Rainforests and coral reefs are Earth's two most diverse ecosystems. We'd seen the Great Barrier Reef already; our last tour of the trip was in the Daintree Rainforest, north of Cairns and Port Douglas. One of the nice things about the area surrounding Cairns is that tour buses will pick you up from the front doorstep of your hotel. Our bus driver introduced himself as Patrick, and Wing noticed that he was missing a finger. Unfortunately, Jen was not so observant that early in the morning and screamed when he shook his hand, after which she profusely apologized and felt embarassed the rest of the day.

We drove along the coast of Queensland, with lush rainforests on the left and the beautiful blue Coral Sea on the left. Once in a while we'd come to sugar cane fields. The drive ranks (along with the Pacific Coast Highway) as one of the most beautiful oceanside drives. We crossed the Daintree River by means of a ferry that traveled along guide rails. There has been great demand for a bridge, as waits can be as long as several hours. The locals have resisted this because it limits access and development of rainforest land.

Our first stop was a rainforest canopy tour. We ascended several staircases to viewing platforms built at various levels of the rainforest, and our guide pointed out different trees and plants. Plants have several strategies for getting to the top, where sunlight is abundant. Some trees simply grow to the top. Others wind and twist their way up, crawling along tree trunks. Several species, including a very small orchid plant, simply attach themselves to a tree branch. Another well-engineered plant grows barbs along thin vines. When it reaches the top of one tree, it continues to grow, hoping that the wind will allow its extension to take hold of another tree.

A sharp contrast to the dry interior, the rainforest (as you might imagine) gets an incredible amount of moisture. The roads north of Cairns can be washed out easily by torrential downpours (which also makes the ferry crossing quite dangerous). Streams and creeks run through the rainforest.

Animal life is somewhat on the shy and nocturnal side. We spotted a few flying birds from afar from the treetops. We were lucky enough to see a Cassowary on the side of the road. Cassowary-spotting seemed to be the highlight of the trip for the tour guide, who obviously regarded them with great affection. (Wing kept whispering insistently to Jen that they were lethal.) Apparently there are only 1500 of them left in the wild. Like many other Australian birds, they are flightless and funny-looking. They also have razor sharp claws with which they defend themselves, but in general they are quiet creatures that eat jungle fruits.

At Cape Tribulation, we saw an orange-footed scrubfowl, which our guide had told us about. This little chicken-sized bird creates huge 10-meter piles of jungle floor vegetation to bury its eggs in. It seems to invest all of its effort into nest-buildling rather than child-rearing, as it leaves the egg to fend for itself once it has been laid. It does, however, take careful measurements to ensure that the nest is the correct temperature before leaving the baby to fend for itself.

We also spotted a spry Lace Monitor. It was a two-foot long lizard very capable of climbing. A young woman had climbed up onto a picnic table to avoid it, but it had absolutely no problems getting up there. It stopped every and then to bask in the sun.

While Cape Tribulation was quite beautiful, its significance on paper tends of overshadow its natural beauty. Thirteen sites all over the world have been designated World Heritage Sites, and four of them are in the sparsely populated continent of Australia. Two of them meet at a single point, which is Cape Tribulation. Diversity on land meets diversity in the ocean, and from a nature-lover's view, this is quite a sight to behold. The not-so-flattering name comes from Captain Cook, who was stranded here for quite some time after hitting a reef.

We noticed long, wound-up tube-shaped structures spotted across the sands of the beach. They turned out to be the work of small crabs that live in the sand.

We had a barbecue lunch in an outdoor structure, followed by a sampling of some of the jungle fruits. Many of them were mushy inside, but they were all quite tasty. Aboriginals had some of the healing properties of the plants of the jungle, and our guide pointed out that one of the fruits was known for aiding digestion.

We boarded a flat-bottomed boat for a cruise along the Daintree River. It's probably a tough place to be a plant - the salinity, temperature, and water volume are all highly variable due to the tide and storms. The mangrove also does quite well here because it has adapted to the salinity of the water and the wet conditions. Their complex root structure holds them down pretty well, and they have special root-like structures that extend upwards out of the mud. They are also often home to crocodiles.

Our cruise captain pointed out several highly dangerous salt-water crocodiles (capable of moving 50 mph in short bursts, which made Jen wonder why our flimsy boat was getting so close), some tree snakes, and a school of edible fish. He was obviously disgusted at several fisherman on the river banks who were standing within striking distance of the saltwater crocodiles, who strike quickly (extremely, absurdly quickly) and efficiently. Apparently the victims don't even have time to scream. The crocodile's body plan has changed very little since the time of the dinosaurs - a testament to its effectiveness as a predator. Well, just one more thing to worry about in Australia. Truthfully, they looked quite peaceful as they basked in the sun on the river banks, but Jen, well-schooled by Wing, still avoided the edges of the boat.

On our way back we stopped at Mossman Gorge, which should actually be renamed to Mossman Stream. Here we finally had a chance to talk to Simon, one of our fellow tourists. We should have pegged him as a CS guy all along; he actually gave me his card and invited Wing to work for his company in San Francisco on wireless technology.

We enjoyed a few cups of Daintree tea, hung out with a bird, and went home, falling asleep on the bus. Another satisfying, knowledge-filled day in beautiful Australia. It truly is amazing to see these places after reading so much about them. The diversity of life is truly striking.