Tropical North Queensland is the home of the world’s oldest rainforest – there has been rainforest here continuously at least since Gondwana began to split up in the early Jurassic (180 million years ago). What remains is but a fragment – but it’s still over 30 000 square kilometres stretching for over 500km up the north Queensland coast. Botanically it is a wonderland to which I cannot begin to do justice, but here’s a taste of a particularly special part – rainforest growing, almost uniquely, on coastal sand dunes.  Technically rainforest requires in excess of 1.3m of rainfall per annum, but more is required to sustain it on sand as you might expect. This piece of forest is also watered by a line of springs, resulting in a very lush swamp.

Any way, here are Louise and me in the sand dune forest, in an even more special part of it - the fan palm reserve:

 

 

This is one of the few remaining stands of the Queensland Fan Palm Licuala ramsayi. This palm grows to about 12m which is not so high, but it has these wonderful umbrella shaped leaves; big ones are 2m diameter:

 

 

Here are Ali & Louise in a cathedral of fan palms: