Where: Kutini-Payamu (Iron range NP)

Hanging out with: Jenny and Euan and kids (again J)

The Daintree National Parks seems to be Queensland’s most famous, but there are so many other National Parks out there that have diverse habitats with an amazing array of wildlife. Iron Range NP is one of those parks. It is one of the largest remaining areas of lowland rainforest to be found in Australia and was once connected to Paupa New Guinea. Due to it’s topography the lowland rainforest has been retained and many of the animals and plants that occur are only found here and in PNG, so a really unique spot on Cape York as a lover of nature. Once again we donned the head torches and went out spotlighting in search of some of the unique critters in the area.

Our first two nights were spent on Chilli beach and we were treated to the spectacular sight of the metallic starling murmeration (this is a new word for us as well – it means a flock of starlings). At dusk, after a day of foraging, the starlings come together into one giant flock and fly around in beautiful patterns over their roosting site for about 10-15mins before finally settling on the trees to sleep for the night. It was breath-taking to watch!

The next two nights we camped in the heart of the rainforest and we had a number of animals on our list to see. The green python was high on our hit list because it would have to be one the most beautiful of all snakes. Euan found this one for us wrapped on a tree waiting for its prey.

Cuscus (not to be confused with couscous) are a type of possum and two species can be found in Australia: spotted cuscus and the common cuscus. We found this beauty only 50 metres from our campsite! In total we found three common cuscus but the unfortunately the spotted cuscus eluded us.