Bus Rides, Bug Bites, and Buttresses

Never smile at a crocodile...

A Big (Strangler) Fig in Lil' Ole Yungaburra

I haven’t had internet access for a while, so this blog entry should be pretty extensive. I think I last left off when we were about to leave Heron Island. Since then, our travels have been mainly bus-based. We spend a bit of time listening to guest lecturers and learning about mangroves, and then we travel for four hours to our next destination. We’ve been staying in motels, which is kind of fun, but the drives are killer. We did get singles at Central Queensland College the first night. Woohoo.

Thursday – Ragin’ Rockhampton
The first day after coming back ashore, we went to the Dreamtime Centre for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Rockhampton. That was a really frustrating experience, because I was hoping to interview an Aborigine on their decision-making processes, however, our three hours there were booked solid. I got a bunch of names and organizations to contact, but I still have yet to do that (also due to lack of internet). We then rode along to the crocodile farm (LINK) where we had lunch. I, of course, did not eat crocodile; I had an unappetizing vegetable, noodle curry. I did get to hold a baby crocodile! So cute. Then four more hours to Mackay. Great hotel though, the Wind Mill Motel.

Friday – Management in Mackay
After a later start the next morning, we went to the botanical gardens in Mackay. Here we heard about community involvement in conservation as well the role of the EPA, DPI & F (Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries), and the MWNRMP (Mackay-Whitsunday Natural Resources Management Program). It was interesting, because one woman from the community was the perfect stereotypical older activist. We had a great lunch and a discussion. I also got some info and another person to contact for my TRP from the guy from MWNRMP. Four more hours and arrival and a kind of sketchy inn (termed a “nice inn in Townsville” on our schedule) called the Spanish Lace Motel. Mike Pole (our rainforest prof) joined us and I’m ready to jump into the tropical rainforest!

Saturday – Ye Olde Yungaburra
We spent the morning traipsing through a dry rainforest. Then we had an hour to shop and eat lunch. I almost bought a dress, but I figured a $50 purchase is not something to be taken lightly and the impossibility of returning the item convinced me not to go ahead. I chose to spend my free time wandering instead of eating lunch, because then we got back on the bus for four hours. Plenty of time to eat my froyo and corn cakes with hummus! We spent the night at a cute hotel in historic Yungaburra called the Lake Eachum Hotel. I was so pleased by the pumpkin for dinner and apple cobbler, that lecture wasn’t even that painful! I also spent some of the evening playing the slot machine…also known as the Pokie! I won four dollars, but then two of those were frittered away.

Sunday – CooCoo for the Kuku Yalanji
The morning was kind of disappointing, because I woke up at 5:15am to see a platypus, but only saw a cool lizard, a turtle, a mouse, and a bat in addition to acquiring six more mossy bites. Sadness. I then proceeded to go running around a little trail. So pretty. Then we drove 2.5 hours (the last long stint) to Mossman’s Gorge for lunch, where there was a really cool river, lots of rocks, people swimming (I forgot my bathing suit). After lunch we had an awesome tour of the rainforest led by an Aboriginal from the Kuku Yalanjil tribe. He talked about all of the different things that rainforest flora is used for, like wild nutmeg to induce a trance for a young man’s initiation. I LOVE RAINFORESTS!!!! Now, we have arrived at our home for the next nine days, the Daintree Palms Beach Resort. OMG, it is so cool. There is a pool (that I have already tested) with a waterfall, large rooms, and a beach nearby. Plus, we’re in the rainforest! Yippee! Ok, enough of that. I am going to go to dinner and see how the food holds up. And then it’s time for lecture, but we can’t have all fun and no work, can we?

Monday – A Dose of Daintree
Overwhelmed yet? Well today we had an action packed morning and afternoon. We took a ferry over to the Daintree National Park. First off was a mangrove walk on a boardwalk. Then we went traipsing through the rainforest, very rugged terrain, and ended up at a water hole. I didn’t get in, but I scrambled along the rocks for a bit. That was quite a difficult task. After an unfulfilling lunch, we saw a revegetation site that was really cool. Apparently, tons of land was clear-cut in a week in the 1980s for pasture land, never used for that purpose, so now it’s being replanted. We finished the day off with a tropical ice cream scoop. I had mango, but also tried a piece of a Chocolate Pudding fruit (yuck) and a Jackfruit (pretty good). I LOVE RAINFORESTS!!!

Tuesday – Trippy TRP Time
This day was supposed to be extraordinarily helpful for my TRP, however, as always, things fell through. In the morning I went on a wonderful hike with only six people. We traipsed through the rainforest as Mossman Gorge and then went for a quick swim in the stream. There were massive boulders in the stream that I used to bask on. After lunch I went back to Mossman to talk to the Aborigines, however, the man I was supposed to talk to never returned my call! Oh well, I got some interesting insight nonetheless. That evening was terribly interesting. It was Melbourne Cup day, so basically the whole of Australia shuts down for the afternoon for a horse race. This also means that people start hanging out in pubs starting at noon. By the time we had dinner (which was right next to the bar), there were some pretty drunk Aussies. One lady was telling me how I looked like her twelve-year-old daughter and wanted to see whether my eyes were as black as hers. Another woman did a chicken dance for us. It was quite amusing.

Wednesday – Motoring Mangrove Meander
The day was surprisingly exhausting for not doing a whole lot. We went on a river cruise to see mangroves along the Daintree River. Really not too exciting, so I won’t bore you with the gory details. Let’s just say I saw a couple baby crocs, read forty pages of my book, and got a little sunburnt! We’re having the mayor over for dinner, so hopefully the evening will pep up a bit!

- Au Revoir