Tracy is married to Steve Zadra, author of this week’s blog post about celebrating New Year’s Eve in Sydney. Tracy is a former Princess employee, and we thought it would be fun to publish their experiences together.
Around New Year’s Eve, Sydney gets a lot of attention. Falling as it does in one of the earliest time zones, the city’s famous celebration and its elaborate fireworks display are broadcast around the world. But what I found out during a holiday visit to Sydney is that the real show happens far from the iconic shells of the Sydney Opera House. A little-known adventure, but one that should be on every travel bucket list, is hiking through a rainforest, and an amazing one happens to be situated just outside of the city of Cairns, Queensland — some 1,500 miles north of Sydney.
The creek that led to the waterfall pool where Tracy and Steve swam in the rainforest.
In the week before New Year’s, we chose to take an overnight hiking adventure. It was a guided tour, with a total of eight people. To us, a couple of Alaskans, the place was a true jungle, complete with wild, loud screeches and calls from the local wildlife. (Umm … those were birds, right?) Coming from a place with no poisonous spiders and no snakes whatsoever, this was a journey into the unknown. Steve and I joked that yes, we have dangerous animals in Alaska, too….but at least you can see them coming!
As we started out, our guide gave us all a whole laundry list of “Dos and Don’ts” and what not to touch, but then laughed it off, saying “no worries” in a carefree and fun-loving way that we were learning was typical of the Aussies. While spiders the size of one’s hand gave us pause, another form of local wildlife really “sucked.” Our guide told us to be on the lookout for leeches. They dwelled on the forest floor, in trees or on branches. They were virtually ever-present. Our job as single-file hikers was to watch the backs of the legs of the person in front of us, and to let them know if they had a leech on them — which happened every three to five minutes. The environment was very hot and humid, so we were all in shorts, and we all had numerous occasions to flick the little suckers off.
We stopped for a rest and lunch at a beautiful waterfall pool, and followed up our meal with a luxurious swim. The scene was something right out of a brochure, and I drank in the extraordinary beauty of our surroundings.
Steve getting comfortable in his hammock.
We eventually tore ourselves away from the waterfall to hike another four hours to our destination to make camp. We all helped carry supplies, water, food, sleeping bags and the like. Because a great number of animals made their home on the forest floor, we all slept in hammocks. We each made our beds with a couple of firm knots and prepared dinner as darkness fell. As night descended, the whooping and screeching grew ever louder. Were those monkeys? We made a campfire and started cooking, sitting on large rocks to keep ourselves off the critter-covered forest floor. A great variety of small, strange animals came through the campsite, perhaps drawn to the fire. Small furry mammals and slimy foot-long centipedes. In fact, a long centipede crossed just in front of me at the campfire. When I asked the guide if he was poisonous, he said, “Yes, just don’t scare him.” Scare HIM?
At night, we actually put clear plastic sheeting over us and around the bottom of the hammock, basically forming our own cocoons. It protected us from both rain and any flying insects that might have tried to nestle with us. This was not a trip for the claustrophobic. However, after our lengthy hike and with a stomach full of food, sleep was not a problem, even in an environment as foreign as this. We all slept with headlamps in case we had to get up in the night. I slept with my shoes on as well, lest I need to make a late night trek to the outhouse. Soon the screeches, songs and whistles of the jungle subsided – for the most part.
Tracy in the rainforest the next morning.
If I had thought the jungle made interesting sounds at night, that was nothing by comparison to the morning, when every bird of the jungle belted out its unique song. The effect was an entirely appealing natural alarm clock. As I emerged from sleep under my plastic drape, I couldn’t help but giggle. Slowly lifting my head (as hammocks can get tippy with quick movement), I could see that my husband had a visitor. The biggest grasshopper I’d ever seen was gazing into his eyes from around his bellybutton. He was apparently harmless, and I watched my husband flick him to the ground.
Some of the other campers managed to stay asleep — somehow. Maybe they had earplugs. I continued to watch as my husband, still lying prone under his plastic sheeting, gave a stretch that seemed like a sign that he was ready to take on the world — and promptly flip his hammock. He barely suppressed a yelp and jumped up quicker than I think I’ve ever seen him move, then did the most intensive self-inspection I could imagine, shaking out various folds in his clothing for potential hangers on. Being on our honeymoon, you would think I might have asked if he were alright, or maybe even have assisted him. But no, I just laughed, and today I still laugh thinking about our extreme adventures in the rainforest.
To continue the story of Tracy and Steve’s honeymoon down under, be sure to read Steve’s Essential Experience, celebrating New Year’s in Sydney.
travellers dont be put off by these stories of bugs etc ,only around the very north of australia and in a rainforest would you find a bug.i have lived in melbourne victoria all my life and never encounter anyting ‘creepy crawly”. i swim and surf but never seen a shark ;only in a wildlife park i would see a kangaroo .we have glorious modern cites in the rest of australia ,5 star hotels ,world class restaurants,huge shoppingcenters,MELBOURNE has been named the most liveable city in the world ,sydney is beautiful,so keep away from the north ,i dont visit there myself
That was a wonderful experience tracy.Queensland has its own unique natural attractions, the world famous Great Barrier Reef is here and dignitaries like bill clinton, ted turner, richard branson had expressed their admiration after their visits and made several returns also. Cities are typical concrete jungles and we do have one called Brisbane. South east Queensland has a lot to offer like the themeparks featuring natural and manmade experience. The world famous australia zoo is here, the whitsundays, great seafood, pristine beaches and beautiful landscapes. People are friendlier due perhaps to the sunny weather most year round. Keith Urban and the Bee Gees grew up here. So people especially the young and young at heart you will have a time of your life in QLD so come and visit. I was on the Sun Princess departed from Brisbane 2/11/11 D721. It was my first cruise and I loveit! I spent my bday there on 11/11/11 and I had the most won derful time! Thank you Sun Princess!
I and my friend Margaret Dunkley have just finished a cruise on the Diamond Princess from Beijing to Singapore. I have to say it was not a patch on the Sun Princess experience we have done twice plus one on the P&O Pacific Sun. Entertainment was poor and repetitive, and the debacle upon disembarking at Singapore had to be seen to be believed. How can Diamond Princess lose not one but two suitcases out of three from the same cabin, between ship and baggage pickup point. There seemed to be no one in charge of this chaos and no one who cared about the missing luggage except one very young girl by the name of Caroline. We were so late in getting to this pickup venue anyway that I lost out on a prepaid and booked private car whom obviously couldn’t wait all day for us so I had to pay for another taxi to take us to Changi airport.
I was given my platinum card but Mrs Dunkley wasn’t because of a supposed shortage of time factor, although she has travelled on every cruise with me. Somehow she was relegated back to blue card into the bargain.
This email address is mine and always has been but I continue to get emails addressed to Margaret and she continues to get literature, brochures etc. addressed to me via post. A small matter you might think but it shows just how easy your neccessary departments can get things mixed up.
Altogether I would have to say this last cruise was extremely disappointing. Sun Princess could certainly teach you how to give a great cruise.
Diamond Princess is a beautiful ship and has the usual fabulous crew but I can’t say either of us would state we had the “great escape” experience and disembarking at Singapore was the final disappointment.
Rosalie Gilbertson – cabin B101
Hi Rosalie,
We are very sorry you had a disappointing experience onboard the Diamond Princess. We definitely intend for all passengers to have a wonderful time during our cruises and wish you had a better experience. Your comments have been passed to our Customer Relations Department who will contact you to discuss your comments and concerns further. If you would like to follow up on this matter please call us at 13 24 88.
This year my husband and I travelled from Beijing to Vancouver on The Diamond Princess and had the usual perfect Princess experience. We have also travelled on the Sun Princess and the Coral Princess. They all have their own unique characteristics which makes each cruise experience special. Never have we had any luggage problems. We have found that no matter how perfect we think our cruise is there are always a few complaining passengers.
Catherine Cotter
I loved reading about your adventures in the rainforest near Cairns. I had some great adventures in the rainforests around Carins and Port Douglas in January ’10 but was not so adventurous as to do an over night hike. Don’t mind the bugs so much but the crocs we saw during a boat trip down the Daintree was as much adventure as I wanted. I would encourage everyone to add this part of the world to your bucket list. It’s truly amazing. I’m certainly glad we did. PS We later did the Sydney Aust. to Auckland NZ cruise aboard the Diamond Princess. A great way to see that part of the world!
Oh, Tracy, that is a great story! I hate bugs, but I love the adventure of being in their environment…probably because I know it will only last a short time and I’ll be back in Alaska! Thank you for sharing! And Happy New Year!
Hi Bonnie! Thanks for taking the time to read about our adventure down under. I too hate bugs…had I known before hand what I was getting into….I would have thrown the brochure away. Funny how the booking tour agent AND the brochure itself failed to mention any “bug/leech” concerns. Oh well…now everybody who reads this knows
See you around the big city sometime!
I love your blog! Very funny. I laugh like crazy picturing your description of your bug encounters and your husband waking up to a visiting grasshopper. I’m an avid hiker and backpacker, but I have never experienced anything like this.
I’m glad the blog brought a giggle and smile to your face. I highly recommend smiling in real life on the “leech trail” yourself
So glad it made your bucket list Julie
You will not regret it…or better yet…forget it! Best to you in 2011!
I say just do it! Get an awesome guide and some travelling friends to experience it with you. It was one of our most memorable adventures together. We laugh at how naive we were back then…and if we’d read this article before signing up…would have said no way! But now…I am so happy we did it! Thank you for your time in reading our story….best to you all and to a future bug hike in 2011!
Wow, it sounds like an amazing adventure. We went hiking in Peru but weren’t brave enough to sleep in the jungle. Maybe next time
Tracy, although a travel experience involving bugs may not make it to the top of everyone’s bucket list, this has made mine!