Daintree Rainforest Tour Daintree Rainforest Tour We recently travelled to Cairns to gain some respite from a chilly Canberra winter. In early August the days in Cairns were around 25C and simply wonderful. This trip is a little different from our normal camping trips, as we luxuriated in a resort for a few days. Whilst soaking up the sunshine we decided to have a look around the area.  For
our first day-trip out of Cairns we headed up to the Daintree Forest.
It was a great choice and we found a small personalised eco-tour
conducted by Peter and Sally Maher from their cattle grazing property.
Ceri and I prefer to stay away from the madness of large
organised bus-type deals and the friendly Maher's with their Argo 8
Wheeler really appealed to us. The property is bounded by the Daintree River, rainforest creeks and the Daintree National Park. What an amazing place to live!  Bookings
are made at the Daintree Village and the tour leaves from their
property which is five minutes away. Peter unloaded the 8-wheel
low-impact ARGO and we hopped aboard to begin our trip. As we made our
way across the farm we passed a few of their beautiful Braham cattle
and Egrets who share a symbiotic relationship with these beasts. The
cattle stir up insects while grazing and the birds follow
in their wake harvesting the bounty. We thenstarted climbing up through old logging tracks, right into the rainforest canopy with spectacular panoramic views over the valley and river below. Peter stopped every now and again and would explain various aspects of the vegetation and forest. As the advert says, this is the Ultimate Off-Road Experience and getting there is half the fun!  Contact: Peter and Sally Maher Upper Daintree Road, Daintree, Qld, 4873 Phone: 0409 627 434 Email: petersally5@bigpond.com  The Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest near Daintree, Queensland, on the coast, north of Cairns in tropical far north of Australia. At around 1200 square kilometres the Daintree is Australia's largest contiguous areas of rainforest. Named for Richard Daintree, part of the forest is protected by the Daintree National Park and drained by the Daintree River. The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of frog, marsupial and reptile species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 20% of bird species in the country can be found in this area. All of this diversity is contained within an area that takes up 0.2% of the landmass of Australia. The Daintree Rainforest's addition to the World Heritage List in 1988 in recognition of its universal natural values highlighted the rainforest.  The
Daintree is an
outstanding example of the major stages in the earth's evolutionary
history, an example of significant ongoing ecological and biological
processes, and an example of superlative natural phenomena. It contains
important and significant habitats for conservation of biological
diversity. The Daintree Rainforest is over one hundred and thirty-five
million years old – the oldest in the world. Approximately
430 species
of birds live among the trees, including 13 species that are found
nowhere else in the world. The primitive flowering plant Idiospermum
australiense is also endemic to the Daintree.The Argo 8 Wheeler For those interested in the mighty little machine that took us on the Daintree Rainforest tour, it features:
A great way to see the
countryside!
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