JUNGLE SURFING
Upside down - down under: Adventure in the midst of peace and tranquility
Story and photos by Jean Lutz
 I’m flying through the rainforest upside down and having the time of my life!
Jungle Surfing (in the US it’s zip-lining) near the Daintree Rainforest in far Northeast Australia is a great adventure for young and old. My nearly medicare-age body did just fine but the drain on my adrenaline reserves took a good size hit. My brain was screaming "I can’t believe I’m actually doing this" while my body was saying "Hey, this is OK!"
Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours provides this thrilling activity with the utmost of care and safety. Our group of 8 intrepid adventurers, ranging in age from 20 somethings to 70 somethings, was helmeted and harnessed, strapped and cinched into more safety gear than I thought possible - the safety lines had safety lines. Once we were geared up we all looked pretty much the same, so in order help identify us, the staff uses the names they’ve placed on our helmets like Mad Max (that was me), James Bond or Tinkerbell. Warning fellas: if you’re the super macho hunky sort — you’ll get Tinkerbell. Their website contains suggestions as to what not to bring and what to wear - if you arrive in flip-flops you’ll have them duct taped to your feet!
 We zipped along the cables from one platform to the next over distances from over 80ft. to nearly 260ft. The five platforms vary in height from about 8ft. at the beginning to almost 65ft. The forest canopy soars overhead to more than 115ft. with vegetation so thick you seldom get a glimpse of the ground but the view from the tallest platform out through the tree tops to the Coral Sea is breathtaking - that is if you have any left after the exhilarating zip to get there. Sound is absorbed by the masses of vegetation so much that you barely notice the zing of the lines.
Ready to zip the last span, we were encouraged to try it upside down. After a big gulp and some effort to unhinge my fingers from the strapping, I let go and fell backwards toward the black silent forest floor. Wow! This is the only way to fly.
Located in the Cape Tribulation area at the edge of the Daintree Rainforest just 2 ½ hours north of Cairns, the Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours is just minutes from Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge making it a perfect base from which to test the waters of the beach or the salt water swimming pools. You might consider sea kayaking, horse riding, mountain biking or nocturnal walks where you may encounter George the resident Cassowary.
This unique area is the only place in the world where two World Heritage Sites meet — the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. Only 18 World Heritage Listed Areas meet all four of the natural criteria and the Wet Tropics of Queensland (Daintree) is one of them. The ecosystems and habitats of the rainforest are believed to have existed, just as you will find them, for 120 - 135 million years.
 The Daintree, part of the 3,000-square-mile Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, is much older than the Amazon and is a unique ecological gem. This botanical Jurassic Park is abundant with plant species so primitive they differ only slightly from their prehistoric ancestors. Many species found here appear nowhere else on Earth and it possibly has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.
It really makes no difference when you visit this area as the weather is nearly always the same – it’s a rainforest – it will be hot and humid.
Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours
+61 7 4098 0043
www.junglesurfingcanopytours.com
Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge
www.coconutbeachresort.com.au
Cape Tribulation, Tropical North Queensland
Copyright © 2007, Jean Lutz
Freelance Writer & Photographer
ready to travel at the drop of a map
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