End of the Line

As I wind down the last night of my trip, I feel content that I have seen a great variety of the sites that both NZ and Australia have to offer. I may have short-changed Aussieland a bit, but it is such a vast country/continent that it would take a year or more to properly see all that it has to offer (and of course I will be back here at some point). But, I should pick up where I left off to show you all the beautiful sites of North Queensland that I was able to experience at the end of last week.

Last Monday through Wednesday I took a tour up through Port Douglas and on to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. Port Douglas was not much to write home about and was simply a small, quiet, wealthy, touristy town that many people liked to relax in for a couple days and have expensive meals before going out to see the Great Barrier Reef. I spent one night there and had a good time hanging out with some Canadians and Brits at the hostel that I was in and collectively enjoyed the $5 BBQ that the hostel hosted. The next morning I was picked up and taken to the the Wildlife Sanctuary in Port Douglas, which was pretty interesting to see some of the animals there, including some difficult and rare ones to see in the wild - the tree kangaroo and the cassowary (the world's most dangerous bird, as if you piss it off, it will lean back, and then gouge its two massive feet and talons in to your chest or across your jugular). The next stop was the Mossman Gorge, which is well known in Queensland for being...well, a giant gorge. I actually wasn't too impressed with it, as I saw much more beautiful landscapes on the Atherton Tablelands, but it was still a rainforest with creeks and massive boulders all along the water, so visually I was satisfied for a bit. The bus continued north and we started getting in to the real rainforest area and to the more secluded and remote parts of the state that bring with it unparalleled views of the beaches, forest canopy, and rivers teaming with deadly saltwater crocodiles. Queensland, but specifically Northern Queensland, is renowned not only for its beautiful scenary, but also the high concentration of "world's deadliest" flora & fauna - the box jellyfish, the cassowary, saltwater crocodile, a crazy tree that if you rub against the leaves, its microscopic pieces of sharp silicon fibres dig in to your skin and leave you in searing pain for weeks and itching for a subsequent 4 - 6 months, and then the other poisonous spiders (see picture of massive Golden Orb spider) and snakes as well. Needless to say, I wasn't getting close to water or going off the path while I was up in these parts. The rest of the day our group explored the Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest continuous rainforest in the world at around 120 million years old. It may not be as massive as the Amazon, but it was pretty damn impressive to me and was interesting to learn about the interaction between the various palms, pines, ferns, and other trees and their infinite struggle for sunlight and water through the canopy. The birds, spiders, and other little creatures also added to the landsape, and I was constantly scratching at my face, legs, and neck to remove spiderwebs (both real and imaginary) as I walked along the paths. Before we hit Cape Tribulation up north, we took a riverboat along the Daintree River and were able to spot the dominant male of the area, Albert. Albert is a "friendly" (as in, he hasn't eaten any small children yet) saltwater crocodile that is a little over 5.2 meteres - over 16 feet long - and weighs about 600 kilos - over a ton! I could not snap a good picture of him as he was hiding pretty well in the mangroves, but it was a pretty surreal feeling to be that close to a reptile that has been so successful (namely, being a killing machine) in the wild that it hasn't needed to evolve really for millions of years.

After the trip along the river, the bus headed north and dropped me off at PK's Jungle Village around 5 pm, which was a pretty interesting hostel, set up in Cape Tribulation, and only a 5 minute walk to Myall Beach and 2.5 km from Cape Tribulation beach. I only spent a day and a half up at Cape Trib, but was immediately blown away by the remote landscapes, deep jungle, and pristine water of the adjacent Great Barrier Reef. This area is actually the only place in the world where two World Hertiage sites meet - the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Suffice it to say, I was pretty impressed when I was standing on Cape Tribulation beach and the mangroves from the rainforest were literally growing in the sand and in the shallow water that went out to meet the reef. I spent most of my time up in this area, walking along the beaches, taking the boardwalks through the jungle, and doing an exotic fruit tasting (yes, an exotic fruit tasting - I ended up trying 10 different fruits, 9 of which I've never heard of before). I also woke up at 5:45 am one morning to see the sun rising over Myall Beach and was able to snap some pretty nice pictures:

Cape Tribulation definitely solidified my love for Queensland, as it really was like a tropical paradise up there; I never fully got accustomed to the humidity (being like Florida in the summer), but came to enjoy the experience of it being so sultry. And Cairns, which was simply the jump-off point for all of the day trips I did, ended up becoming a comfortable little marina town that I was able to walk all around easily and enjoy - and frequenting their only brewpub, Blue Sky, helped ease me in to the place as well. I came back to Cairns and had 3 days there before heading back to Sydney on Friday. One day I spent a large chunk of time exploring the Cairns Botanical Gardens, which was by far the nicest, most diverse, and interesting out of all the ones I have visited in both NZ and Australia. It was a combination of having very exotic, tropical plants, the superb job of labeling, and the self-guided tours that impressed me the most about the grounds. The other day I took a day trip out to Kuranda, which is a town NW of Cairns and is known for its hippy lifestyle, markets, and good day hikes in the surrounding Baron Gorge and Baron Falls area. To get out to Kuranda, I took the Skyrail (gondola) up over the rainforest canopy and stopped off at two of the stations on the way to explore the forests and see the Baron Falls. After exploring Kuranda for the day, seeing the Butterfly Sanctuary there (biggest in the world until our good old Florida came along and swiped the distinction), and ambling through the markets, I made my way to the Kuranda Railway Station and boarded the Kuranda Scenic Rail, an old-world style train that was all hand painted and meandered along through the rainforests on a 90-minute journey back to Cairns. The ride back to Cairns was incredibly scenic and the experience of sitting on the train as it went through sharp gorges, many tunnels, and around bridges alongside waterfalls was pretty spectacular.


I left Cairns on Friday and was looking forward to the wonderful, 80 degrees and sunny forecast for Sydney for the final 4 days of my trip; Phil Connors was correct in his prediction. My last days in Sydney have been spent lounging on both Bondi (today) and Coogee (Saturday) beaches, exploring the Royal Botanical Gardens (no surprise there), purchasing some books for my enviable 25-hour journey home tomorrow, and spending some QT with Sir Phil Kohn (knighted for his uncanny ability to expel hot air). I now switch places with Liz, Phil's sister, as she comes out here in early April, and return to the promise land of Manhattan - thank you Phil for letting me crash on your couch for many, many nights. I am truly looking forward to returning home after this 10-week exploration of Australasia. I hope that you all enjoyed following my adventures through NZ and Australia. It has been a pleasure to keep this blog for everyone to read, and I now have a great documentation of the trip and can look back fondly on bungy jumps, glacier hiking, jumping out of planes, and arachnaphobia.

Be well and I will talk to and see many of you soon.



Justin