The Australian rainforest needs some “DO NOT TOUCH” signs.

Before I went to Australia, I had an idea of what Australia would look like.

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The majority of Australia is arid or semi-arid, and the country is famous for its vast Outback. I wasn’t aware, then, that…

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Australia has large swaths of rainforest all around the country, including Queensland, where my friends and I would be traveling after our semester in Sydney. My friends and I are from temperate climates. We get the deciduous trees, the rabbits, the squirrels. I didn’t have a clue about the Australian jungle– so we booked a tour of the rainforests around Cairns.

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The day of our tour, we were picked up from our hostel by a very Australian man in a Jeep.

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We began our ascent into the rainforest, which was located in the mountains.

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The higher we drove, the more lush the landscape became. The trees became thicker and thicker and thicker– until finally, our tour guide stopped the car and let us see for ourselves.

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Luckily for us, our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the plants and wildlife of the area.

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Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

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Even when you don’t touch anything, Australia can be… iffy.

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Despite all the dangers…

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…the tour was really amazing. Really! I mean, how often do you get to eat lunch in the middle of a rainforest…

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…or get the chance to try some of Australia’s more local foods?

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What I found the most amazing was how suddenly the climate would change. Driving into the mountains, you could see the exact spot where the normal forest ended and the rainforest began. When we reached the other side of the mountain, the climate changed radically again.

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Lookit that termite mound!

I guess what my 6th grade teacher taught us about mountains really is true.

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You know, how one side of the mountain gets all the rainfall while the other side does not.

What she forgot to mention, though? How incredible mountains, and the forests on those mountains, can be.

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So, leeches? Come at me, bros. Even you can’t ruin the beauty of the Australian rainforest. 

(Though getting kicked by a cassowary might. Have you seen the claws on those things? And they only live in the rainforest!)

9 thoughts on “The Australian rainforest needs some “DO NOT TOUCH” signs.

    • Every time, I’m surprised at how much the stereotypes are true: Australia really IS full of poisonous things! But no matter, Australia is still one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to. One day, I swear I’ll move there!

    • Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the photos.

      Yeah, it’s pretty surprising, right? Most of my preconceptions of Australia was from eating at the Outback Steakhouse as a kid, and there was no rainforest decor in there. 😉

  1. Hi Vy,
    that’s a fast update…seems to be a long list of such nice stories to work trough.

    Yeah, rainforest..abundance of life in any possible form.
    Makes you wonder why the aborigines (choose ?) ended up to live in the outback.
    Any leeches left ? 😀

    ’til later

    RoBo

    • Haha, I wonder why some aborigines chose to live in the Outback? Though, there were lots of aborigines living in the forests and tropical areas of Australia as well. Leeches or not, it seems like a much more hospitable place to live!

    • Haha, leeches actually aren’t too bad. They’re not known to transmit any diseases to humans, and though their bite causes extended bleeding, the blood loss isn’t enough to be worrisome. Luckily, I didn’t get bitten by any; I just kept finding them on my shoes and legs.

      Australian snakes, on the other hand, freak me out! XD

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