More from Far North Queensland

When we left Townsville in mid-January 2017 we were joined by family for a visit to Rainforest Estate.  Of course we included some visits to local tourist attractions.



Hartley's Crocodile Adventure, north of Cairns, provided good entertainment with plenty of crocodiles on show.

A day trip into the Daintree National Park and Cape Tribulation is also a "must-do" for any visitors to this part of Australia.  We're lucky that we can be into this Gondwana Wilderness area within an hour.

We like to stop off at a tropical fruit orchard.  This time the breadfruit trees were loaded with fruit.  We also like to indulge in the delicious tropical fruit ice-cream served at the small shop.

In February we've had some interesting visitors to Rainforest Estate.

Beautiful Golden Orb Spiders weave their huge webs and we often have to relocate them from our patio areas.  The leg span of these beauties can exceed 15cm with their body length 5-6cm long (about as big as my little finger).

During the rainy season, bush frogs like to lay their eggs in the fresh water that forms a layer on the top of the salt-water in the swimming pool.  The eggs don't hatch though so we are not swimming amongst tadpoles!

 Not all of our "visitors" are welcome inside.  We've had to relocate some baby tree snakes that thought it would be nice to get out of the rain.  There's a reason why we keep the doors shut - to keep the rainforest outside where it belongs.  These snakes are only about as thick as a pencil and they can wriggle in through the gaps under the doors






It's the wet season from November to April and we have rain nearly every day.  Temperatures are around 30C and it's very humid.  The rain stops around late April and we will be back to perfect weather again - for about 6 months until the next wet season.  Until then the air-conditioning stays on to keep the humidity down.

When it rains, it really rains!  The rivers rise and flood and we can be cut off.  We have a small river and bridge at the entrance to the property and nearby Anich's Bridge is our link to the outside world.  Anich's Bridge (centre)  has been flooded a couple of times.  When this photo was taken it was under 1.5m of water.  Luckily the water subsides as quickly as it rises.




We love the plants around the property.  Some of our favourites are the lipstick palms with their bright red stems and the unusual black bat-flowers.

Just south of Cairns, near Gordonvale is an interesting mountain, The Pyramid.  It's well named and at 922m it's a real landmark.  Each year in October there is a foot race to the top.  Not something we are likely to attempt, but we admire those who do, and especially those who make it to the top!