Greetings from the rainforest!We’re in a different world altogether at Lamington National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We arrived after a long bus ride winding through mountainous forest. Lamington rests on a collapsed volcano, its nutrient-rich lava basalt allowing the rainforest to grow. We’re staying in a big house on the O’Reilly’s complex, a five-star family-run resort. Although the first night was too dark to explore our surroundings, we spent two fully jam-packed days trekking through the park.
Upon awaking the first morning I could feel the fresh, cool mountain air. John took us along a short path with mist and sunlight streaming through gargantuan trees. We saw lianas (thick woody vines) epiphytes (plants that grow on trees— one is shaped like a crow’s nest!), a wedge-tailed eagle, and my favorite— the impressive strangler fig tree. This incredible tree begins life as a vine on a host tree until it reaches the ground and takes root— eventually strangling the host after hundreds of years. When the host dies and disintegrates, it leaves a thick, hollow, and beautifully patterned strangler fig tree in its place. This tree has an even more intriguing story of pollination. Female wasps unique to every fig tree species lay their eggs inside the tight space of the tree’s zirconium flower and die. Their wingless male offspring never leave the chamber— instead, they chew a hole for the female offspring to exit, lay their eggs in another fig tree, and pollinate its male flowers. What an amazing tree!
During lunch we discovered the wild parrot feeding area with dozens of beautiful king parrots and crimson rosellas. Tourists can buy unlimited birdseed at the gift shop and feed them all day long. Such activity enrages park rangers and environmentalists because it damages the birds’ natural lives, but O’Reilly’s rests on private land. However, starting in November the establishment will allow feedings only at certain times. We were able to get some great pictures because the parrots are so attached to humans that all you have to do is stand with your arms outstretched and they’ll land on you.
We went on another magnificent hike that afternoon to Mick’s Tower, a metal lookout that only six of us could climb at a time. It brought us into the rainforest canopy for a lovely view. We completed a short field exercise about the diversity and size of leaf litter, and some of us continued along the wonderful Wishing Tree trail under and through enormous trees with hollowed trunks. The last tree was so huge that at least two of us could jump inside of it! 
Before dinner we listened to a lecture about one of the teaching assistant’s research at the nearby caldera, and after eating we heard about the other teaching assistant’s research on glowworms. Her talk was exciting because then we went on a nighttime glowworm expedition! Equipped with warm clothes and flashlights, we spotted a lot of green tree frogs, a big blue crayfish, and even a gecko along the way. But the glowworms were definitely the highlight— they lit up an entire rock face like thousands of shooting stars. O’Reilly’s had even placed wooden benches in front so we were able to soak up their beauty in silence. 
The next morning many of us awoke early for John’s bird walk. We spotted both satin and regent bowerbirds, and another cute animal called the pademelon, kind of like a miniature kangaroo that hopped very quickly. John also took us along O’Reilly’s Tree Top Walk going straight through the canopy on rickety swinging bridges ending with another metal lookout tower. Next I wandered through a beautiful mountain garden. Our big activity of the day, however, was an 18 kilometer (about eleven miles!) hike through Lamington National Park— definitely one of my absolute favorite days so far. Gushing waterfalls streamed from every corner, it seemed. And John certainly demonstrated his devotion as a teacher by surprising everyone with lamingtons (delicious Australian chocolate and coconut pastries) for morning tea! He had carried them all the way along the trail hidden in two backpacks. We ate lunch at a beautiful lookout spot with ancient Gondwanan Antarctic Beech trees where we could see Mt. Warning and then completed another short field exercise. But as we descended down the trail a huge storm broke out with thunder, lighting, rain, and gigantic icy hail! It was really exciting at first, but for the next hour and a half we miserably plunged through the damp, cold, and dark rainforest as quickly as possible. I was so wet by the end that I ran the last kilometer and jumped into a hot shower! 
That night after warming up we relaxed as a group together. I woke up early again to photograph some of the parrots and bowerbirds— luckily just as an O’Reilly’s staff member was feeding them breakfast. Unfortunately right after lunch we drove away along the twisted mountain roads, quickly stopping for wine tasting at the Canungra Valley vineyards before heading back to Brisbane. We are all so sad to leave the magical rainforest, although I know the Great Barrier Reef will be just as wonderful.
