A Journey Through Australia
When it comes to the four wheel drive carry all
, it burst out of the cool and dark forest after rocking down the rotted jungle track emerging into the bright coastal sunlight. What we faced was another one in the Great Barrier Reef just 10 miles offshore after we left the Daintree rain forest which was one of the great natural wonders of the world. The only place where two wonders are located side by side is in one of the least developed regions along Australia's tropical northeast coast, northern Queensland.You will also see one of the oldest rain forests in the world here. As the reef stretches north and south along 1,250 miles of shore, it swings closest to land in this part of the northern coast. Accessible to visitors is the rainforest and reef. From a submersible raft with glass sides or an underwater observatory is where you can see 1,200 species of tropical reef fish or the 350 types of spectacularly colorful living coral that make up the reef if you are not into diving.
When it comes to the jump off point, it was Cairns, a small tropical city of 85,000 that is as beautiful as a British colonial outpost serving as the gateway to Australia's Marlin Coast. We were able to ride the 100 year old Cairns Kuranda Railway during our out of town trip as it twisted 21 miles up and through rain forests, mountains, and gorges to the village of Kuranda. We drove for 90 minutes north along the Marlin Coast and inland toward the rain forest after returning to Cairns.
What can be found in the nearby rain forest are 13 of the 19 families of ancient plant life still found on Earth. 130 million years is how far some of them date back to. As the old rutted dirt tracks that line the forest were built for logging you need to use four wheel drive vehicles to pass. You can have a more leisurely look at the rain forest through the pull offs with one that opens on to an hour's easy stroll along a well marked trail.
There are environmentally sensitive trips into the rain forest offered by a tour service and they start from Silky Oaks and lead to a boat ride down the Daintree River. Considering the old gold rush village of Port Douglas, one of the major gateways to the Great Barrier Reef, the drive from Silky Oaks was short. Especially fitted for scuba divers are charter boats, and then there were sailboats for skimmers, and a fleet of twin hulled jet catamarans was available to ferry groups of people to permanent platforms atop the reef.
Without getting wet, you can see the beauty of the coral reef and its multicolored fish through 30 minute trips alongside the coral via two glass-sided semi submersibles. Together with trained marine biologists, snorkeling can be done. There are private grottoes, one behind a waterfall, near the swimming pool and local frequented the open air coffee shop in the local hotel where we stayed. And then outside downtown Port Douglas is the famous Four Mile Beach where curving along the ocean are beautiful stretches of palm fringed white sand.
When it comes to Port Douglas, it is also a jump off point away from sea and you can view the northern Queensland environment in a different way. In the last century, what became a prime cattle raising area was a tableland high above the coast and there are still several of the original homesteads on the old cattle ranches in existence today. One site of a 1870s homestead and still a working cattle station is Wetherby. To see the entirety of Australia, the family proprietors opened it for tourists.
Every trip calls for travel insurance. Stress while traveling can be lessened.
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