So named by Captain Cook because
of the
troubles he had here.
He couldn't find a
channel out
through the Great Barrier Reef, and ran his ship Endeavor aground.
He sent two crewmen to
scale a
mountain near the coast to see if they could see a channel.
They never returned so
he named it
Mount Misery.
Times have changed, it
is a beautiful
place, easy to get to and from.
It was easy to imagine their problems when we saw the mangrove trees
and the rainforest with vines like the one in the last picture.
Crocodiles were another hazard.
We had been told there weren't any crocks in the small stream near our
cabin but were warned to avoid crossing the larger stream.
We waded across a stream we thought would be classed as small.
Later we came on a much smaller stream and counted ourselves lucky that
we hadn't seen the resident crock in the first one.
On the beach we found these abstract patterns.
Upon investigation we discovered these tiny crabs carrying balls of
sand from their burrows.
Another invertebrate was extruding sand.
We attempted to dig out the creature with our hands but no luck.
Some local folks said they had tried using shovels but hadn't succeeded
either.
We went kayaking around the point.
It was very calm on the way out.
Nancy pointed out a couple of sea turtles to the group.
Traffic jam in the mangroves.
A few waves on the way back.
Bush turkeys.
Not much bigger than chickens.
Sulfur-crested cockatoos we saw as we drove along.
Nancy got this picture of an Australian white ibis in the Mareeba
Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve.
We stopped there on the way from Cape Tribulation to Cairns.
We saw this black swan there as well.
Two others we didn't recognize.
Any help with identification would be appreciated.
Cassowaries can still be seen in the wild.
Some bugs.
We saw hundreds of fruit bats, also called flying foxes hanging in
trees.
This variety is among the largest flying mammals in the world.