Daintree rain forest national park/Australia

The Daintree Rainforest itself boasts an incredibly biodiverse landscape with a large concentration of animal and plant species that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It is also one of the oldest rainforests on the planet.

It covers 1,200 km squared, and is one of the finest examples of Mother Nature in the world, let alone in Australia. Situated in Northern Queensland, it gained its national park status back in the early 1980s and forms a vitally important part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland. A few years after opening it was awarded World Heritage status and remains to this day a ground to showcase Australia’s most picturesque landscapes and most beautiful flora and fauna.

For the most part, the park is covered by tropical rainforest, which has been alive for more than 110 million years.

It is thought the forest was created via a fortuitous continental drift when it split away from the supercontinent that took up the southern hemisphere millions of years ago. As it drifted away towards Antarctica, it passed through ocean currents and dropped in temperature, while other areas sped off to warmer climates. It is thought the rainforest segments of the supercontinent, like the Daintree, retained their original climates, as well as their original tree species. In fact, many tree species that have long been thought extinct have recently been rediscovered in the park.

It got its name from the Daintree River which weaves its pretty way through the forest, which in itself was named after Richard Daintree, the friend of keen explorer George Elphinstone Dalrymple.

The park is split into two separate sections with a sweep of lowland that connects the two. It’s here that you’ll find the quaint towns of Mossman and Daintree Village, both of which are tucked away beneath the green-carpeted scenery

Animals of daintree national park

The park is home to more than 430 different bird species, ranging from small, colourful varieties to larger, more prehistoric-looking species. Keep your eyes peeled for the wompoo fruit-dove, which is one of around six pigeon species in the park, as well as the cassowary and the buff-breasted paradise kingfisher.

On the forest floor, you might spot creatures like the striped possum, the ringtail possum, the brown bandicoot, and various species of tree kangaroo. There are plenty of native Australia critters here, too, including the swamp wallaby, the platypus, and the short-beaked echidna.

If that wasn’t enough, there are also around 23 reptile species that call the forest home, and 13 amphibians that wander between the watering holes and dry land. You might be able to spot forest dragons, water dragons, chameleon geckos, pythons, and varieties of tree snakes, as well as a unique frog species like the Australian lacelid, the white-lipped treefrog, and the common mist frog.

The selection of wildlife and plant species in the Daintree Rainforest really is spectacular, and you can guarantee that you’ll be able to spot at least a few of the native critters that call the park home. While wandering beneath the lush canopies and exploring ancient landscapes, keep your eyes peeled so you don’t miss a wildlife-spotting opportunity.

Some of the species that call it home can only be found in this small patch of land, and it contains a vast amount of wildlife that is otherwise extremely rare or near extinct in other parts of the world.

Explore Daintree National Park

The Daintree National Park’s stunning scenery and abundance of cute critters makes it the perfect place for nature lovers to explore. It offers a unique hotspot for outdoor holidays that is unrivalled by anywhere else in Australia; visitors can enjoy daintree frogjaw-dropping hiking trails, camp beneath the vibrant green canopies, cool off in natural rock pools, and enjoy spectacular views from uninterrupted lookout points. There is a wealth of eco-friendly accommodation in the area and a number of eateries that promote local, fresh dishes.

Originally owned by the Eastern Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal people, the Daintree National Park is imbued with a legendary spiritual significance which weaves through the colourful undergrowth. It’s this combination of age-old histories and a new sense of development and sustainability that makes the Daintree National Park such an enticing place – well, that and it’s incredible wealth of wildlife and awe-inspiring landscapes.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park/Australia

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports and shipping, recreation, scientific research and Indigenous traditional use.

Fishing and the removal of artefacts or wildlife (fish, coral, seashells, etc.) is strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific defined shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and best known coral reef ecosystem in the world.

Its reefs, almost 3000 in total, represent about 10 per cent of all the coral reef areas in the world. It supports an amazing variety of biodiversity, providing a home to thousands of coral and other invertebrate species, bony fish, sharks, rays, marine mammals, marine turtles, sea snakes, as well as algae and other marine plants.

Here are some interesting and fun facts about the Great Barrier Reef:

• The Great Barrier Reef as we know it today, began to form over 2 million years ago and is constantly changing in size and structure
• There are over 900 islands within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority or GBRMPA, is responsible for the well-being and protection of the reef
• It is the largest reef system in the world
• Over 2,000 species of animals call the reef home, including over 1,500 species of fish, over 200 species of birds, 6 species of sea turtles and over 30 species of whales and dolphins
• The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,300 kilometres down the East Coast of Australia
• It covers 344,400 km2
• Reefs only contribute about 7% to the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, with islands, cays, mangroves, sand, algal and sponge gardens and seagrass making up the rest
• There are 600 types of soft and hard corals that make up the reef
• It is said that 10% of the world’s fish population is found on the reef
• The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea
• Around 2 million people visit the Great Barrier Reef every year
• The Great Barrier Reef was named a UNESCO World Heritage listed area in 1981
• The Reef covers an area from the Torres Strait to Bundaberg, in Northern Queensland
• Google offers an ‘underwater street view’ of the Great Barrier Reef where you can virtually swim around the reefs for a first-hand point of view

The Great Barrier Reef continues to thrive and grow every day, teaching us amazing things about its diverse ecosystem and local inhabitants. It is one of the most beautiful and astonishing places in the world and a national icon of Australia. As a source of national pride, it continues to be protected and cared for by its protectors, in hopes that it will be around for many, many generations to come.

Opera House in Australia

A masterpiece of human creativity, the Sydney Opera House welcomes millions of visitors from all over the world every year. Unfortunately, due to current government restrictions the iconic venue has been forced to close its doors. Instead, a new digital program called From our House to Yours has launched to inspire, educate and entertain.

Digital Season

The program will include full-length performances and talks, never-before-seen footage, podcasts, long-form articles and behind-the-scenes content. It’s designed to bring people together, regardless of where they are. Content will be available free on-demand from the Sydney Opera House website.

In addition, exclusive new content will be released nightly at 6pm from Wednesday to Saturday. It will include performances from artists like Missy Higgins and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, talks from The Writers Room and All About Women, and readings from authors such as David Walliams.

Sydney Opera House is set on beautiful Sydney Harbour and features world-class performances of opera, ballet, classical and modern music, contemporary dance, theatre and more.

Things to do

Opened in 1973, the Sydney Opera House hosts more than 1,600 performances a year in its concert halls and theatres, from opera to comedy shows. Even the famous sails become a brilliant canvas for incredible digital lightshows such as Vivid Sydney, the biggest festival of light, music and ideas in the world, held in May and June.

One of the sails is illuminated daily at sunset, 7pm, 8pm and 9pm with the work of Aboriginal artists in the Badu Gili exhibition. You can also walk around the Opera House forecourt, day or night, and marvel at the unique building, which uses seawater from the harbour to power both the cooling and heating.

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed building on daily guided tours, available in English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. You’ll peek behind the curtains and uncover the fascinating stories of Australia’s most celebrated performing arts centre.

Interesting facts of opera House in Australia

• ydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point. Bennelong Point was named after Woollarawarre Bennelong, a senior Eora man at the time of the arrival of British colonisers in Australia in 1788.
• The original cost estimate to build Sydney Opera House was $7 million. The final cost was $102 million and it was largely paid for by a State Lottery.
• 233 designs were submitted for the Opera House international design competition held in 1956. Jørn Utzon from Denmark was announced the winner, receiving ₤5000 for his design.
• Construction was expected to take four years. It took 14 years. Work commenced in 1959 and involved 10,000 construction workers.
• Paul Robeson was the first person to perform at Sydney Opera House. In 1960, he climbed the scaffolding and sang Ol’ Man River to the construction workers as they ate lunch.
• Sydney Opera House was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2007 
• There are more than 1 million roof tiles covering approximately 1.62 hectares sitting over the structure. They were made in Sweden.
• Seven A380s could sit wing-to-wing on the site.
• Sydney Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20th October, 1973. She has since visited four times, most recently in 2006.
• When the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is on stage in the Concert Hall, the temperature must be 22.5 degrees to ensure the instruments stay in tune. Temperature and humidity are critical to musical instruments.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger (former actor and Governor of California) won his final Mr Olympia body building title in 1980 in the Concert Hall.
• A net was installed above the orchestra pit in the Joan Sutherland Theatre during the 1980s following an incident during the opera Boris Godunov. The opera featured live chickens and one bird walked off the stage and landed on top of a cellist.
• More than 10.9 million people visit the Opera House every year.
• Sydney Opera House is cooled using seawater taken directly from the harbour. The system circulates cold water from the harbour through 35 kilometres of pipes to power both the heating and air conditioning in the building.
• Each year, Lunar New Year is celebrated at the Opera House with sails lit in red, Lunar Lanterns and Mandarin tours. In 2019, some 25,000 people celebrated with us.