Daintree Rain Forest and a Lesson in Trust

For the last few days we've been in Daintree Rain Forest, part of Daintree National Park, north of Cairns (pronounced "Cans").  Finally we're in warm weather again and the heavy clothing we packed goes to the bottom of the suitcases.  Here's a photo showing a bird's eye view of the floor of the forest.

We heard that this area is famous for its population of endangered cassowaries.  We were with some other people, one of whom saw one fleetingly in the forest.  But we didn't.  Here's a funny sign--some graffiti artist took the Cassowary warning sign and combined it with the speed bump sign to illustrate what might happen if you drive too fast.  

But all day I didn't see one and was mightily disappointed.  Then we checked into our motel in the rain forest, and look what was hanging around.  

This bird is magnificent.  It has this weird crown thing on its head and heavy, scaly feet.  It's about 5 or 6 feet tall!  It looks as much like a dinosaur as anything else I've ever seen.  This one is a female--they are the prettier of the sexes for cassowaries.  She lays the eggs and he incubates them and takes care of the chicks.  Kind of like penguins... Great for illustrating the evolutionary line of birds from dinosaurs.  And great for me--yet another encouragement to believe in what I cannot see.