The World’s Oldest Rainforest
When you think of iconic rainforests, the Amazon is likely to come to your mind. That massive rainforest is nearly 7 million square kms and it’s by far the most famous rainforest in the World, but did you know that it’s actually not the oldest?
The oldest surviving rainforest in the World is the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, northern Australia. I only discovered this when I started planning my trip to Australia and I was shocked by this fact! This forest is still not that well-known somehow, but here are some reasons why it should be on your travel bucket list.
It’s 180 million years old
This remarkable rainforest has existed for so long that it’s actually 10 million years older than the Amazon. What we now know as the Daintree Rainforest is what’s left of a forest so vast that it used to cover the whole country. That forest was in existence such a long time ago that it even saw dinossaurs and ice ages pass it by – but shocklingy enough, a portion of it survived to this day.
This part of Australia was described by Sir David Attenborough as “the most extraordinary place on Earth”
It has incredible fauna and flora
The plants and animals of the Daintree Rainforest are so unique that much of the flora and fauna known on Earth can actually be traced back to its location. It has such a huge biodiversity that it includes 90% of Australia’s butterflies and bats, 30% of all the frogs in the country, more than 12000 insect species and about 7% of Australia’s bird species. There are some pretty huge spiders as well, as you probably suspected.
This is the only place on Earth where two UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites meet
Not only is this rainforest extraordinary, it becomes even more unique due to the fact that it’s the only place in the World where two different UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites converge: the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. That’s one of the things that makes this area of Australia so unique – the lush rainforest meets the turquoise waters of the Great Barrier Reef, making it one of the most special places I’ve ever visited.
Did you know that you can spend the night at the World’s oldest rainforest?
… and that you can easily visit this rainforest on a day trip?
The good news is that even if you don’t wanna spend the night there, you can visit the Daintree Rainforest just for the day. Even though it’s such a special and pure natural area, this forest is actually located really close to the city of Cairns, which makes it super easy to take a day tour to go there.
That’s what I did and a day out there was way more fun than I first imagined! I took this tour that includes a ride on the SkyRail, providing absolutely amazing views of the rainforest, plus such a beautiful train ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway: a historic train across the rainforest, which was an absolute highlight of my whole trip to Australia.
I hope you liked this blog post and added this unique location to your travel bucket list! Take it from someone who didn’t even really know it existed before planning a trip to Australia: this place is super unique but it’s still quite the hidden gem somehow. So make sure you visit if Queensland is on your Australia itinerary!
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