June 15

A guided hike in the Cooper Creek Wilderness was a fabulous way to begin our day. This is one of the most pristine areas of the Daintree. The forest here has never been farmed and has been growing continuously here for 130 million years. Combine that with a guide whose knowledge was tremendous and you have a spectacular hike.
We saw 2 Cassowaries, one they called Big Bertha, the other we forget. There are only 100 cassowaries left in the Daintree. This is really significant because cassowaries eat 200 different fruits in this forest. The seeds of 37 of these fruits only germinate if passed through the digestive tract of a cassowary. So many of these plants will be lost for good, if the cassowary becomes extinct. One of the biggest threats to the cassowary and the Daintree ecosystem in general is feral pigs. There are 10,000 feral pigs living in the Daintree, and because it enjoys World Heritage protection, the pigs are protected as well. The pigs tear up the forest and compete for valuable food and resources. The pigs are actually a huge problem all over Australia. There are 24 million of them, more pigs than people. Our guide says 85% of the people live in the cities, and to them every pig is “Babe.” It is a big problem and we continue to hear about this everywhere we go.
We saw an Idiosperm tree, which you will remember produces the Idiot fruit. We thought this was pretty funny. Well, apparently, nobody realized this poisonous fruit was here until the 1970’s when a farmer’s cows began to die. An autopsy revealed these fruits in the stomach contents of these cows. The fruits were sent to Sydney where they were surprised to see a fruit of an extinct tree. Apparently the last known specimen was found by a German in 1901. When he returned to study it further the following year, the entire field had been cleared to raise sugarcane. Click on the arrow in the picture to see a slideshow of pictures from this hike.
After this great hike we headed to Rainforest Rescue where we presented the Nursery manager with your money. They were delighted. We also presented them with several copies of your coloring book which they loved. Then we pitched in to peel and plant cassowary plums. After that we repotted seedlings to be planted in areas they are working to regenerate. After our work we sat down and had a spot of tea with the volunteers. We have included some pictures of the nursery, the area they are replanting, and of us working with the volunteers. We have included a separate slideshow of pictures from our visit to Rainforest Rescue.


As I knew, tomorrow holds another adventure and today was no exception! Maybe an adventure not quite so harrowing, but again it depends on your view of adventure. In anticipation of Mr. Harding’s departure back to the good ole US of A, it was time for me to have a go at driving. Our current location in the Daintree is a good place to give it a go as there is little traffic so there is room for error like driving on the wrong side of the road. Mr. Harding sat in front to give pointers and I was determined not to use the windshield wipers for a turn signal.
It is an odd feeling to be operating a vehicle fron the right side and ai kept reminding myself of the fact that I had learned to drive once before and this was no different. Down to the first turn which ws a right turn, comparable to our left turn, hit the signal and on came the windshield wipers! Mr. Harding laughed, as I had done to him, and politely stated, “It’s not so funny when it’s you signaling with wipers.” I successfully navigated the winding roads and cars coming from the other directions without crashing. I got us safely to our first, then second destination where I gladly handed the keys back to Mr. Harding.
Mrs. Harding has given me the job of driving in Perth, a city of a million people. Something tells me this is a job she isn’t going to take away from me!