Sunrise at 6.31am & first light at 6.09am, seen every day from a hot air balloon here in the tropics in May, is displaying some amazing colours.

Taking off on the Atherton Tablelands, west of Kuranda and Port Douglas daily, the ballooning industry keeps the most up to date weather information to determine balloon launch sites & flight plans. Temperatures this week will range from an overnight of 19 degrees to a high of 27 in Kuranda and Mareeba. We suggest a light jacket and enclosed shoes, when starting your early morning tour and definitely sunglasses and a hat for after breakfast. To see photos of today''s weather on the Atherton Tablelands go to www.hotair.com.au  

It will be mostly fine and sunny inland for the week ahead though you will notice a difference driving from the Atherton Tablelands back to Port Douglas where the forecast is for moderate SE winds, fresh at times along the coast.

Tuesday's event, held where Captain James Cook beached his damaged ship Endeavour in 1770 and later made peace with local Aborigines, carried a reconciliation message and provided the opportunity to reflect ahead of next week's Australia Day festivities.

In Cooktown, Gilchrist also made time to learn about local culture and visit Aboriginal rock art with an elder, Willie Gordon.

Gilchrist described it as a moving experience that had also shown him how little he knew about indigenous culture.

Tropical Havens Special Announcement
Mali Mali, has just been crowned the AUSTRALIAN House of the Year for 2008 at a gala awards ceremony in Canberra on Friday night. Mali Mali was awarded Master Builders Australia 'House of the Year' for the best house in the $1 million -$2 million category. Earlier this year, Mali Mali was also awarded Queensland House of the Year.

Mali Mali is located on 40 acres of absolute hilltop. With 360 degree panoramic views from the Daintree Rainforest to the Pacific Ocean and back to the rainforest, this idyllic retreat is in a league of it's own. Designed by internationally acclaimed, multi award winning designer, Chris Vandyke and built by multi award winning builder Keith Tesch, Mali Mali features cascading water gardens that run alongside tropical pavillions to meet the infinity pool at the master pavillion. Complete with heli pad and world class tennis court, all offering breathtaking views of Tropical North Queensland, Mali Mali is a premium luxurious holiday haven!

Should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us at Tropical Havens. www.tropicalhavens.com.au

At Tropical Havens we still have Holiday Homes available over the Christmas and New Year Period.  Hurry our Homes are selling fast.  Please call or email us.

Walk with the traditional custodian Wilfred (Willie) Gordon of Guurrbi Tours. On this magical Cooktown tour Willie takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set in stunning countryside high in the hills outside Cooktown. The sites are not open to the general public and cannot be visited unaccompanied. Willie's Rainbow Serpent Tour is now listed as One of Australia's Ultimate Must-Do Experiences, both by American Express (2006) and Australian Traveller magazine (2007).

Rainforest Rescue announces the purchase of a tenth property through the Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever Project.

This is extremely good news for the critically endangered Southern Cassowary. It prevents another housing development with all its associated dangers – dogs, loss of corridors, traffic and road kills – from destroying the delicately balanced habitat of this “keystone” species of the rainforest. Property No. 10 is essential habitat for this fabulous big bird, whose numbers are far fewer than the already low previous estimates.

The vegetation type is described as wet to very wet vine forest with emergent large-fruited red mahogany, having a rainforest understorey merging into simple to complex mesophyll to notophyll vine forest. The biodiversity values of this latter ecosystem type are described as being “very species rich”. Lofty clumps of locally endemic fan palms and black palms grace the northern sector of the property whilst two species of cycad and numerous ferns abound in the denser southern part. These include the King Fern, which, with fronds up to 5 metres long, is reputed to be the largest of all ferns. It is as a primitive plant, very similar types having been around for 300 million years.

The process is now underway to have to have the land protected in perpetuity by an Act of the Queensland Parliament by having the property declared as the Tree Friends Nature Refuge.

In announcing this major step forward, Executive Officer Kelvin Davies was especially proud that it has been achieved without any government funding. “It’s a significant achievement for community conservation, proving that donations from individuals and businesses make a big difference,” said Kelvin.

Equally exciting is the news that Rainforest Rescue is now on the verge of buying an eleventh property. Property No. 11 is located less than a kilometre away and is just as critical for Cassowaries and other rare and endangered species, like the Bennetts Tree-kangaroo. It will provide a vital corridor through the rural subdivision from the Daintree National Park on its northern side to two declared Nature Refuges to the south.

“We only need to raise $85,000 to complete the purchase of this next vital property – such a small amount to preserve forever another slice of the irreplaceable Daintree – and we call upon concerned Australians to contribute to this campaign,” Kelvin adds. “The current owner is committed to conservation and is offering the lot to Rainforest Rescue at less than market value, so we have taken an option to purchase.”

With the end of the financial year looming, Rainforest Rescue is now seeking tax-deductible donations from the community or business sponsorships to protect this two hectares property to establish and protect forever the wildlife corridor that it offers between the Daintree National Park and the Perna Greene Nature Refuge.

David Suzuki, the internationally acclaimed broadcaster, journalist and biologist is making his voice heard as a spokesperson for Rainforest Rescue.

"Come on Australia" said David Suzuki. "This is important work. All Australians should get behind Rainforest Rescue and support the Daintree Buy Back and Project Forever Project" David Suzuki said;

The Daintree rainforest is currently threatened by rural residential development" 

Make a difference with your tax-deductible donation today!

Or order a Daintree Gift Card for your friends and loved ones

You can read the full article on David Suzuki's Daintree message in the News section of the Rainforest Rescue Forum. David has also recorded two radio announcements for Rainforest Rescue. You can download MP3 audio tracks of David's 30 second spot (469KB) and 60 second spot (941KB)