Townsville Travel Forum

I live in brisbane, we have some sub-tropical rain forrests that i just love walking through,
i have heard there are tropical rain forrests in north queensland, and i would like to go to one to see the difference between sub tropical and tropical,.

hope that made sense....
if you know of any close to townsville, could you let me know please :) :)
thanks heaps.

Not sure about Townsville - it's pretty dry bush around the city. Ideally if you can, get further north to Cairns.

I just had a look at www.townsvilleonline.com.au and they have rainforest tours listed...

thanks

Not far from Townsville there is teh Eungella Range, this is a perfect Rainforest. It's a bit south of Townsville.
I really enjoyed it!

Hi. In my experience the two words just don't go together. Because behind Townsville there is a big gap in the Great Dividing Range the rainfall just doesnt happen to the same degree as further north. You have to go north past Innisfail to get anything worthwhile i think. Re the wind , that's pretty unusual except for the cyclone season which is a fair way off yet, so I don't think you would have much trouble that way. But who knows with weather !! .. L.

Good point. In Australia we tend to use the word 'rainforest' when it's just an area of trees! A true rainforest has a minimum of 100 inches of rain a year. We don't have too many of them.

thanks :)
i guess i just have to go for a bit of a drive....
better than driving from brisbane :)

Yes. North Queensland has been wanting to secede from the South for a long time - it's got most of the money making resources. Townsville is the Capital of the North.
Coming up from Melbourne to Townsville or Cairns, at Brisbane you are about half of the total distance! It's a big state.....L.

Colin, where on earth did you get that rather narrow definition from? And such a convenient figure "100". Nature must be wonderfully mathematical. ;-)

1+1, if you check it in reference books, you'll find that's the official definition of a rainforest. Webster's Dictionary for example: *A dense, usually tropical evergreen forest having an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches.*

To be realistic, Colin, Webster’s isn’t considered a “reference” in botany or ecology, let alone to be the source of “official definitions” in those fields. A dictionary contains common public perceptions of word meanings and usage, Webster’s for the USA, not Australia. I only go by Macquarie’s for common usage. But on the issue of “rainforests” there are a number of definitions, just as there are a number of types of rainforest.

That was just one reference. The Rainforest Action Network defines it as receiving more than 4 metres of rain a year.
It has to get a lot of rain, otherwise it can't be a *rain*forest. Without the large rainfall it's just a forest. That was my point - we have lots of forest in Oz, but not much of it is *rain*forest.

Rainforests are living emeralds which adorn our world with rare beauty and natural wonders. They are a product of planetary processes and are—in turn—contributors to the water and carbon cycles on which all life depends. Tropical rainforests are the result of the unique climatic conditions found between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, in the regions north and south of Earth’s equator. Here, constant heat and humidity allow trees and plants to grow year round, without seasonal time-outs. Vast columns of hot air rise and condense out as rain, resulting in annual rainfall of 80 to 400 inches: annual temperatures average over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And so the tropics are garlanded with trees, plants, animals and insects, uniquely adapted to these conditions.

JJ, you're a poet :-)
Beautifully said.

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