This morning I awoke with my head filled with images of my Nova Scotia flower beds, and of homegrown, organic fruits and vegetables harvested fresh from my gardens. Perhaps subconsciously inspired by my garden yearnings, I cycled the Ross River Parkway to Palmetum Park, enjoying views out over the river and a fresh breeze whipping the day’s early heat. Within the Palmetum, moisture dripped from vegetation wet by last night’s rain and lay in sheets on soggy lawns. Red torch ginger raised club-like blossoms on thick stalks beneath a canopy of arching, pinnate leaves. Crotons with red- and yellow-speckled leaves stood in vibrant plantings near ferns and beneath frangipanis, and the lush beauty of rainforest and tall, elegant palms eased my homesickness.

Two months from today, Vilis and I will leave Australia, bound for Auckland on the first leg of our return trip to Canada. With our time in this country quickly fleeing, I, on my return to the house, pulled out road maps and travel and bushwalking guides to plan one more exotic excursion, one more exploration of the incredible richness of North Queensland’s tropical ecosystems. Our destination is two-fold – the Daintree, an ancient rainforest housing one of the richest stores of terrestrial biodiversity in the world, and the Great Barrier Reef, that enormous, evocative stronghold of marine biodiversity that stretches for more than 2000 kilometres along Queensland’s east coast northward to New Guinea.

After poring over my research materials and going online to obtain reef tour details, I came up with a plan for four days of travel and exploration. Day 1 is a coastal drive from Townsville to Daintree Village north of Port Douglas, with stop-offs to check out the artsy highland rainforest village of Kuranda and the white sands of Wonga Beach backed by rainforest slopes. Day 2 includes a dawn cruise on the Daintree River to look for crocs and birds, plus walks within Daintree National Park amd Mossman Gorge, all steeped in the lush essence of Wet Tropics rainforest. Day 3 is a reef cruise departing from Cairns and docking at a ‘pontoon’ or floating reef exploration venue adjacent to Moore Reef on the outer Great Barrier Reef, where we’ll spend five hours viewing the reef through snorkelling, possibly an introductory scuba dive, and definitely via the pontoon’s semi-submersible boat, underwater observatory, and glass-bottom boat. Day 4 will allow us time to catch our breaths with some birding at the botanical gardens and beach in Cairns before we head back to Townsville.

A month ago, I might have balked at driving six hours to reach Daintree Village, but after Vilis’s and my excursion to Alice Springs – which necessitated two driving days twice that long – this trip to the Far North of Queensland promises to be an exciting jaunt. There’s nothing like traversing vast landscapes to the red heart of an arid continent to grant one a new perspective on distance.