Wonga Beach and The Daintree

Mareeba

We had intentions of doing a drive from Mareeba to see some more of the northern part of the Tablelands, but we were too tired! We spent two nights at the Rodeo Grounds and caught up on washing and did a bit of uni work. These were the only decent wildlife shots from our time there.

Rainbow Lorikeet

The view from the Mount Molloy-Mossman Road

Wonga Beach

We arrived to absolutely perfect weather at Wonga Beach. Sunny skies, no wind and high 20s - perfect for walking along the beach in the afternoon!

We had a couple of lovely sunrises too.

We've also had some windy and wet days where the beach wasn't such a pleasant place to be. We both had uni work, though, so it didn't affect our plans at all.

Daintree National Park
Before the weather turned windy we took the opportunity to do a day drive across the Daintree River and up as far as Cowie Beach on the Bloomfield Track. 

The view from Alexandra Range Lookout in the morning.

As we were meandering our way along the road there was a car coming the other way stopped in the middle of the road with its hazard lights on. We slowed down, wondering if they had broken down, when we realised they were "protecting" a cassowary and its chick!

The southern part of the Bloomfield Track

The steep sections were all concreted, so it was an easy drive.

Cowie Beach

Cape Tribulation

Looking north from Cape Tribulation

On the way back we stopped at a creek, and then all the national park mangrove and rainforest boardwalks to look for birds. There weren't a lot around, but we saw a few.

Azure Kingfisher

Blue Tiger Butterfly

Fairy Gerygone

Yellow-spotted Honeyeater

Bridled Honeyeater - we got a slightly better photo than the one at Hasties Swamp.

Little Shrike-thrush

On the way home the same car was in the middle of the road with its hazard lights on again. We think they must be the local cassowary guards because the chick was on the road again, this time on its own. Dazz stood outside the car to get a shot with his good camera. We were looking on both sides in the scrub to try to find the dad, and eventually saw him.

Daintree Village

On Sunday we had a day off marking and drove up to Daintree Village. There wasn't much to see, apart from the flowering shrubs outside the pub that were attracting a number of birds and a couple of Ulysses Butterflies. I spent quite a while watching the butterflies while Dazz snapped away. As soon as they land they close their wings, so the ideal shot is hard to catch.

Dusky Honeyeater

Olive-backed Sunbird

Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Gould's - race russatus) 

We knew the CREB Track was closed, but went for a drive up to the river crossing where it starts. We were talking to a traffic controller on the Bloomfield Track and she said they were finishing up there that day and moving down to start work on the CREB Track this week.