Travelling up to Daintree we stopped off at Port Douglas for lunch and wander round. Port Douglas is very much a tourist town and quite an expensive one at that. We had a wander round some of the shops, down to the harbour and then found a nice little Thai restaurant for lunch.

Moving on we reached our destination, the Daintree Crocodylus Village, around 6pm. The accommodation is basic, a light, a fan and a bed with a mosquito net. The cabins are wooden with a canvas roof and no electricity. There is also a communal seating area near the bar and restaurant. And overall the this place has a very relaxed, laid back feel, mostly emanating from Steve’s constant smile (Steve is the receptionist, barman and proprietor).

Having settled into the cabin we grabbed a bite to eat and had a couple of beers at the bar. Just to ease the cost we then tucked into a couple of bottles of wine we had stashed in the ute. As we left, Steve’s non smiling partner Sally who runs the restaurant, held up the two empty wine bottles and asked if she should throw them away or did we want to keep them. It wasn’t until the next morning we saw the sign “NO B.Y.O”.

Having retired to the safety of the mosquito net I realised just how noisy a rain forest can be at night. With all manner of birds calling back and forth, the largest turned out to be the little scrub turkeys or the orange footed scrub fowl. The only way I can describe it is a kind of very loud screeching. This would also turn out to be our alarm clock at sunrise which is at 6.30am.