Cape Tribulation, Australia
 
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.


Here are links to other sights in Australia
Western Australia, Northern Territory, Alice Springs, Uluru, Cape Tribulation, Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania, Victoria, Wildflowers

See other places we have visited here.

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