Australia
Who: Nancy DeNiro of Aurora
Where: Inside a Strangler fig tree in Queensland’s Lamington National Park and Rainforest. For more than 150 years, the fig grew around a host tree, eventually causing its death and leaving a 100-foot-tall hollow maze of roots.
Best meal: O’Reilly’s (pronounced Oh-rallees) Rainforest Guesthouse serves sumptuous roasted pumpkin and root vegetable lasagna accompanied by ginger beer. Yum.
Best deal: Make the rainforest a day trip from Brisbane to O’Reilly’s. All the natural attractions in the rainforest are free, including the famous Tree Top Walk, lava rock caves, waterfalls and personal interactions with the native (parrot-like) Crimson Rosellas. The food at O’Reilly’s was reasonably priced, and dessert was the view of the valley leading back to the Gold Coast.
Best time to go: September to November is springtime in Australia. Temperatures were in the mid 80s. December through February are the hottest months and precipitation varies, but in October no storm lasted very long. Tourist season was just beginning.
Don’t leave home without: Camera, walking shoes, water bottle and a high expectation to be awed by nature!
