My wife and I recently celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary up in the Daintree Rainforest, 140 km’s north of Cairns in Australia. We are local Aussies, coming from Townsville which is just a few hours south of Cairns. While this area is not new to us, we still absolutely love it and try and go there as often as possible. The Daintree Rainforest is named after Richard Daintree, an Australia geologist and photographer (1832-1878), and consists of approximately 1200 square kilometres of tropical rainforests which have been largely untouched for millions of years. This amazing place is listed as a World Heritage site and the only place on Earth where two World Heritage sites meet, being the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. ![Daintree Small.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmerFV9w8z8qSxM1hyaoPA2hNrfiPxj7W8HquWCgWnvazX/Daintree%20Small.jpg) *This panorama was taken half-way up the Bump Track hiking trail.* [//]:# (!steemitworldmap -16.318821 lat 145.258484 long Daintree Rainforest d3scr) North Queensland is a spectacular place if you wish to visit to see largely untouched rainforest and beautiful pristine beaches. There are many species of animals native to these rainforests and it is wonderful that we have not destroyed this area. You only have to spend a short amount of time in the rainforest to really feel connected with our Earth and appreciate the diversity of this planet. Home to many native species of birds, mammals and reptiles with notable animals such as the Southern Cassowary and Saltwater Crocodile. We spent some time in Cape Tribulation which is a short barge ride across the Daintree river which is home to a very large number of Saltwater Crocodiles. I have been told by tour guides that the numbers of saltwater crocodiles are raising to the point where crocodiles are fighting for dominance in their area which leaves many to leave the Daintree River swim out to sea and along the coast to find other rivers to live in. We have been on a crocodile boat tour before and it is really quite spectacular and also a bit frightening to see the Saltwater Crocodiles swimming in the murky brown water and laying still like logs in the sun on the riverbank. They truly are a modern day dinosaur. ![saltwater-crocodile-1226659_960_720.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWrPJv3QMnB54k5LeaFYXxq4uWqPwY4zbuB9RDPM4k5Ju/saltwater-crocodile-1226659_960_720.jpg) [Source - cute and cuddly crocodile](https://pixabay.com/en/saltwater-crocodile-1226659/) While driving on the road at Cape Tribulation my wife and I saw a Daddy cassowary with his chicks. We can mostly assume this Cassowary would be the father as We have heard that the Southern Cassowary males rear the infants while the female Cassowary moves on to lay eggs in the nests of several other males. Cassowaries predominantly eat fruits, flowers, fungi, frogs, birds, fish and mice. They are a large bird however they are smaller than both the Ostrich and the Emu. Cassowaries are occasionally aggressive and could easily kill a small animal such as a dog but while they have been known to sometimes attack humans I have read there has only been one ever documented death. [![Cass.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUcG2Ue9ymeKoDfxAZ4oSwtSBVFCgUfnY6cGpRsXuqrNZ/Cass.jpg)](https://d.tube/#!/v/spaceginger/oqgwj1gt) ![cassowary-245192_960_720.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRdnPp2hC9UPr5Duw37SVWxrjvL7uzZ2WCaTnZsm2SSa3/cassowary-245192_960_720.jpg) [Source - Cassowary looking like an evolved Pokemon](https://pixabay.com/en/cassowary-flightless-bird-giant-bird-245192/) [//]:# (!steemitworldmap -16.213521 lat 145.407658 long Cape Tribulation d3scr) The place my wife and I stayed in the Daintree Rainforest was a place called the Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa which was very nice and peaceful as all occupants have their own small modern style cabin to stay in. the food was very delicious and while there wasn't many options to choose from there was a decent variety in styles of food and they had meals catering for vegans. the other meals were foods such as beef rib fillets, kangaroo steaks and various chicken meals though I can't comment on these as I just ate the amazing mushroom risotto. My wife enjoyed a 3 hour massage so I just sat in the room, did some drawing and stretching and meditated for about 90mins, absorbing the energy of the rainforest. https://youtu.be/eyOZgtjm0Iw ![01.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYNiagPh5uyM7wvAM6mmkdi6po3xS9pBZ7qQgRgnb3nQ2/01.jpg) [Source](http://www.hotelyouwant.com/daintree-eco-lodge-spa/) ![AU10070228-Daintree-Eco-Lodge.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmT2x33T7Vjxzkt4gNfgGyv774zfBNW9wQqwV9DGKz6yZc/AU10070228-Daintree-Eco-Lodge.jpg) [Source](https://andrewwatson.photoshelter.com/image/I0000by4LWdgglV4) ![20180201_074530.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTzMtuZZLJZa3DMFhV3L5YCdb2TsFnHYBCjbqqV6DdQLH/20180201_074530.jpg) *Nice place to chill and enjoy the sounds of nature. I really enjoyed the minimalism of this place.* ![20180201_083521.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZp2mwi7q6zHb59vKA7SycJGtRJeHw7T23SDNT6Z9tsAZ/20180201_083521.jpg) *My lovely wife enjoying our morning fruit platter. Crispy banana cake for the win :)* While we were at the Daintree Rainforest we visited Mossman Gorge which is part of the traditional homeland of the indigenous Kuku yalanji people. here we walked through the rainforest on a track which was approximately 2.4 km and crossed a few creeks and while there was no wildlife we got to see many native plants in this region.As with much of Australia Mossman Gorge was discovered due to gold. my when we enjoying the water in a small water hole that this and glittered like gold so maybe she was right. Mossman Gorge has a fairly interesting history of clashes between the Aboriginals who own this land and the white European settlers who tried to take over the lands for the gold and minerals. ![20180203_084805.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYG3xNZhLyuygMuHYCm3dCNqvpsEWZ6f6H422q1f1TRvz/20180203_084805.jpg) *Hello there Miss Praying Mantis. I say Miss because apparently they bite the heads of males... brutal!* ![20180201_101247.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmNNSmnXbk98uzmyJ9CWrCvPcqdADtQ8iMWJowEvBqW2SS/20180201_101247.jpg) *Awesome metal possum sculpture at Mossman Gorge.* ![20180201_102906.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaFCzyYgDK1rUbMJh6VZhnsL7ELdPauC3jFASmwyRWq86/20180201_102906.jpg) *My wife glowing in the sunshine beaming through the rainforest canopy.* ![20180201_110357.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRaxFdewxDoqsG9LMpQE7H31GRfEqoSCamf2942VXxKJD/20180201_110357.jpg) *It's times like this that I truly feel the beauty of life!* ![20180201_103638.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbPexgxENRPzArowEaahMiCUqjUSmegWbZpAiAqUujVUt/20180201_103638.jpg) [//]:# (!steemitworldmap -16.474938 lat 145.348434 long Mossman Gorge d3scr)

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