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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2016 42 Travel MARC CASOLANI AUSTRALIA'S link to the tropi- cal climate of Southeast Asia. The Daintree rainforest dates back 135 million years ago and is also Australia's largest rainforest. If you fly in from the west you will see awesome views of a hot desert turn into a green mass of mossy hills and mountains. It's quite extraordinary when you think that in all the land- mass of Australia, the majority of which is covered by desert, that this area in the north east of the country is the heartland of such a diverse ecosystem. It covers about 20% of Aus- tralia's land mass and is home to many ancient plant families, as well as to 10% of the country's wildlife and birdlife. It is also one of the places you are most likely to get attacked by a mas- sive saltwater crocodile if you do not get savvy with the way things work around here. Don't worry though – every creek, beach and any area that has so much as a puddle a metre deep will have a gigantic sign warning people of crocodiles. The good thing about the Dain- tree is that it is not as easily ac- cessible as most major attrac- tions in Australia, and as far as Queensland goes, this is the least accessible even with the Great Barrier Reef on its doorstep. To get there you must either drive loads of miles from either the Northern Territory or Southern Queensland or fly into Cairns from most major local airports around Australia. Cairns itself is already quite the attraction as it is the launch pad to the Great Barrier Reef. Boats come and go with divers and visi- tors every day of the year, unless there is a cyclone, as do small planes and helicopters that fly over a couple of the major reefs. Once you get to Cairns you'll have to make your way to Port Douglas, which is the closest base you can have to the Dain- tree, unless you book one of the retreats or amazing cabins found within the park. Of course I will highly recom- mend looking into the cabins as they boast an eco-friendly setup and are situated amongst the ancient trees, with the sounds of nature all around you. If you get lucky you can wake up to a kangaroo feeding outside your door or even a cassowary snoop- ing around. Imagine being in a cabin with a circular design that has an open living area and an attic for a bedroom that peers over the living area, and most of the 360 degrees wall is glass. The power that this cabin uses comes from solar and hydro sources. This is just one of the many cab- ins that you can fall in love with in and around the Daintree. Of course if you are road tripping, you can stay in the various loca- tions that are set up for campers. These locations will usually be set up overlooking some amaz- ing views. Things to do, well… where to start? The Daintree is filled with things to do, from choco- late tasting up on the hills to zip lining down a low range moun- tain above the tree top canopy of the rainforest. This place can take up a lot of time if you wished it to. From Port Doug- las, a scenic port town in itself, you can head to the Great Bar- rier Reef and do some diving or just visit the reef briefly. You can then head to the Mossman for- est and gorge, where aborigines had their sacred grounds and you can take a dip in the cas- cades, which is most welcome on a hot day. From here, head up into the mountains and check out the Tablelands; you can en- joy the botanical beauty of this area plus a full range of activities from four-wheel driving into the mountains, wildlife parks and the best of all a full range of food and wine tasting. Once you're done with all that, head straight into the heart of the Daintree rainfor- est and find one of those cabins I was talking about, base your- self there and get on with some more off-road driving and trek- king. There is plenty to learn and see, plus you can spice it up with some zip lining down the tree line of a mountain and in the wet season you can also add on some white water rafting. So as you can see, this part of the vast and spread out country of Australia is definitely worth a visit. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention that the Daintree holds an elusive and infamous endan- gered species in its mist, the cas- sowary, an ancient emu-like bird with a big bone on its head that dates back to prehistoric times and can only be found in this ar- ea. There are only 2,000 or so left in wild. If you manage to catch a glimpse of these majestic looking creatures, do take it all in. How to get there Emirates offer regular flights to Cairns, Australia with a stopo- ver in Dubai and another one in Brisbane. Flights departing from Malta on 2 June and returning on 23 June were priced at €1,430 in- cluding tax at the time of going to print. Daintree Forest – The tropics of Southeast Asia