Townsville is just 150 nautical miles south of Cairns. Like Cairns, it relies on sugar cane as its prime agricultural income source. We chose to do the Rainforest Discovery Walk in the Paluma Range National Park.
After an hour’s bus ride and before walking into the forest, we were treated to a stop-off for a cup of tea and some wonderful homebaked cakes. A warning, too, about the morning dampness that would bring out the forest leeches!
Paluma Range National Park
After a very short coach ride and just a few hundred metres, we were supposed to be looking out at the breathtaking views from McClellands Lookout. Alas, the rainforest clouds masked our view. Once we had completed our 4 km forest walk, we returned to the lookout spot, and the cloud had fortunately cleared.
At nearly 1000m above sea level and enveloped by dense rainforest, the viewpoints offer uninterrupted views of the coastal lowlands towards the Great Barrier Reef.
BUTTRESS ROOTS
Spreading buttresses like those on this quandong tree are found in many rainforest trees. Scientists believe trees do this:
a) to help the tree take oxygen from the air as roots are often in shallow waterlogged soil.
b) to retain leaf litter around the tree base to provide essential nutrients.
c) to help stabilise the tree in soggy ground.
STRANGLER FIGS
Like the one on the right, provide food for rainforest pigeons. One ensures the survival of the other. The pigeon feeds on the fruit and disperses seeds in its droppings, often depositing them high in the tree canopy.
As the seed grows, its roots are sent down to the ground. In time, the roots encase the host tree in a lattice-like structure, limiting its growth. Eventually, the tree dies, leaving the strangler fig in its place.
Crystal Creek
Along the Paluma Range highway, you’ll come across Little Crystal Creek. Here, visitors can enjoy the cooling waters of the creek, which is crossed by the Little Crystal Creek bridge. The bridge took two years to complete and was a venture for the unemployed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. For two bob a day (10p in today’s money), employment lasted six weeks for single men and ten weeks for married men.
Wikimedia
The Lowlands
On our drive back through the lowlands, we visited the homestead of Dave, our guide, whose family had put on a splendid lunch for us all to enjoy. When boarding the coach, Frances noticed that the back of my shirt was quite bloodied. On checking it out, our hosts were a little concerned, but knowing it must have been one of those little leech critters, everyone was okay as I shrugged off the incident by saying all the fuss would be appropriate if I’d had my leg bitten off by a crocodile! It made our hosts smile, who replied I would make a good Aussie!
During our coach ride back, the indigenous wildlife natives must have smiled at us as we spotted a bemused kangaroo for the first time in the wild.
Stood stationary for several minutes before scampering off into the bush!