Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Solar Whisper on the Daintree River

We have had some very large tides this week with the full moon so we have been watching carefully for any nesting activity. On Saturday we found Elizabeth (2.6m croc) crashing around in long grass at the top of Pig Island which will be a great spot for us to watch the whole nesting process.

In our area we have about 5 or 6 nesting females laying an average of 50 eggs which adds up to about 300 per year. We are still looking at about 4 or 5 hatchlings from this year and only 1 one year old from last year when we had the floods from cyclone Monica. There is no chance of a crocodile population explosion.

Thanks for your support.

David & Tyna White

http://www.solarwhisper.cominfo@solarwhisper.com

Ph. 40987131
Mob. 0439 983 140
A/H 40 983 140

Daintree River Ferry - Christmas Day

The Daintree River ferry operating hours on Christmas Day 25th December 2007 will be:

7.30am – 10.30am and 2.30pm - 5.30pm

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Daintree Coast Report 19/11 to 25/11

The Wet Season has arrived. With a Cyclone well north, the ridge over North Queensland has been active, and we have received about 250mm over three days. Today the weather is clearing as Cyclone Guba moves north and we should see better weather later in the week. The Cyclone poses NO IMMEDIATE THREAT to anywhere on the Queensland Coast. Unfortunately the strong southeasters are forecast to continue.

The rain has seen the forest come alive with my house full of frogs. This is a great time to experience the rainforest, as rain and warm weather greatly stimulates reptile activity.

NORTH TROPICAL COAST AND TABLELANDS DISTRICTScattered showers tending to rain at times. Some moderate falls possible.Moderate to fresh SE winds.Outlook for Tuesday ... Scattered showers.
Outlook for Wednesday ... Isolated showers.

North Tropical Waters, Cooktown to Cardwell:A wind warning is current.Monday until midnight: SE winds 20/30 knots. Seas 2.8 metres outside the reef and 1.4 metres inside. Showers or rain.Tuesday: SE winds 20/30 knots. Seas 2.8 metres outside the reef and 1.4 metres inside. Showers or rain.Wednesday: SE winds 20/25 knots.
TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION BULLETIN For 5:00 am EST on Monday the 19th of November 2007 At 4 am EST Monday, Tropical Cyclone Guba [Category 1] with central pressure 995hPa was located over the Coral Sea near latitude 12.6 south, longitude 146.2which is about 255 km east of Lockhart River. Tropical Cyclone Guba has recently adopted a slow northwest track, and a similarmotion is expected to continue over the next 24 hours. Guba remains a minimalcategory 1 cyclone, and little change in intensity is expected. The next bulletin will be issued by 11 am EST Monday.



Roads – the road to Cape Trib is open but there has been localized flooding over the weekend. The creek rise and fall quickly and usually go down rapidly after rain ceases. There is currently no flooding and the sun is shining.


The Bloomfield Track is open to 4WDs only and is in fair condition. Some mud patches are developing. We recommend the use of low gear (low range if available on steep descents) The creek crossings are about 0.5m deep and will have rocks in them after flooding. Low clearance 4WDs may have trouble. I recommend all crossings be walked before driving, except Bloomfield Causway which has a Croc risk. The Bloomfield Causeway has subsided on the northern downstream side and it is important you do not drive on this area.

Tides – are high early morning and late afternoon for most of the week.

Although the accommodation houses are not as busy, we still recommend pre booking

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

WE WON!!!


DAINTREE COAST WINS THE AWARD FOR BEST PROVISION OF VISITOR INFORMATION AND SERVICES



Almost 600 Tropical North Queensland’s tourism representatives and supporters gathered at the Cairns Convention Centre last night to honour those in the industry who have displayed excellence in their field during the past year.Winners were announced in 22 award categories covering many different aspects of the industry and several special awards were also bestowed during the 2007 Tropical North Queensland Tourism Awards’ glittering Gala Presentation Evening.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive officer Rob Giason said the ninth Tropical North Queensland Tourism Awards was another great success.

“I congratulate every one of the TTNQ members who took the time to put together a submission for this year’s awards. Our hard working awards judges had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a field of exceptionally high standard entries,” Mr Giason said.“It was great to see the excitement on the faces of the winners as they received their awards which recognised their outstanding achievement. I congratulate them and all the awards entrants on their great effort and dedication to the Tropical North Queensland tourism industry, which we are all proud to be part of.”

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Weeekly Report Daintree Coast 12 - 18 Nov 07

Congratulations to The Daintree Discovery Centre for winning The ‘Steve Irwin Ecotourism Award’ at last weekend’s Qld Tourism Awards!!!

The weather this weekend has been good, but there were some isolated showers, and 13mm of rain fell in the last 24hrs. This has been great as it has greened everything up and energized the wildlife. The sea was reasonably calm again, but the wind has now picked up quite a bit.

Reptiles are now fully active, with Boyds Dragons, Water Dragons and Snakes seen often day and night. Any sign of rain sees frogs out, and birds are nesting everywhere. Lace Monitors are wandering around the campgrounds and across the roads, and the Crocs are feeling frisky! Cassowaries with chicks are also being seen. Last night some nightwalkers had a great view of a croc in Myall Creek.
NORTH TROPICAL COAST AND TABLELANDS DISTRICTScattered showers about the coast and ranges mainly morning and at night. Mainlyfine inland. Fresh SE winds. A moderate to high fire danger.Outlook for Tuesday ... Scattered showers about the coast and ranges tendingisolated inland. Fresh SE winds Outlook for Wednesday ... Scattered showers about the coast and ranges tendingisolated inland. Fresh SE winds.

North Tropical Waters, Cooktown to Cardwell:A strong wind warning is current.Monday until midnight: SE winds 20/25 knots increasing to 20/30 knots during the day. Seas rising to 3 metres outside the reef and to 1.7 metres inside the reef. Scattered showers.Tuesday: SE winds 20/30 knots. Seas to 3 metres outside the reef and to 1.7 metres inside the reef. Showers. Wednesday: SE winds 20/30 knots decreasing to 20/25 knots south of Cairns.

Roads – the road to Cape Trib is open with no flooding. Thompson Creek Causeway is now complete, and both lanes are open. This has significantly improved access around Cape Tribulation and the big queues at this crossing in the wet season will now be a thing of the past. Only one more to go, Cooper Creek! Please be aware of increased snake and frog activity on the road at night. Please don’t run snakes over they are just as biologically important as Cassowaries (or frogs)! Also be aware of forest dragons on the road, as they are in nesting season. They tend to lay eggs in openings in the forest, and roadside verges are ideal. In the days of graded dirt roads, many nests were destroyed as grading was carried out, and the drains were reopened, of course this was the very spot the Boyd’s had decided to lay eggs!

The Bloomfield Track is open to 4WDs only and is in good condition. Some potholes are developing. We recommend the use of low gear (low range if available on steep descents) The creek crossings are less than knee deep. Dust is bad on the road and lights should be used. If significant rain falls on the road this week, the bulldust will turn to mud and the road may become extremely slippery.


Tides – are high early morning, low early to mid afternoon on Monday and Tuesday, then high midday Wed and the highs slip quickly down through the afternoon to Sunday. Wednesday and Thursday have only two tides so movement will be slow.

Although the accommodation houses are not as busy, we still recommend pre booking

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Daintreecoast Weekly Update 5/11/2007 - 12/11/2007

The weather this weekend has been superb once again! The water was flat calm. On land there has been a tendency for clouds to form over the mountains in the afternoon, typical for this time of the year. Last night was cool though, hard to believe its November!

The weather is forecast to change, with moderate southeasters later in the week. Although this will not make mariners happy, it will cool it down a bit.

Reptiles are now fully active, with Boyds Dragons, Water Dragons and Snakes seen often day and night. Any sign of rain sees frogs out, and birds are nesting everywhere. Lace Monitors are wandering around the campgrounds and across the roads, and the Crocs are feeling frisky! Cassowaries with chicks are also being seen.

NORTH TROPICAL COAST AND TABLELANDS DISTRICT
Fine apart from isolated afternoon or evening showers and thunderstorms west of
the Tablelands. Light to moderate SE to NE winds. A moderate to high fire
danger.
Outlook for Tuesday ... Isolated afternoon or evening showers and
thunderstorms west of the Tablelands, fine elsewhere.
Outlook for Wednesday ... Isolated coastal showers. Moderate SE winds, fresh
about the coast during the day.

North Tropical Waters, Cooktown to Cardwell:
Monday until midnight: Variable winds 5/10 knots with inshore afternoon NE seabreezes up to 10/15 knots. Seas to 1.2 metres.
Tuesday: SE/E winds 10/15 knots with inshore afternoon NE seabreezes at 10/15 knots.
Wednesday: SE/E winds 10/15 knots.

Roads – the road to Cape Trib is open with no flooding. Thompson Creek Causeway is now complete, and both lanes are open. This has significantly improved access around Cape Tribulation and the big queues at this crossing in the wet season will now be a thing of the past. Only one more to go, Cooper Creek! Please be aware of increased snake and frog activity on the road at night. Please don’t run snakes over they are just as biologically important as Cassowaries (or frogs)! Also be aware of forest dragons on the road, as they are in nesting season. They tend to lay eggs in openings in the forest, and roadside verges are ideal. In the days of graded dirt roads, many nests were destroyed as grading was carried out, and the drains were reopened, of course this was the very spot the Boyd’s had decided to lay eggs!

The Bloomfield Track is open to 4WDs only and is in good condition. Some potholes are developing. We recommend the use of low gear (low range if available on steep descents) The creek crossings are less than knee deep. Dust is bad on the road and lights should be used.


Tides – are high early morning, low early to mid afternoon all week

Although the accommodation houses are not as busy, we still recommend pre booking