The day after Naye and I went to the Great Barrier Reef, we decided to head up to the Dainetree and explore the 150 million year-old rain forest (Yes folks, that's a whole heck of a lot older than the Amazon, but who's counting.) I was excited. I mean, if it's 150 million years old there were going to be some hefty trees to gawk at! Yet as you may have surmised, instead of pamelos we got lemons.
We piled in the car, turned on our itunes and made the trek up to the ferry crossing that would take us into the Dainetree. When we arrived on the other side, we went straight to the visitors center to find a few good hiking spots, to which our guide said there was only one proper hike then a series of "circuits". He then proceeded to point out three different ice cream shops and was about to circle a fourth until I said, "wow, ice cream must be pretty good up here, huh?" thus drawing his attention back to hikes. Since the only proper hike took 8 hours to complete and it was already late morning, we opted for the two best circuits and headed on our way.
When we arrived at the first circuit, we changed from flip flops to tennies, capped our water bottles and went in with gusto.
Gusto was not needed.
In fact, you could probably get an ice cream, eat it while walking the flat, paved boardwalk circuit and be back to the car before it melted {slight exaggeration}. You wouldn't even have to worry about running into any of the many amazing wildlife because they fully avoid the "nature hikes." To say the least, we were sorely disappointed. After the first circuit, Naomi turned to me and said, "I thought this was going to be like Ferngully!" Ferngully indeed.
Now, I wasn't expecting magical ferries in a gargantuan tree, but I was expecting more of a Redwood Forest type feel. I wanted thick, hearty trees whose towering presence demanded respect. When we saw the wimpy looking palm trees we just said, "150 million years my a*#!" Yes, maybe that's harsh... I'm sure the circle of life has continued through those millions of years... but in America when we say 150 million years, we man the exact tree you can see today is 150 million years old!
However, determined to make the most of the day, we decided to try our luck at a cool watering hole (sans crocs) we heard about located north of Cape Tribulation. After a brief stop for food--crackers and cheese only, not ice cream-- we were on our way. The map indicated that there was a certain point where you'd need 4-wheel drive to continue, but that the watering hole was just before that point. Alas, it was not. However, on our journey down the abandon dirt road, we came upon a large vine (perhaps the progeny of the 150 million year old mother vine?) that was just calling to us. We got out of the car, climbed on top of the car and started swinging away. At one point, I told Naye to get IN the vine and I'd pull the car away and take a photo. Of course as luck would have it, right as she was climbing on top of the car... another car came. I almost went to the wrong side of the road... oops.
Minus that one mishap, we spent a fair bit of time swinging from the vine and taking photos. It beat any rope swing I've been on, hands down. I guess that's what you can claim when you're a 150 million year old forest. Moral of the story: When life gives you lemons, eat the part you like.
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