Cape Tribulation by Megan

Yesterday was a very busy day. We got up early (7:00 am is VERY early to me)to go and pick up the car we are renting. The car is white and has five doors. The apartments we are staying in have a garage below our room, so we keep parking it in there. When we had sorted out everything e.g licences and stuff we were taking, we got in the car and drove to an area called Cape Tribulation; that is where the barrier reef meets the rain forest! It was a long drive,and we had to go on a ferry across the Daintree river. Some crocodiles live in the river we crossed, but unfortunately we didn't see any.

At about half way through the journey, we stopped at a viewing point. The view was amazing, and it felt like we were 30,000 feet in the air as we could see for miles!

When we got to cape tribulation, we stopped at the picnic area for some lunch, then walked up a short boardwalk to another viewing platform. There were some wooden planks on the floor to make it easier to walk. Whilst we we looking at the view, we spotted a baby shark. A nearby guide told us it was a bull shark! She also said that when the tide was high, you would sometimes get sea turtles and dolphins coming into the mangroves too!

After that we went down to the beach, which was beautiful. A sign said no swimming as there are crocodiles in the water, and jellyfish that could be life threatening.

Next we went for a walk through the rainforest further down the coast. We saw lots of bugs and giant sand crabs.

By now we were starting to get really hot, so we went for a drink, then to a swimming hole in the rainforest. It was safe to swim, as the water is always too cold for the crocodiles, and little sun gets though for them to heat themselves up. In the water there were loads of fish swimming about our feet; they weren't afraid to come close. The water was freezing, but very refreshing. Someone had made a swing from a vine. My Dad tested it by jumping on, and as it could hold his weight, we knew it could easily hold mine.

I put my legs through the loop, and started to swing. While I was on, I spotted a small turtle swimming over the stones. I asked my dad to see if he could watch it, but it was too fast. A few minutes later a bigger one swam past; we think it might have been the mother of the smaller one. Before long it was time to start heading back to Port Douglas. On the way, we stopped at the jetty in Daintree village for another shot at spotting some crocodiles, but again we didn't see any. We did however have an amazing view of some mountains.