Diwan

The driver we hired to take us from the airport in Cairns to our hotel was a bit of a hustler. When we told him we planned to return to the airport in a couple of days to pick up a car and drive to Daintree National Park, he told us that the roads were narrow and twisty and that we should consider hiring a driver from his company to take us there instead. He increased our anxiety level, but there was no need to worry. Driving in Queensland was much less stressful than driving near Sydney.

To enter the north section of the park where we were staying, you have to board a cable ferry for a very short trip across the Daintree River. There is no alternative bridge. The ferry resembles a flat barge. You just drive onto it, it crosses to the other shore, and you drive straight off.

The roads were indeed twisty and narrow, but traffic was minimal. We arrived a bit too early to check into our cabin, so we stopped at the delightful Daintree Ice Cream Co. & Tropical Fruit Farm. There is no question of what to order because there is only one option on the menu - a cup containing 4 scoops of gelato. The flavors change based on availability, but the owners decide what the flavors will be and the cups have been pre-scooped. The flavors being offered when we were there were banana, passion fruit, Davidson plum, and wattleseed.

You can also take a self guided orchard tour. All the fruits that are used in the gelato are grown on the grounds. The plants pictured below are a vanilla bean orchid, passion fruit, and dragon fruit.

By now it was time to check in to our "chalet", as it was called on the website. We were staying just outside the miniscule town of Diwan, although it was difficult to think of the widely spaced businesses along the road as a town. We found our destination part way up a hill, and wandered down a cindered path to the small cabin. There was an open front room with 2 hammocks where we could look out at the view, and an enclosed bedroom and bath.I expected to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, but there were surprisingly few.

We had arrived at my favorite place of the trip. I loved to lie in the hammock listening to the sounds of the birds and frogs and whatever else was out there living amongst the trees.

I read an article during this trip that said many homes in Australia have snakes living under them and the owners never know. Hummmm. We made sure that our suitcases and backpacks were always zipped.

After some hammock time, we headed out in search of dinner. As we drove up and down the main road searching for dining possibilities we passed many cassowary crossing signs and suddenly, much to our amazement, an adult and a juvenile bird actually wandered into the road in front of our car. I was so excited, I missed the picture. Later we learned that the adult was probably a male because the male bird raises the chicks.

After dinner we returned to the cabin where we just managed to catch the end of the sunset show.