CAMPSITE # 150 - Lync Haven Daintree National Park

The Daintree - where dense tropical rainforest meets the ocean.  I recall one part of our drive into Daintree National Park where the bushland surrounding us made me think that we were right in the thick of it, kilometres away from anywhere. Until we came around a bend and right in front of us was the ocean. I could feel my eyes bulge out of their sockets in disbelief, we all let out a giant "WOW" as we were so astonished by what seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere and all of the sudden all we could see for thousands of metres ahead of us was the crystal clear turquoise waters of the ocean surrounding dark blue patches of coral reef.

At around 1200 square kilometres, the Daintree is the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest in Australia. The Daintree Rainforest contains 30% of the frog, reptile and marsupial species in Australia, and 65% of Australia's bat and butterfly species. 18% of bird species in the country can be found in this area. All of this diversity is contained within an area that takes up 0.2% of the landmass of Australia.
We paid $12 for a one way ferry ticket to cross the Daintree river. 

The consequences of handing me the keys and asking me to drive so that Tom could have a snooze in the back meant that we had pulled up to our camp by lunch time as I stumbled across one I really liked the look of (and couldn't be bothered driving any further!!)

Site : Lync Haven Rainforest Retreat
Rating : 10 / 20
Facilities : Really good camp kitchen with all supplies. Hot showers & flush loos. Powered site was $32 for 2 Adults & 1 Child. If you keep your eyes peeled apparently there's a local Cassowary in the area but we didn't see it :(

We set off on foot around their walking tracks in search for the Cassowary. What is a Cassowary? (a question I would have asked a few weeks ago) I like to think of it as in between an Emu and a Turkey. They are large flightless birds that are native to the tropical forests of Papua New Guinea and can be found on surrounding islands including north eastern Australia. Following the Emu & the Ostrich, Cassowaries are the third tallest and second heaviest living bird. 

Jim and I were proceeding with absolute caution because there's one factor about these birds that I conveniently left out, when disturbed they are capable of inflicting serious injuries to dogs and humans. There have been several records of Cassowaries disembowelling humans, even causing death. Perhaps it was a good thing we didn't see any. Here's a photo of one from Wikipedia for you.

Cassowaries are endangered in Queensland, records show that approximately 55% of their deaths are caused by them being run over. Now, it is found that only 20 - 25% of them remain in their habitat. In February 2011 when Cyclone Yasi hit, it is believed that over 200 of them were destroyed which was over 10% of their entire Australian population.


As much as we hate zoos, perhaps it's best left to leave it to viewing one behind bars...