LizzyF

I have just come back home to Tasmania after spending a holiday in North Queensland at Lilybank B&B, Zanzoo B&B and Daintree Wild( Bushranger please note that yesterday in Tasmania it was 31 deg and today is a magnificent 23 deg and the most beautiful sky imaginable with all spring flowers out and in absolute glory ) - but I digress as I am supposed to be talking about the Daintree: If you are interested in wildlife and you would like to have them on your doorstep then this place is for you. The accommodation is inside the wildlife park with kangaroos and wallabies running about everywhere which you can play with, tame birds like a long billed Corella and a Red tailed Black Cockatoo that you can have on your shoulder while you have breakfast ( providing you give him something to eat as well) and best of all 3 little Sugar Gliders or Squirrel Gliders which are my absolute favourite animal in the World which you can feed honey to. The park has a wonderful selection of birds, many of which were hand reared so that they will want to play with you, there are crocodiles and cassowary, little Bettongs (sp??) and the beautiful Golden Possum and all this is set in lovely tropical grounds which you are at liberty to walk around anytime you like as entrance is inclusive in your accommodation cost. If you cannot stay there then at least visit the Park which is only 10 minutes drive south of Daintree Village. The accommodation is lovely too and there is a large swimming pool just outside the verandah to the rooms which has a large shade over it, meaning you can stay in the water for as long as you like. The rooms a spacious and lots of different sleeping configurations so a whole family can stay there together. A fridge is provided for your drinks and provisions for tea and coffee and there is a bbq which you may use next to the pool area. The main area for meals is a massive construction which has only one wall and is open to the park and meals are served there in the evenings if you do not wish to make your own. You can also have morning and afternoon tea. The Cassowary is hand fed and you can get up very close to it. The website for this little treasure of the Daintree is www.daintreewild.com.au and email is [email protected]
Breakfast consisted of a fresh tropical fruit smoothy, huge plate of tropical fruits, hot coisants and fresh coffee, cereals etc. From here you can either travel yourself or take trips to the various points of interest and be close enough to go back for a snooze if you hike yourself silly. There is a lovely beach close by and for those who do not have a car it can be reached by getting a bus from Cairns to Mossman and then getting a Taxi from Mossman. You would have to perhaps ask the owners if they know of any other way to get there for other ideas. This gets my top recommendation for having a wonderful stay in the Daintree/ Cape Tribulation area.

Jed

Thanks for the report. May I suggest that paragraphs would make it easier to read.

LizzyF

Paragraphs were put in - Fodors seem to want to cram review in one big lot!

SnR

Did you say CASSOWARY!!! We shoulda stayed there instead of going all around looking for the elusive birds. Nice review and definitely in the "next time" catagory!
Sally in Seattle

LizzyF

I thought of you when I was feeding the Cassowary there and in fact Pat and Mike took me up there and Pat said that you should definately have gone there.
They have a couple of Cassowaries ( should that be just Cassowary I wonder) and I have never been so close to one in my life either. So it was a great treat. I reckon that one should stay at least a couple of days and nights there because a lot of the local nocturnal animals come in because of the other animals and its a great spot to do some spotlighting.
Interestingly enough we decided to go into Daintree Village for dinner and noticed a huge gathering of people at the cricket ground. Apparantly someone's house had burnt down and they were having a fund raiser for them. There was only one place open and they were shutting early to go to the "do". Everyone invited us to go and we would have if we had not been dead tired because it was being held for one of the local Aboriginals and the the dancing and music would have been terrific. A great way to get a real feel of their way of life I can tell you.

pat_woolford

I'm sorry Sally, I thought you were being a purist and only wanted to spot a cassowary in the wild.

The two cassowaries at Daintree Mangrove, Fruit Loop and Fruit Tingle are obviously penned (in a very large run), Fruit Tingle was being particularly inquisitive the other day and sticking her head right through the fencing - so an upclose view of her glamorous long and lustrous eyelashes.

Regrettably have never had time to spend night at this wildlife park but love to drop in and see what's new. This time pure black dingos, as well as the regular golden colour ones with pups, a new owl house, many with nestlings, a huge eagle aviary and the amazing collection of Australian parrots and finches just keeps growing. Boardwalk over croc waterholes is finished and saw at least a dozen on banks.

This place is a real tribute to the owners, Gil and Donna, who look after all the animals, keep the entire park, aviaries, pens immaculate and also serve meals in the large on-site cafe.

Donna was saying that wombats from would soon be introduced with possibility of Tasmanian Devils as well.