Trials and Tribulations

(karen)


After our outstanding trip to the outer Great Barrier Reef we headed further north to Cape Tribulation, so named because Captain James Cook badly damaged his ship the Endeavour on a shallow reef while exploring the region. We, however, decided to embark on this voyage with a rental car. Far North Queensland feels like an entirely different country to what we have seen so far. Apart from the endless seas of sugarcane and banana plantations there are massive hills covered with lush rainforest. There are still crocodiles and nasty snakes and spiders, but fortunately we didn't encounter anything of the sort during our hikes. What I found most interesting about the forest are the giant strangler fig trees. These start as small seeds dropped into the canopy by birds or the wind, and they send out vine-like roots that slowly encompass the tree. After years the roots fuse together and make the most spectacular formations imaginable. The forest was littered with trees in various stages of being consumed by the strangler figs.


Also interesting, but mostly annoying, are the "wait-a-while" vines that grow from a type of climbing palm. They have fishhook type barbs along the vine that grab a hold of your clothes and hence you have to "wait a while" to get untangled. One ferocious vine got a death hold on Steve's sock and turned it into a mess of elastic loops. And since we're talking about plants, I fell in love with the gorgeous fan palms. They are like enormous umbrellas that reach into the canopy, and they make a beautiful noise when the wind rustles them.


After touring Cape Tribulation we drove south to the Atherton Tablelands. One thing that quickly became apparent was the hurricane damage caused by Cyclone Larry a few months ago. Not only did the cyclone damage banana crops (resulting in $10/kilo prices), but the fierce winds tore up everything from road signs to the upper rainforest canopy. Lucky for the rainforest such cyclones are part of the natural regenerative process, like fire is in other areas. (Not so lucky for my banana bread.) There are a couple of crater lakes on the tablelands that were formed by volcanoes long ago, and plenty of beautiful waterfalls. We enjoyed walking the trails in the area but the weather turned rainy, so no swimming or camping. Sunshine state indeed!

The next stop on our itinerary is the Whitsunday Coast where we plan to cruise the numerous islands and maybe do a bit more diving. After that we only have about a week left in Australia before we go to Fiji, and then come back to the States on July 26th. All of a sudden the end is near and we can't believe it's almost time to go home. Wait, we don't have a home anymore. Oh crap, does this mean we have to start looking for jobs?!? Nooooo.............