Country Article / Postcards
Jungle Surfing For the Over-70s
Date: 06/07/2007I'm flying through the rainforest upside down and having the time of my life!
Jungle Surfing (called "zip-lining" in the States) near the Daintree Rainforest in Northeast Australia is a great adventure for young and old. My almost-Medicare-age body did just fine but my adrenaline reserves took a big hit.
Our group of eight intrepid adventurers (whose ages ranged from 20s to 70s), was helmeted and harnessed, strapped and cinched into more safety gear than I thought possible--the safety lines had safety lines. Once we were geared up, we all looked pretty much the same, so in order to help identify us, the staff call us by the names on our helmets, like Mad Max (that was me), James Bond, or Tinkerbell. If you're the super macho hunky sort--you'll get the Tinkerbell helmet.
We zipped along the cables from one platform to the next over distances ranging from 80 feet to 260 feet. The five platforms vary in height from about eight feet at the beginning to almost 65 feet. The forest canopy soars overhead with vegetation so thick, you seldom get a glimpse of the sky…but the view from the tallest platform out through the tree tops to the Coral Sea is breathtaking. Sound is so absorbed by the masses of vegetation, that you barely notice the zing of the lines.
Ready to zip the last span, we were encouraged to try it upside down. After a big gulp and some effort to unhinge my fingers from the strapping, I let go. Wow! This is the only way to fly.
I used Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours.
Jean Lutz
For International Living
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P.S. This unique area is the only place in the world where two World Heritage Sites meet--the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. The ecosystems and habitats of the rainforest are believed to have existed, just as you will find them, for 120 - 135 million years. Some plant species here are so primitive, they differ only slightly from their prehistoric ancestors.