Fish Eagle

Old Croc

This crocodile is more than 100 years old, measures around 5.4 mt and is blind and toothless. He still manages to breed....respect!

Reminded us of Southern Pantanal

Give me the chicken!!

We never realized before this trip, how strong a bite the crocodiles have. The pressure they produce when biting is equivalent to 3.500 psi, compared to a human bite of 150 psi. The sound those jaws make when they close, you cannot forget.

Saltwater crocodile

Meet the largest crocodile species in the world. Today the males can grow up to 7 metres and weight up to 1.200 kg.

Fresh water crocodiles

You can see the shape of their snout is narrow compared to the saltwater crocs. They are also much smaller.

While Hartley's is a very touristic place, the guides are very knowledgeable and instructive when they explain things. The Australian sense of humor is sarcastic and very funny. We enjoyed the experience a lot.

Green ants

Endemic to Australia.

Heron

Male Eclectus Parrot

Momma Koala and son

Koalas feed exclusively on Manna Gumtree (Eucalyptus) leaves. They have so little energy that the koala needs to sleep 16 hours a day in order to keep his energy.

Willow and me

Tawny Frogmouth

Kookaburra

While Kookaburras belong to the Kingfisher family, they are terrestrial tree kingfishers. They are carnivorous and eat mice, snakes, insects and other animals, but they don't eat fish, like their river cousins do.

Wallaby

Wallabies are much smaller than Kangaroos. After some days in Australia, it is very easy to tell them apart.

Beautiful Green Tree Phython

Australian Green Tree Frog

Croc show

Saltwater Crocodile

Freshwater Crocodile

He is big!!!

Day trip to Blencoe Falls

Blencoe Falls

Dry season, so not much water yet

All these are cattle ranches names

The Boulders of Babinda

Wallaman Falls

Beautiful

Stinging trees

Our dinner

It was raining and this was the only thing we could eat that night.

Overnight in Virgin Rock

Hebel

There are many places like this in northern Australia. Small towns in the middle of nowhere, which off hand seem completely abandoned.

Memorial

Lunch stop

Just like Southern Africa, Australia has these stop over places along the road where you can eat your picnic. It's a great idea we should implement in South America too.

Carnarvon National Park

Visitor Center

Our camping spot

Mickey Creek Gorge

Baloon Cave

Possum

Possum

Carnarvon Gorge Trail

Wallaby

Art Gallery

Ward's Canyon

Amphitheatre

Moss Garden

On the road again