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MT 30 July 2017

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 JULY 2017 42 Travel Daintree Forest - The tropics of south east Asia MARC CASOLANI AUSTRALIA'S link to the tropi- cal climate of south east Asia, the Daintree rainforest, dates back 135 million years ago and is also Aus- tralia's largest rainforest. If you fly in from the west you will see awe- some 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 landmass of Australia, the majority of which is covered by desert, this area in the north east of the country is the heartland of such a diverse ecosys- tem. It covers about 20% of Australia'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 massive 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 acces- sible as most major attractions in Australia, and as far as Queens- land goes, this is the least acces- sible 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 visitors 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 Daintree, 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 an- cient trees, with the sounds of nature all around you. If you get lucky you can wake up to a kan- garoo feeding outside your door or even a cassowary snooping 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 cabins that you can fall in love with in and around the Daintree. Of course if you are road tripping, you can stay in the vari- ous locations that are set up for campers. These locations will usu- ally be set up overlooking some amazing views. Things to do, well… where to start? The Daintree is filled with things to do, from chocolate tast- ing up on the hills to zip lining down a low range mountain above the tree top canopy of the rainfor- est. This place can take up a lot of time if you wished it to. From Port Douglas, a scenic port town in it- self, you can head to the Great Barrier Reef and do some diving or just visit the reef briefly. You can then head to the Mossman forest and gorge, where aborigi- nes had their sacred grounds and you can take a dip in the cascades, which is most welcome on a hot day. From here, head up into the mountains and check out the Ta- blelands; you can enjoy the bo- tanical 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 tast- ing. Once you're done with all that, head straight into the heart of the Daintree rainforest and find one of those cabins I was talking about, base yourself there and get on with some more off-road driving and trekking. 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 endangered spe- cies in its mist, the cassowary, 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 area. 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. Getting there Emirates offer regular flights to Cairns, Australia with a stopover in Dubai and another one in Brisbane. Flights departing from Malta on 10 August and returning on 24 August were priced at €1,540 including tax at the time of going to print.

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