Virginia Reid, the Hokies Abroad service-learning in New Zealand and North Queensland 2015 student blogger, writes:

Photo Credit: AC Photography

We have finally arrived in Australia’s Daintree Rainforest and had the pleasure of meeting our field guide, Paul O’Dowd, who we all agree knows everything about anything! Paul led us on rainforest tours, both during the day and at night, enabling us to observe this diverse and dense ecosystem from a variety of perspectives. Some of us were lucky enough to even sneak a peek at a crocodile!

We conquered our fears of the dark and spiders on our night walk, as Paul asked us turn out our flashlights as we continued through the moonlit rainforest. This allowed us to experience the peacefulness of the forest and observe sleeping birds, huntsman spiders, peppermint stick bugs, and various snakes. We learned that the rainforest is, in fact very rainy, but that did not stop us from exploring Cape Tribulation.

In between working ever so studiously on our upcoming essays on Australian indigenous culture, we used our free day to go on various adventures including zip-lining, kayaking, and horseback riding. Yet, most of us never expected to experience a view quite like the one at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory. This scientific research site examines the relationship between tropical rainforests and climate change, and has a crane that offers a 360° view above the rainforest canopy. We assisted the director of the site with data collection of trees planted by Virginia Tech students six years ago, to monitor tree health and growth rate. 

 On our final morning in Cape Tribulation, we took turns teaching each other concepts from our readings on environmental conservation. We also discussed the critical interrelationship between the rainforest, the mangroves, and the Great Barrier Reef. This leads directly to our next stop: The Great Barrier Reef. We can hardly wait!