Watch out for that tree!

On Sunday morning Brittany and I made like Tarzan and swung through the trees of the rainforest. They call it “jungle surfing” and it’s a series of ziplines from platforms at the tops of trees (above). It was so much fun! We got all suited up (above), complete with helmets noting our code names for the day (above). Then they hooked us all in, and away we went! (above). At some points we were 40 meters above the forest floor (as high as my bungy jump). There were 7 metal platforms (above) attached to the trees with lots of chains (above). We’d go from platform to platform, and at each one the jungle guides would point out interesting things. The ziplines were quite fun, and on the last one we went upside down (above), which was a blast.

But of course the real reason we were there was not to zip from trees, but to learn more about the Daintree Rainforest. It is the oldest rainforest in the world. It was so amazing to think about the living history we were seeing. The guide said that a fern takes 200 years to grow 1 meter, and then it grows 1 meter every 100 years after that. We saw some ferns that were 4 meters high! (above) We also pointed out the “wait a minute” vine, because it grows so fast that if you “wait a minute” you might see it grow (above). We saw Mount Sorrow poking out from the clouds (above, more on the depressing name later). At one platform you could see out to the turquoise Coral Sea (above). And we were really close to the canopy (above). Also, while I was on a platform, the guide made me lick a green ant, whose butt tastes very citrusy (above). The ant is eaten by Aboriginals to prevent colds because it has way more vitamin C than orange juice.

That afternoon Brittany and I walked (a lot) on Cape Tribulation beach and the surrounding areas. So why is it named Cape Tribulation? Captain Cook, a European explorer, hit the reef off of it’s coast, and that started all of his ‘tribulation.’ So he named everything there with really depressing names. Anyway, we walked for probably 7-8 miles, and got really really wet (again). It was really beautiful though, with the ocean going right up to the edge of the rainforest (above). We took lots of pictures, including me jumping for joy on the beach (above). Then we saw the rain coming (above), but kept walking because we knew we would get wet eventually. We found some coconuts (above), and saw some exposed mangrove trees at the end of the beach (above). We also saw a huge strangler fig tree (above). Strangler figs start just as a vine that attaches itself onto other trees in order to get to the sunlight at the top of the canopy. As it grows, it “strangles” the original tree to death, killing the original tree and then becoming a tree of its own. That’s why the trunk is all twisty.

After our walk, we made it back to our hostel (above), where we were transferred to that night’s hostel at Cape Kimberley.