Planning a Trip to the Daintree Rainforest, Australia
9/19/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Planning a Trip to the Daintree Rainforest, Australia
Source: The Seattle Times
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 19, 1999
Byline: Jim Molnar
Brigitta Flick and Dr. Hugh Spencer founded the Cape Tribulation
Tropical Research Station in the Daintree rain forest of Northern
Queensland 10 years ago.
Spencer calls himself a generalist. His background is in
neuropharmacology and conservation biology. Flick's academic work in
Germany and the U.S. ranged from tissue- and psychobiology to plant
physiology and conservation biology.
A third member of the full-time team, Teresa Elizabeth, concentrates
as a conservation activist with the Daintree Rainforest Task Force.
Outside researchers also are able to use the station's facilities for
work, and positions are available for volunteers and interns.
Research at the station stretches beyond the study, rescue and
rehabilitation of flying foxes. Current projects include evaluation
of alternative technology for the tropics, phenology of cluster figs
and genetic diversity of the region's rare endemic plants. Some work
is done in collaboration with institutions such as the universities
of Queensland and Sydney and the Harvard Herba- rium.
The Bat House education and environmental interpretation center is
the public face of the AUSTROP Foundation, an independent, non-profit
environmental organization under whose banner the research station
also operates. Find it on the Cape Tribulation Road a mile or two
north of Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort.
Manned by volunteers, it provides environmental and tourist
information for the area, plus information about ongoing research.
(At least one flying fox is always on duty.)
Admission is $2. That income, plus the sale of books, T-shirts, bat
memorabilia and other souvenirs, helps fund research.
For information about research, volunteer and
internship programs: Cape Tribulation Tropical
Research Station, PMB 5, Cape Tribulation, QLD
4873, Australia. Attention: Dr. Hugh Spencer,
Director. Phone 011-617-4098-0063.
E-mail: austrop@austrop.org.au.
Web: http://www.altnews.com.au/austrop/
Also available on the Web site are links for related environmental
organizations, activities, information and technology - especially
relating to the Daintree and flying foxes.
Coconut Beach
The 250-acre Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort was listed by Conde Nast
Traveler magazine as one of the world's "top 25 escapes."
It is about 110 miles north of Cairns, 55 miles north of Port Douglas
at Cape Tribulation. Rates from $100 to $235 per night.
More information: Coconut Beach Rainforest Resort,
Cape Tribulation Road, Cape Tribulation, QLD 4873,
Australia. Phone 011-617-4098-0033. Web:
http://www.coconutbeach.com.au/
E-mail: reservations@coconutbeach.com.au.
General information
Bus transportation is available to Cape Tribulation from Port Douglas
and Cairns via Coral Coaches, 6107-4031-7577 (in Australia).
For general information about travel and accommodations in the
Daintree-Cape Tribulation area, check these Web sites:
? Cairns Online:
http://www.cairns.aust.com/About/daintree.htm
? Triple A Matilda:
http://matilda.aaa.com.au/online/qld/daintree/
.
? Queensland Tourism: http://www.qttc.com.au/
Mail: Level 36, Riverside Centre, 123 Eagle
Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; or: GPO
328 Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
Phone 07-3406-5400.
? Australian Tourist Commission: http://www.aussie.net.au/
Mail: 2049 Century Park East, Suite 1920, Los Angeles, CA 90067.
Phone 310-229-4870.