Today was a jam-packed day of rainforest activities! We got up early and headed up to the Daintree National Park, known as the place where the reef meets the rainforest. Our trip involved a short car ferry ride over the Daintree River.

Our first stop was the Walu Wugirriga (or Mount Alexandra) lookout. It did not disappoint.

Next we headed to the Daintree Discovery Center. It is a really well done tourist center with numerous different raised paths and platforms through the rainforest. It was really beautiful and had an excellent educational component to it as well. The Daintree Rainforest is the world’s oldest tropical rainforest. We did not see much wildlife–the snake below was in a reptile display, thankfully–but the views were stunning.

Next we drove north to Cape Tribulation, so named because apparently Captain Cook had some trouble with his boat when he landed there. Cape Tribulation was the site of our ziplining adventure! We did a zipline tour through the rainforest that consisted of nine terrifying (to me, anyway) ziplines. O.k., I started out terrified, but by the end was mostly fine.

After surviving the ziplines, we headed to three boardwalks that have been placed in different spots in the rainforest. I suspect they exist to cut down on the number of people who get bitten by snakes walking through the forest because snakes are easier to see on the raised boardwalks. We enjoyed the Madja Boardwalk, the Jindalba Boardwalk, and the Dubuji Boardwalk, which ends at the beautiful Myall Beach. It is really something to step out of a tree canopy and onto a gorgeous beach!

This is a good time to mention the fact that Australia has many, many things that can kill you. Various jelly fish, crocodiles, sharks, and venomous snails in the water; snakes (100 venomous land snakes and 30 venomous water snakes, although only 12 can kill a human, so there’s that) and spiders; and a bird–the mighty cassowary. Cassowaries live in the Daintree Rainforest, and there are warning signs about them everywhere.

I am simultaneously extremely relieved and a bit disappointed that we didn’t see any. One was sighted yesterday in the parking lot where we parked at the Discovery Center!

There are also warnings about crocodiles and jellies, and the beach has a supply of vinegar for jelly bites.

At least this one is extinct!

We really enjoyed our day in the rainforest. Here are a bunch of pictures of cool stuff we saw: