Rainforest Night Hike

After spending a few weeks traveling up the east coast of Australia, I finally made it to Queensland and the great Daintree Rainforest. Always wanting to get the most out of a visit, I decided to stay in one of the remote cabins so I would have more time to see the area.

Most of my “treks” into the rainforest over the first few days were short (an hour or so) and limited to a boardwalk (so as to not disrupt the wildlife) – so you could imagine when I heard about a “night hike”, I imagined much of the same, but with a flashlight.

Boy, was I wrong.

My FIRST indicator that the night would not go as expected should have been when the guide described himself as an arachnophile – or lover of spiders. My SECOND clue should have been the family in full hiking attire, talking about their hopes to see an amethystine python – one of the largest snakes in the world.

But having ignored these signs (I really wanted to see a tree kangaroo), we set off on our journey, flashlights in hand.

It was rather quick into the hike that I realized we were not taking the boardwalk. At first I wasn’t too concerned. Although the footpath was narrow, we had a steady pace and good group formation so it was easy to follow along.

As the night grew though, we ventured further and further into the bush. Eventually the footpath disappeared and we were left following one after another through the brush.

We saw frogs and lizards, massive spiders and snakes. It was about the time we crossed a shallow river – about an hour into our hike – that Dorothy’s words from the Wizard of Oz echoed in my head – “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”.

It was around this time, the group began to unintentionally separate. On one hand we had avid hikers who had dressed the part, and on the other we had an older couple and a family with kids who were in the same boat as me – not realizing what they signed up for.

And that is how I got lost in the rainforest.

Our guide took off with the avid hikers and we were left to find our own path back to the  main trail. We could see their lights in the distance so our trajectory was set – then all hell broke loose.

The woman leading our group, who was walking in front of me, walked face first into a huntsman spider the size of a frying pan. Reacting how anyone in that situation would, she back-pedaled as quickly as she could. Unfortunately, her night almost got worse when she nearly back-pedaled right off the side of the ravine!

We had been hiking up one of the ranges and had a sharp drop off to one side. Luckily I grabbed her arm before she went over and helped steer her around the massive spider’s web. We finally caught up to our group and agreed that maybe it was time to head back.

I finally made it back to my cabin 3 HOURS after I set out with cuts on my hands and knees from falling, LEECHES on both of my feet and ankles from the streams, dirt and sweat everywhere, and VOWING to never go on another night hike (at least without proper prep and attire).

// Onward & Upward //

~ K