14
Location: Daintree Rainforest Observatory
Our day began with the groans and moans of very sore workers, after our grueling mulching session the day prior. After a breakfast of French toast and bacon, (thank you chefs) we made our way to the conference room, where we were debriefed on the work we would be doing in exchange for staying in reserve. Today’s tasks were recording the height, diameter, healthiness, and byproduct of the 1250 trees on the reserve’s re-vegetation plot. The task started at 8:30 am, and after two 45-minute sessions, we had completed our work and headed towards the cafeteria for lunch. Following lunch, we made plans for walking to town and checking out a local beach. We departed around 1:30 pm, and arrived at the beach’s boardwalk around 2:00 pm. The boardwalk had some crazy wildlife, and we even spotted a huge black beetle. The beach also had some beautiful sights, and because of the low tide, we were able to safely traverse rocks several hundred yards out. Following a hike back to the main road, we walked several kilometers to the town, where we sat down and had some ice-cream, and decided that we had enough sunlight to go to this waterhole spot at a local restaurant. We arrived at Mason’s burgers shop, and the waterhole was about a 5-minute walk away. The spot we found was beautiful, a tree loomed over the lagoon, making for some awesome jumps. Our walk back consisted of Frisbee tossing, long conversations, and a beautiful sunset. We arrived back to the reserve to fajitas on the way, and by 6:30 pm, we had 12 steaming hot, delicious fajitas. After our evening meeting, we headed behind our staying quarters for a bonfire and S’mores. Some stayed up late others retired early. Overall, Day 12 was a good one, and I enjoyed it.