Visiting the Rainforest (and post-cyclone after-effects)

Today’s post is a tale of two days.  Yesterday was an enchanting day in the rainforest, and today, we are adjusting to the continuing aftermath of Cyclone Jasper, which hit the area earlier this month.

 We mentioned the cyclone earlier but have learned more details about the storm.  While it was only a category two cyclone, it sat over the area for nine days and dumped over six feet of rain.  Landslides are rampant, with the main road from Cairns to Port Douglas expected to be closed for months.  A large boulder hit one part of the road.  After numerous unsuccessful attempts to break it up, they resorted to blowing it up with dynamite.  The boulder, as is the road on which it landed, is now broken up. That, alone, isn’t the only reason for the expected lengthy closure, as there were numerous landslides along the road.

 To continue the cyclone impact, at about 10:30 last night, new landslides caused blockages to the water treatment plant, and we are now without water.  The hotel has instructed us to take water from the pool to fill our toilets to flush, and they have brought in boxes of water from which we can fill our pitchers for drinking.  Currently, there is no estimate of when water services will be resumed.  “We hope by New Year\’s Day,” they said.  At least we still have electricity and AC since it is blazing hot and humid here.  And thus far, the internet is still working.

 It\’s uncertain which, if any, restaurants will be open because they can’t wash dishes.  Fortunately, our Australian friends gave us a bag of Australian biscuits (cookies) and snacks as a Christmas gift, so we will likely not starve because everything we have tried is really good.

 Now to the enchantment of the rainforest.  Due to the numerous road closures, we could not visit the Daintree, the oldest rainforest in the world. Instead, we took a tour up to the Tableland area to the higher elevation rainforests. 

On our drive, we passed many kilometers of termite mounds. These were all over the place in the hundreds. While the size varied, most were quite large, about the size of a rolled bale of hay on its side (about six feet).  Like an iceberg where what you see on top is only the tip, the termite homes are primarily underground. Because of all the termite activity, a lot of heat is generated.  The clever termites build ventilation tunnels so that the temperature always remains within two or three degrees Celsius.  The constant temperature enables bird species and lizards to burrow into the mound and lay their eggs.  Thus, the bird can go off for food, and the lizards can leave and continue with life.

We also saw large farms with countless mango, avocado, and banana trees.  Now we know why mangos and avocados are so plentiful and delicious here.  There are many different types of bananas, but the most desirable commercial ones are difficult to grow because of all the fungi in the area.  Vehicles have to drive through a bath of fungicide to prevent spreading the problem.

 Continuing closer to the national parks, our guide was quite excited to spot a frill-necked lizard, only found in Australia, on the side of the road.  He was so excited that he quickly stopped the van, jumped out, and picked up the guy by his tail.  We’re not certain which was more interesting to see – the lizard found only in Australia or the excitement and glee of Rod, the driver.

 Our next stop was at Granite Gorge Nature Park, where Margo fed wallabies at Wallaby Rock. Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos and not nearly as aggressive.  They were so cute and gentle.  Margo crouched down and held out her hand with the wallaby food, and one came right up and began eating out of her hand.  It let her pet its face and back.  Once the little guy decided Margo had no more food to offer, it wandered to the next person.  Total cuteness overload.

Sadly, the first wallabies we saw were dead on the side of the road during our drive up.  Kangaroos and wallabies are like deer in the United States. You see them everywhere; there are a lot of different kinds, and you often see them dead on the side of the road.

 Our next stop was at Crater Lake National Park. Margo loves trees, so she took many, many pictures of trees. Among the most magnificent were two bull kauri pine trees that tower 150 feet over the forest. 

 We also saw four Boyd’s rainforest dragon lizards, which, according to our guide, was unusual to spot so many! 

After a nice lunch at the park restaurant overlooking the lake, we continued to Curtain Fig National Park, where we saw the most impressive and almost unbelievable curtain fig tree.  Birds deposit seeds high in mature trees, which become the host.  The seed germinates, and the first root grows down from the top of the tree until it meets the soil.  Enriched by the soil, the fig develops aerial roots that encircle and eventually strangle the host tree. We saw many of these trees in the rainforest, but none as extensive as this one.  For this massive tree, which is estimated to be 500 years in the making, the host tree fell into a neighboring tree – a stage unique to the development of the curtain fig tree.  Vertical fig roots now descended from the fig’s trunk to form a curtain-like appearance.  Eventually, the host tree rotted away, leaving the free-standing fig tree.  Mark tried to count the vertical roots, but it was too confusing, and he gave up.

 On to Mount Hypipamee National Park, where the lumps and bumps on the trunk of the yellow mahogany tree caught Margo’s attention.  The flowers and fruit, called cauliflory, grow from the tree’s trunk and older branches instead of higher in the canopy like most other species. This alternative reproduction strategy attracts a greater number of pollinators and seed dispersers.

It was a melody of sounds walking through the forest.  The heavy rains resulted in gushing waterfalls.  Various birds were singing their songs.  And the cicadas joined in, starting as a low chirp and then building to a crescendo before an abrupt silence. 

After a long day on the bus and lots of walking, we slipped into the pool at the hotel to cool down and relax. 

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to snorkel at three outer Great Barrier Reef sites!