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.

Atherton Tablelands - Around Atherton

For the next part of our stay on the Tablelands we based ourselves at Bonadio RV and Nature Park on the Barron River. It is part of a farm that has revegetated their bottom paddock and is a haven for birds and other wildlife and is definitely somewhere we'd like to come back to. 

Platypus

Red-legged Pademelon

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

Yellow-breasted Boatbill

Macleay's Honeyeater 

Lewin's Honeyeater

Brown-capped Emerald-Dove 

Pale-yellow Robin

Welcome Swallow 

Eastern Whipbird

White-cheeked Honeyeater

Little Shrike-thrush

White-throated Gerygone 

Brown Gerygone

Fairy Gerygone

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo

Spectacled Monarch

Lake Eacham

One of the reasons we stayed at Bonadio was because it was close to the crater lakes, and we had a stunning day to kayak on Lake Eacham.

Danbulla State Forest Drive

We've had an intermittent squeak in the back of the truck for about a year and we've tried tightening various things and it seemed to settle for a short while, and then came back. It was becoming more annoying, though, especially with the thought of it continuing all the way to the top of Cape York. The forest drive went around the north side of Lake Tinaroo on a dirt road (which always brought on the squeak), it was a sunny day, and we were in a quiet caravan park where we could empty everything out of the back seat and the rear of the truck... so operation "figure out the squeak" began. It only lasted a few hundred metres back along the drive through the farm and we identified it as the rear door catch. We replaced the hinges on the right door ages ago because they had worn and sagged, and now there is also wear on the catches. We turned around and went back to the van and put some lithium grease on them, and continued on our day trip - squeak-free!

Our first stop once we got going was Lake Barrine and the massive kauri pines.

Next was the Cathedral Fig Tree.

The Mobo Creek walk wasn't particularly stunning, and the sunny day made for impossible photos with the contrast.

Lake Euramoo was pretty.

There were only some glimpses of Lake Tinaroo from the road, so we went into the Platypus Camping and Day Use Area. On the way in there was a sign to Platypus Rock. When we got out of the car Dazz spotted a Ulysses Butterfly, so I climbed the stairs to the top but there was only a view of the trees. Nothing worthy of a photo.  

Scarlet Honeyeater

The Tinaroo Dam was spilling.

A view of the Lake.

Hasties Swamp

Hasties Swamp had been recommended to us by someone in Cairns as place for bird watching. Our first visit was one afternoon, which meant we were looking into the sun. Dazz noticed the light catching on spider webs and making rainbows.

Victoria's Riflebird (female) 

We went back another morning and the light was much better.

Purple Swamphen

Pacific Black Duck

Plumed Whistling-Ducks

White-banded Plane

Red-browed Finch

Australasian Grebe 

Eastern Yellow Robin 

Little Shrike-thrush

White-browed Scrubwren 

Eastern Spinebill

Malanda Falls and the Curtain Fig Tree

These were the last of the "attractions" for us to see in this part of the Tablelands.