The Daintree Rainforest, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Cape Tribulation :)

After the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, we headed up to Cape Tribulation! On the way there, we had to use a ferry to get across the Daintree river in order to continue our journey. It was definitely a unique experience. I've always seen pictures of herds of cars driving onto a boat and being ferried across a body of water, but haven't ever done it myself. The road the rest of the way was really winding through the rainforest - but it was beautiful. We quickly stopped at a crocodile farm. It was interesting, but was sad to see so many curious creatures cooped up in such small spaces. Finally, we made it to the Cape Tribulation Beach House Resort and got moved in for the next 3 nights that we'd be spending there. The food for lunch was delicious and then we got some time to work on our final projects for the trip. Our National Geographic expert, Ulla Lohmann, was there the whole time to help us with critiquing our pictures, video and research, giving us advice, helping to point students in the right direction and much more. It was so amazing and inspiring to be with her.

Crocodile - Queensland, Australia.

Koala - Queensland, Australia. 

Crocodile eating some sort of intestines - Queensland, Australia. 

The feet of my friends and I - Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia.

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia. 

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia. 

Crab holes in the sand on Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia.

Cape Tribulation - Queensland, Australia.

Little streams of water run towards the ocean - Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia.

A tree with spines in the Daintree Rainforest - Queensland, Australia. 

A tree with slashes for excretion of saps - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

A tree covered in moss alongside the hiking trail - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

Small creek running through the Daintree Rainforest - Queensland, Australia. 

A cassowary! - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia. 

One of the coolest road signs ever: "One Planet <3" - Daintree Rainforest, Queensland, Australia.

The next day was more of a relaxation and catch-up day. There was lots of editing for the film students and the photography students were throwing together slideshows of photographs for their final projects, while the Wildlife kids were researching a few last facts on their subject of choice. On the time off I was at the beach - which was quite beautiful, spacious and empty! - and taking lots more photos! We ended up doing a rainforest walk which was really cool. There wasn't a nicely laid out trail to follow - it was more "cross-country" style. Although we didn't get to see any wildlife on this hike, there was much plant life to be seen!
Later on in the day, a group of us went down to the Dubuji Boardwalk. This trail was more calm than the earlier one and was less dense so seeing more things was easier - especially for photographing. About halfway through the walk we spotted a cassowary right next to the trail! It was so amazing to see one so close! It just went about its business and kept eating the berries that were on the ground, walking around and looking at us like we were the attraction instead of itself.
This pretty much concludes my trip. I feel like I've been able to learn so much and grow not only as a person but also as a photographer. The daily journal entry will be continued as I'm not quite home yet and there's still more adventures to come from the land down under.