Last days in FNQ

Saturday morning at Cooper Creek was a stunner, allowing us our first view of the mountains without their customary cloud cover.

We were heading back to Smithfield this morning, but took the opportunity for one more walk in the adjacent rain forest so we could hear more about David and Ro's plans for it. This part of the forest near Ro's cabin is a regrowth area so she would like to do more plant identification and get some old machinery from the original settlement cleared out. Meanwhile, I learnt that you should wear close fitting clothes in the rain forest - there are lots of vines wanting to grab onto loose fabric!

We had a lunch date at the Thala Beach Nature Reserve Resort restaurant to break our drive back to Smithfield - a brilliant way to celebrate our fabulous stay in the Daintree. We shared wonderful seafood platters and a bottle of Derwent Estate Riesling (2018) - they were indeed worthy of the stunning setting of this unique place!

Sunday morning we were awake early (Ro's idea) so we could do a dawn walk to Glacier Rock - a 6.8 klm out and back walk that is described as moderately challenging but which we thought was well within our capabilities. After a walk through dense rain forest the path brought us to the Kuranda Scenic Railway train line. There were an awful lot of mechanical stairs to climb at this point.

But after reaching half way (the mango tree) the path opened out, the breeze freshened and we could start to see fabulous views of the Cairns coastline behind us.

 

The last third of the hike took us back into the rain forest ...

Until we reached the lookout at the highest point of the peak with its stunning views of the Barron River, the Cairns coast and across to the Coral Sea.

Such a memorable way to end our stay in this amazing place in the world with our dear friends David and Ro...... (and we can't wait to get back!)