June 22-
We woke up and took turns getting showers, coffee, and fruit. We were out the door by 8:30am. We headed to a place called Skyrail Rainforest Foundation a about 15 minutes from Fiona’s house. We road in a skyrail to the top of a beautiful group of mountains. On the way, the skyrail stopped at certain points and allowed us to get out and walk through the rainforest. It is funny how conscious you become when you are in certain situations. Normally, I would eat a piece of fruit and through the seeds or peel down on the ground knowing it is biodegradable. But here, we weren’t sure if would hurt or help the environment. We didn’t want to interrupt the natural state of things. Really, we should always feel this way, rainforest or not! It was an interesting experience. We saw trees that were hundreds of years old. They were huge! The truck of one tree had to be 7 feet across and 7 or 8 feet thick! WOW!! There were thick wooden vines hanging all over. I was quietly hoping to see Tarzan and Jane swing through the trees and maybe get a picture with them. Sadly, this didn’t occur! Oh well!
This rain forest was filled mostly with plants, birds, and reptiles. To most of your disappointment, I didn’t have to swing from the vines running from wild gorillas or lions!! However, there were a few birds there that could kill humans if we get too close, so that’s kind of exciting!! Also, the crocodiles here are anywhere from 15-21 feet!! Holy Cricky!!
We enjoyed these tours up the skyrail. They were informative as well as beautiful sites. We made it to the top of the rainforest at about noon. We went on an extensive tour called The Rainforeststation. Now, THIS WAS COOL!! If any of you ever come to Australia, you HAVE to go on this tour. We got to feed and pet a few kangaroos. They weren't in cages or behind gates. We were able to get up close and sit down next to them. They were in an open area! Then we saw some more Koalas. They usually sleep all day because it is hard for them to get up and around in the heat. We were lucky to see one climbing around and being funny. Then we walked over to see a 15 foot crocodile! Holy Cricky is EXACLTLY the phrase that is needed at this point! No kidding, I didn’t know it was real. I thought it was the statue displayed to show us what they look like. There was a pond next to where the croc was. We were looking for the crocodile in the water and then one of us spotted the huge statue blinking! WHOA!! Not cool!! It was ALIVE!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. You had to be there to understand how crazy it was. He was so still and had his mouth open. Yikes!! I was ready to get out of there after I got over the shock of it being real!
The last two animals we saw on this leg of the tour were a Cassowary and a Cockatiel. The Cassowary is the bird who is deadly to humans. It has a body similar to an ostrich and a head like a turkey. Its body is black and its head is blue and red. A very strange looking animal. It made a loud bellowing sound. It sounded like the bass on a car stereo. Again, very strange. The cockatiel was a pretty white bird with a bunch of yellow feathers on its head. He was a funny bird. Mom tried to get him to copy her but he wouldn’t until we started saying,”Goodbye.” He said “Goodbye” a few times. We laughed so hard and then the bird started to laugh too. He was making fun of us!! We walked down to do another part of the tour and we could hear him laughing and laughing in the distance. We thought that was funny. We laughed again until we almost cried!
At 2pm we got on a vessel called an “Army Duck” as the second leg of the tour. It was a land and water vessel. A guide took us through a part of the rainforest that we would not have been able see to otherwise. There were steep hills and narrow dirt roads. There is no way we would have been able to walk through that area. The guide brought us past a plant that is the most painful non-deadly plant in the world. It has heart-shaped leaves with a thin layer of fur covering the entire plant. The “fur” is tiny pieces of glass shards. If any part of the human skin touches this plant, even the stalk, it will cause a second degree burn! YIKES! Also, if this injury is irritated within six months, the pain will return! We then went into a swamp were snapping turtles and blue-tongued lizards lived. There were no crocs in this water. At least that is what the guide said!
We saw the female and male state butterfly. According to the guide, it is rare to see both at the same time. The butterfly is called Ulysses. It is black with a bright blue middle section. The male has an electric blue color while the female is has a turquoise color. They were pretty.
At 3pm we arrived at the third and final leg of our Rainforestation experience. We were able to see an Aboriginal tribe perform ritual dances. They danced for about 30 minutes. Toward the end of their presentation, the Aborigines asked for volunteers to come and try one of their dances. I don’t have to tell some of you that, of courses, I volunteered!! It was a fun experience. I forgot to mention my mom belly danced the night we went to the Greek restaurant. We joked that we were belly dancers by night and aborigines by day, what a life this was!!! Hahaha!!!
We then learned how to throw a boomerang, play a didgeridoo, and throw a hunting spear. Nice!! I don’t think I would last too long in the jungle, but it was fun!
We took a train down the mountain at 4pm, back to civilization. It was nice to look back upon the mountains and see more than just “woods.” I looked at the rainforest with respect and humility. This place provides us with oxygen, medicine, plants, and food. We saw a waterfall about halfway down the mountain. It was such a nice way to end our wonderful day. This forest had everything you could imagine, besides cell phones, deadlines, clocks, or computers!! HALLELUIAH!! It was great to see God’s creation in its natural state.
We left the rainforest at 5:30pm. We were so tired that we stopped to get take away Italian food on the way home. We ate and had some good family time. Surprisingly, Fiona and I stayed up until 4am talking! We would be tired the next day, but I’m sure she would agree that we would not trade that time for anything, even the rainforest!! :o)
Until next time!!!
Priscilla
No comments:
Post a Comment