Well at 7:00am, with my ear plugs in, I hear that LOUD BEEP, BEEP, BEEP of a large commercial vehicle backing up. I get up, go out on my balcony, over looking the ocean and see two guys with a 3 wheel machine moving it into place, I think to trim the Palm trees. I'm thinking it's the city or state workers.
So I try to go back to bed still the BEEP, BEEP, BEEP….no luck sleeping. Finally at 7:35am I go down to the front desk in my PJ's to ask about the noise. They have no idea what is going on, but they did tell me that city/state workers in Australia are allowed to start work as early as 7:00am.
Back in my room at about 7:50am I hear knock, knock, knock….I go out on our balcony and it turns out these are NOT city/state workers trimming the palm trees on the road across from the beach, they are actually working on the hotel, the room next to ours, renovating it as a wind storm a week or so ago caused some damage. Now I am PISSED off….I go out to our balcony in my PJ's and the two men workers are literally almost IN my balcony, I start screaming. And as has been our entire experience with the Australian people they are ACE….they guys says to me, mate how about I hop onto your balcony and you can punch me a bit. OH MY G-D….what can I say or do beside laugh….he cracked me up with his attitude. This just made it so much easier to deal with the hotel and the rest of our day by this man's attitude, it was great.
Today we first drove to the Port Douglas Village Medical center as I thought I might need a few stitches in my knee. I fell on the live aboard boat and the gash was larger then I originally thought. Again the employees were amazing. They joked that they didn't think they would need to amputate it, then when I asked what to do about the form they wanted me to fill out, since it asked for a Christian name I told them I was Jewish…they got a kick out of that. One hour later and one stitch later I was good to go.
We decided that we would drive today to check out Mossman Gorge. We parked next to a few young people having a picnic. I wished them a G'day and one man said it WAS a good day until I saw your SF Giants hat….of course he is a Dodger fan…..it made my day!
This is home to the Kuku Yalanji people who have a history dating back 50,000 years.
They obtained much of the food and other requirements from the rainforest. Timber for firesticks, spears, woomeras and boomerangs came from the forest trees. Sap from some trees was used to stupefy fish and many animals were hunted.
Some of the many types of trees we saw in this rain forest are listed below. Also here is a link to the general plants in Australia and specific to Mossman Gorge
Mirrbangku (Pencil Cedar) which bear tasty yellow fruits. The tree belongs to the Sapotaceae family which includes tress producing commercial delicacies like star apple and sapodilla. Birds such as the bridled honeyeater are attracted to the blossoms.
Bikarrakul (Candlenut) trees may reach majestic proportions during a life of about 100 years. Green possums eat the leaves and white-tailed rats feed on the oily kernels which will burn with a candle-like flame. The soft wood of a dead tree is invaded by "witchetty grubs" themselves keenly sought by the Kuku Yalani and the striped possums.
Wuymbariji (Red Tulip Oak) Winged seeds are produced in huge numbers by the red tulip oak, but wind seldom carries the seed more then a few meters from the parent tree. The term "tulip oak" refers to the leaf arrangement: each leaf is comprised of three leaflets. They are eaten by green possums. The characteristically large buttresses provided wood for Kuku Yalanji boomerangs and woomeras.
Jinjajalka (Damson) the farthest of this trio is a damson tree sometimes called "dead horse tree" because of its smelly, fly-pollinated flowers. The edible fruit is popular with birds and bats was used by Kuku Yalanji as bait to catch green-winged pigeons.
Kuray Kuray (Milky Pine) the shiny green leaves of milky pine trees are eaten by the Lumholtz tree-kangaroos. Kuku Yalanji pounded the bark in still water to liberate milky sap which was used to supefy fish. Wind borne seeds shaken from elongated capsules allow the tree to colonise disturbed forest. Living up to 300 years this tree can achieve a large size
Jarrangkal (Fig Tree) Strangler figs can begin life in the canopy if a seed germanites on an upper branch of established tree. Other figs tree make a conventional start on the ground level, for example the trunk-fruiting veriegated fig. Ripe figs are important to many animals including various parrots, pigeons, cuckatoo, fruit bats and possums.
Baway (Black Bean) Rainbow lorikeets flock to flowering black bean tress in noisy throngs. Seeds are nibbled by musky rat-kangaroos and were eaten by Kuku Yalanji only after crushing, leaching in water and cooking to remove poisons. A chemical derived from the seed has been investigated for an AIDS cure.!
Manjal Dimbi - The peak below is called Manjal Dimbi by the Kuku Yalanji people. Roughly translated, the word means "mountain holding back", as the large humanoid rock represents Kubirri, who came to the aid of the Kuku Yalanji when they were persecuted by an evil spirit, Wurrumbu. Kubirri holds back the evil spirit, who is now confined to The Bluff above Mossman River. Manjal Dimni has been anglicised to "Mt. Demi", and Kubirri is known as the "Good Shepherd"
And one other type is a Black and Blue butterfly below.
There are over 400 species of butterflies in Australia
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