{"id":1090,"date":"2018-04-17T11:41:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/?p=1090"},"modified":"2018-04-17T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:44:12","slug":"darwin-mangroves-cairns-great-barrier-reef-kuranda-rain-forest-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/?p=1090","title":{"rendered":"Darwin Mangroves & Cairns (Great Barrier Reef & Kuranda Rain Forest), Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darwin is located on Australia’s north coast and has a population of approximately 146,000. \u00a0It is a mere 860 miles south of the equator and was one of the hottest places I’ve ever experienced. With temperatures above 106 degrees fahrenheit or 41 degrees celsius, relative humidity of 98 percent, and near cloudless skies, it was a roaster in my Zodiac. It is important to remember that in Australia everything can kill you. From the aquatic life in the sea (including sharks, stinger jellyfish, salt-water crocodiles, and some of the beautiful mollusks), to the creatures on land, like scorpions, spiders and snakes, just to mention a few. \u00a0This is in contrast to the United States, where the largest threat to humans is posed by other humans. \u00a0After a few days in Darwin I travelled to Cairns, Queensland which is on the northeast coast of Australia. \u00a0With a population of approximately 148,000, it’s about the same size as Darwin. \u00a0There are plenty of things to do here. \u00a0The Great Barrier Reef with its 133,000 square miles is just off the coast. \u00a0It is our planet’s largest single structure made by living organisms. Unfortunately, due to environmental factors the reef has lost half of its coral cover in the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

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Tidal mangroves with many salt-water crocodiles. \u00a0They are just extremely hard to see as only their eyes are above water. \u00a0They are known as “ambush predators” because they remain completely still and then ambush their prey. \u00a0Good thing these large reptiles don’t know the Zodiac is made of rubber.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Crocodile Dundee. \u00a0His real name was Greg and he was the real deal, from the accent to the hat. \u00a0Great guide through the mangroves. \u00a0And we never got lost.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This explains the lack of people walking around. \u00a0What an awesome site. \u00a0Then I discover it was not alive. \u00a0An incredible letdown. But I was intrigued and later discovered that a real crocodile emerged from the waters in this frame only 6 years ago. \u00a0It was this size (4 meters, or 14 feet). \u00a0The croc was captured, transferred to a sanctuary, and now immortalized in this croc sculpture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Cigarette machine with a stern warning. \u00a0Because a pack of cigarettes can cost $32 (that’s USD) you rarely see people smoking here. \u00a0Because the deterrent of death is not strong enough, the Aussies imposed a very high cigarette tax.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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My copter ride to and over the Great Barrier Reef. \u00a0Parts of the reef are unfortunately dying as a result of climate change and pollution. \u00a0No jokes here as this is an extremely sad situation. \u00a0Mass coral bleaching caused by elevated ocean temperatures, although not an annual occurrence, is happening more frequently.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Close up of Green Island. \u00a0The diving and snorkeling is amazing here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another shot of Green Island on my approach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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During low tide my copter can land on this sandy atoll. \u00a0Unfortunately the tide wasn’t low enough. \u00a0I had all my gear and everything. What a letdown, but since my pilot got me back without incident I still gave him a great tip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Both sand expanses and bleaching can be seen here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Waterfall at Barron Gorge on my way to and through the rainforest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another image of the falls. \u00a0Unfortunately this day the river was in a low flow mode. \u00a0But still a very stunning falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Another view of Barron Gorge which carves its way though the rainforest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Boris the spider. \u00a0Not too poisonous, if this White-tailed spider bites you, you have a day or so to seek medical attention, other spiders can be lethal in as little as a few hours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Crashed plane in what was at one time an uninhabited jungle. \u00a0 Now it’s a tangled sculpture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hippie village A\/K\/A Kuranda Village. \u00a0This place is authentic flower-power. \u00a0I think many of the people who live in this tropical environment are some of the same people who attended Woodstock in 1969. \u00a0It also appears that old hippies don’t age very well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Street scene in the Village.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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No flower-power time capsule would be complete without a shop selling dream-catchers and incense.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Great warning in Cairns. \u00a0Quite a spectacle too. \u00a0These bats were in almost every tree, but only in a small 2-3 block radius.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Just hanging out. \u00a0Since the bats sleep upside-down there is little chance of being nailed by bat-shit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In flight is where you must be alert and on guard for being hit by their waste. \u00a0These bats have some crazy radar and as a result are incredibly accurate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Good bat form. \u00a0Great posture and neck extension. \u00a0The wing span was approximately 2-3 feet. \u00a0The judges gave it a 10. \u00a0Holy bat-shit Batman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Interesting posting in the toilet. \u00a0No comments here. \u00a0As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Darwin is located on Australia’s north coast and has a population of approximately 146,000. \u00a0It is a mere 860 miles south of the equator and was one of the hottest places I’ve ever experienced. With temperatures above 106 degrees fahrenheit or 41 degrees celsius, relative humidity of 98 percent, and near cloudless skies, it was … Continue reading Darwin Mangroves & Cairns (Great Barrier Reef & Kuranda Rain Forest), Australia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1090"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090\/revisions\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthlylocomotion.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}