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| Jungle Canopy |
James Cook College lies between the city of Cairns and the town of Palm Bay, which I was remiss in saying is in the very large Australian state of Queensland. There are a series of trails close to the College where John went mountain biking early in the vacation. He liked the trails so much that we went back on our last full day to hike around a bit.
You may have noticed that we have been a bit reticent about hiking in the jungle. One reason is that places to hike are not at all obvious. The tour guides don't talk about them, and our reception desk at the apartments didn't seem to have a clue. I suspect that there is not as much hiking done because it is such a humid climate? Hot as well, in the summer, but of course this is the Southern Hemisphere's fall, so it's cooler. Only 85-90F or so. Or maybe they just try to keep the tourists at bay. Can't blame them.
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| Stinging tree runners |
So! It was really delightful to find these trails. Unfortunately, the photographs don't do the area justice. It is so lush and dense. There are signs such as "Beware of Snakes", and of all things "Beware of Stinging Trees": a new on on us! Stinging trees look like some sort of a palm tree. The ones we saw were as tall as 25', but no taller. But they have these long trailing shoots that are loaded with re-curved thorns (similar to those of roses). But these thorns also have a toxin in them, so one is highly inspired to avoid them.
Sorry that the closeup of the thorns, below, isn't in focus. Obviously my wonderful IPhone camera thought that the background was the interesting part.
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| Stinging tree runner: bad close-up |
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| John in the Jungle |
We hiked for a couple of hours, only getting lost one time. The air within the jungle was cooler than the outside are, but the humidity was still such that we were drenched with sweat by the time we went back to our apartment.
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| The Trail Ahead |
It really was a wonderful way to put a cap on this week of vacation. Once we get back, we'll be seriously leaning toward preparing to leave for Auckland.
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