DAINTREE RAIN FOREST

                                What a Wonderful Stay
       I have stayed and visited several rain forests and I have found them all exciting and delightful. Our accommodations have always been great, but the Daintree facilities were especially nice.

      It was a two-hour ride (160 K) from Cairns to Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort, our hotel at Cape Tribulation in the Daintree Rainforest. We drove onto a small cable ferry to get across the Daintree River. The road after crossing was narrow and winding. It seemed like a long ride as the last hour or so was in the rain.

    It was still raining quite hard so the hotel supplied us with large umbrellas and guides escorted us to our cabins. The first part of the facility opened in 1989. Our large cabin had a gorgeous wooden floor and was lovely, but it was morning before we could see where we were situated. During the night we listened to lots of nature noises. It was great! Waking in the morning, I was quiet so not to waken my travel partner.  While I sat with a cup of coffee in our sitting area I looked out into a forest of greenery and could see nothing but lush foliage! It was beautiful, quiet and peaceful!

     The impressive facility also has a 40-unit villa, large reception area, long house, pool, bar, in-house accommodations for 70 staff, and an education and adventure lodge. There is also a private beach.           Because of its rainforest location, great care had been taken to design the resort to blend into its surroundings, and to be ecologically sensitive to the World Heritage Area. Covering 250 acres, it was designed to have minimal impact on the local flora and fauna.  The cabins were built on high set poles, requiring minimal removal of trees. The use of boardwalks minimized the impact of pedestrian traffic, preventing damage to the forest floor. The facility has its own water supply and generates all its electricity.  It truly was a fabulous place, somewhere I would love to return to!

Capt. Cook named the area Cape Tribulation after his ship ran aground on Endeavor Reef. The rain forest, only 10-20 degrees south of the equator, was named  in 1832 after Richard Daintree, an explorer and businessman. It is all wilderness area, covering 100 hectares, and is 130 million years old. The Daintree National Park, established in 1979, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1988.

The area protects 70 species of animals and over 200 bird species including the cassowary, plus many flowers and plants. It is the only place in the world where two World Heritage Sites meet---the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.  The Daintree Rainforest is a  coastal rainforest and runs in pockets for 450 kilometers. It is an upland rainforest and is the largest rainforest in the Heritage complex. Thirteen of the 19 flowering plants are found only here, and 60% of Australia’s bat species live in this rainforest. There are no monkeys in the country.

One afternoon a biologist took us on a nature walk to identify much of the flora and was most interesting. She was very animated and it was obvious she loved her job.

Another day we took a catamaran several miles to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. The snorkeling was much better, the reef more alive and interesting here than when I went off from Green Island, a much more popular and busy tourist attraction. Five years earlier Green Island with its tourist mentality had been a big disappointment.  

MONTREAL'S OLYMPIC PARK

                                  A Great Place to Spend the Day

We needed to venture out on the Metro the day we spent at Olympic Park. In Montreal, Canada the subway system is very easy to navigate. The trains are fast, frequent and efficient. We used the system several times, transferring occasionally from one line to another with no problems. We left early as we wanted to be at Olympic Park when it opened. 

The park was created for the 1976 Olympics. I knew this visit would occupy most of the day, and knew what I wanted to see. We bought our combination tickets and because of poor visibility decided to visit the Biodome first, leaving the observation tower till later in the day.

A Biodome derives its name from the Greek bio meaning life and domos meaning house, thus a life house.  The Montreal Biodome  sprawls over 10,000 square meters and includes four of the most striking natural environments of North and South America. The rain forest is filled with high humid heat, screeching birds and chattering monkeys. The Laurentian Forest surrounds a huge beaver dam. The centerpiece of the St. Lawrence Marine Ecosystem is a massive tank filled with cod, halibut, striped bass and sharks. The Arctic and Antarctic Polar Worlds, where there is as few as 6 hours of sunshine in June and up to 20 hours in December, is inhabited by four species of penguins. You move from one ecosystem temperature to another via laser-prompted glass doors.

At the Biodome I remarked, “This is the strangest structure. Any biosphere I’ve been in has been a geometric design.”  Later we were to learn that the biodome was the Olympic bike race stadium. Created in 1992, with some controversy, it is shaped like a bike helmet and  has turned out to be a major tourist attraction.  

We started out in the lush, humid tropical rain forest. It was not as humid as the Eden dome in England that was so hot and humid you could see steam. We slowly strolled through the forest stopping often to watch animals and birds. When we exited we could not believe that we had spent a little over an hour!  We saw a capybara where my friend explained, “This is the largest rodent in the world. Look how long his face is. I wish he’d get in the water.” He was nearly the size of a small pig!

 We enjoyed watching spoonbills, bright scarlet ibis and a pair of gorgeous scarlet macaws. A pair of green macaws were preening each other. We watched frogs hop about and caimans sleeping. There were several small black monkeys, called a callimyco, playing in the trees. We learned they are fruit and insect eaters and are expert jumpers.

I have visited several similar exhibits but this was my friend’s first and she was amazed saying, “This exhibit is great. I’ve never seen anything like this and is not at all like I expected. I’m so glad you wanted to come.”

In a dark aquarium we saw lots of fish, piranhas, and a giant colossuma. We spent a lot of time watching several golden lion tamarins—small monkeys from South America.

Leaving the tropical rain forest we moved into the Laurentian Forest where we watched otters playing near a beaver dam, lots of ducks and frogs. A porcupine was in clear view perched in a tree. A pair of small lynx peeked from behind some rocks.

A special exhibit housed several ring-tailed lemurs from Madagascar. They were playful and a lot of fun to watch. We had a lengthy conversation with the guide stationed inside this exhibit.

In the polar region we sat on a bench and watched four species of penguins play and swim about. Many little puffins, with their bright orange webbed feet and orange bills, were preening and drying their wings. Or were they just posing for photographs. Sometimes it makes you wonder!

We spent only minimal time in the St. Lawrence River ecology exhibit. By the time we finished the biodome it was well past lunchtime. We rested during lunch before going back outside to ride to the top of the observation tower. The sky had cleared and we had wonderful views of the park. It was here we had a good look down on the bike helmet where we’d spent so much time. The afternoon warmed so we could really enjoy the lovely large park and gardens

We had such a wonderful time in the biodome that we returned at the end of the day, just before getting the train, for another, albeit shorter, walk-through.   It was a delightful day—one I’d recommend to anyone visiting Montreal.

KURANDA, AUSTRAILA

    A Different Visit

Kuranda is 1000’ above sea level, and can be reached by road, cable car, or train. We arrived by road and returned by train.

            The road was well paved, narrow, and contained 116 curves. It cuts through a beautiful rain forest. that receives 3-4 feet of rain a year! The soil is poor and the terrain steep. However it is so dense that it produces an umbrella which makes the area ecologically self-sufficient. It is one of the world’s oldest rain forests, and is on Australia’s heritage list. Pythons in the forest can grow to be 20-30 feet long!

            The sky cable ride from Cairns to Kurunda is 7 ½ kilometers long, making it the longest in the world. The cables are above the rain forest providing a spectacular view.

            Kuranda is a small town full of shops and eateries. An aboriginal influence was evident. We had plenty of time to wander around, get something to eat and to rest on one of the many benches. It is a pretty quaint little town.                      

Our meeting spot for return to Cairns was the train station. The track goes through 15 tunnels, the longest being 1/3 mile long. We also passed over 30 bridges. Construction of this railroad was an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude and many lives were lost during construction.

            The first soil was turned in 1886. Built in three sections, the first and third sections were relatively easy. The second section involved steep grades, dense jungle, and the Aborigines defending their territory. Section two contains the tunnels and 93 curves going from 5 ½ meters at Redlynch to 327 meters at Myola. Remember in 1887 bulldozers, and modern equipment were not available.  This railroad was built with strategy, fortitude, dynamite, hand tools, buckets, and bare hands and opened to the public in 1891.

            This train ride was every bit as awesome as the one through the Copper Canyon, it’s just shorter. The waterfalls we saw were marvelous. The scenery was certainly gorgeous!                 

The ride was an hour and a half, the last half-hour being in Cairns getting to the railroad station.

It was a fun day in a strange place with different customs and lifestyle.