Day 47 Atherton

 It wasn't the best start to the day on the trip so far, but I keep reminding myself that this is an adventure...even if it does begin with an argument over whether the lights can be on in the van at 0600.  Rowan in my opinion was right, and the lights should definitely be off at this time, but Ashley insists that 0600 is fine for boys to be awake and active.

Anyway you look at it this is where today kicked off.  Needless to say my spirits weren't exactly soaring.  Lisa took off to do some grocery shopping after breakfast as the cupboard was bare and I set about two tasks.  The first being to update some music on my i-phone which involved doing mac stuff on a pc and turned out to be quite the pain in the butt, but I was also tasked with ensuring that 3 journals were completed prior to us going out today. 

The journal argument resulted in a quick internet search on the QANTAS website to find out how much it would cost to send a child solo to Perth from Cairns, and when the next departure was.  This stunt brought about tears that lasted for 45 minutes, but rest assured the standard of journal lifted dramatically.  I was at the end of my rope, so went and locked myself in the car for 15 minutes to calm my nerves.  Apparently infanticide is still a crime.

We were off to a late start then and after Lisa made a lovely lunch from the loot she got at the local supermarket, we set off for Mamu Rainforest Canopy Walkway.  There was steady drizzle falling today (The first rain that we have seen on this trip) and the low lying cloud was seeping over the mountain tops which made for a beautiful, but quite treacherous trip. 

We arrived just before lunch as the rain eased off, and just after Lisa remembered that we had forgotten to put it into the car, so we went on our canopy walk hungry with whingey kids in tow. 

The complaints subsided as we were consumed by a beautiful tropical rainforest. The skywalk was extraordinary and gave up sweeping views of the surrounding mountains, streams and the canopy of the rainforest. 

There were many flowers in bloom, and plenty of bush fruit to be seen wherever we went.  This is also cassowary country, so we were on the lookout for any large birds after our adventure the other day. 

This flower is on one of the grand pandanus plants.  Everywhere we looked we saw interesting shaped leaves, and unique flora.



I also came across the cocoon in the attached photo.  I later found out that this football sized cocoon belongs to Marching Caterpillars.  These little guys live in colonies and when they come out (Usually at night) they march single file nose to tail.  The cocoon here is for an entire colony of marching caterpillar which are noted to build their cocoon high in the tree tops.  This one was about 20m from the ground.



At the end of the walkway they have constructed a lookout tower which would be a further 30m above the canopy.  The views from here were also quite breathtaking...or that may have been because they have constructed the tower out of galvanised mesh plate that you can see through, and the tower noticeably sways with every puff of breeze.

I am not ashamed to say that my self preservation instincts kicked in here and I had quite a nervous time at the top before thankfully returning to the ground. 

The kids however thought it was hilarious to jump up and down, climb the railings and run everywhere...no common sense...I blame the parents...oh wait...DOH!  We walked back through the forest to the ranger station at the entry, and I treated everyone to a bag of chips (MSG and Carbs...the building blocks of healthy children) to make up for our neglect to put the lunch in the car.  Whilst there, a kookaburra took up perch on one of the guard rails.  I was able to get within 3m of this guy, and have another photo with Ashley in the foreground to show how trusting he was.  I am pleased to say though that there were no vicious, deranged cassowary to bail us up today.

We then headed back towards Atherton and stopped at Gallo's Dairy which is a fairly new attraction for the area being a working dairy, cheese and chocolate factory.  The first thing that strikes you when you get here is the overwhelming smell of cow excreta.  We had a look at the cheese making facility and then I took the kids over to show them how milking is done at a commercial dairy.

Funny how this dude is not my idea of a milkmaid.  Nor are the working conditions down at the carousel very enticing.  We had a look at some of the animals in the nursery (Calves, goats, pigs, turkey and chickens) then went to find Lisa who was buying up cheese and chocolate by the arm load.  I remember now that you should never food shop when you are hungry.  Oh well, the chocolate was great. 

We drove back to the caravan for our lunch (4pm) and then headed straight back out to the Bat Hospital.  This is another of those eco tourism places that far exceeds expectation.  The tour we got was very personal and the kids all got to touch and pat a microbat. 

They had just fed the flying foxes, and they were starting to wake up for the evening, so they were all getting very active.  They eat their fruit, extracting the juices and nectars before spitting out all of the fibrous pulp.  This makes for interesting viewing as the bats are spitting fruit all over the place.  Their digestive tract is also only a 20 minute process, so what goes in comes out pretty fast. 

I had never thought about the toileting habits of bats, and shouldn't be surprised to see this little guy hang the right way up by his thumbs, do his business and then revert to inverted again.  Why?..gravity.  Very cool.

The hospital cares for injured bats (mostly victims of barbed wire and carnivorous animals and paralysis ticks) and rehabilitates them back to the wild where they have an important job spreading pollen and distributing seed pods. 

One last interesting bat fact.  Of all mammals bats have 1100 species making up 1/4 of mammal species on the planet today...WOW!

Lisa was able to see platypus in the wild today whilst I was getting fuel, but it was too dark for pictures so you'll have to take her word for it.  She assures me they weren't 'loggypus' which we saw aplenty ant Yungaburra. 

Tomorrow we drive to Cape Tribulation and say goodbye to the freezing Atherton Table Lands.  Hopefully we run into warmer weather on the coast.