Living museum: the oldest forest on earth
It's a living museum. In the ancient evergreen rainforests of Australia's Wet Tropics, waterfalls tumble into cool waterholes and giant kauri reach for the heavens.
Tropical North Queensland's World Heritage-listed rainforest is home to a third of Australia's mammal species, a quarter of its frogs, a third of the freshwater fish and nearly half of its birds.
Earth's oldest surviving tropical rainforest is a world of contrasts where primitive species from 150 million years ago live alongside modern eco-resorts; where the green landscape is interrupted by the flash of a blue Ulysses butterfly; where the endangered cassowary can be spied from easy-to-access boardwalks.
The tropical beauty is best revealed in three key areas: Daintree and Cape Tribulation; the Atherton Tablelands with its serene volcanic lakes and spectacular waterfalls; and Mission Beach with its rainforest-clad, secluded beaches and offshore islands.
In the Daintree and Cape Tribulation region, the two World Heritage areas of the Wet Tropics rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef meet. Home to the Kuku Yulanji people, you can experience their culture through Dreamtime stories, bush walks looking for indigenous foods, learning to paint and hunt or feeling the healing powers of an Aboriginal spa treatment.
Cruise the Daintree River to spot prehistoric crocodiles, explore mangrove landscapes, immerse yourself in a forest of fan palms, surf through the jungle canopy or cool off in a rainforest stream. Leave the green for the blue and marvel at empty beaches where driftwood and shells wash up to form natural sculptures or take a high-speed trip to a sand cay to snorkel among the fish.