Port Macquarie Sea Acres Rainforest Centre

Strangling fig on a host tree

Sea Acres National Park is a sub-tropical rainforest nature reserve inside Port Macquarie.  There is a nice Visitor's Centre there with information on the ecosystem, a cafe and gift shop, and an interactive exhibition on the local Aboriginal people.  There is a 1-kilometer boardwalk through the reserve with information on the different rainforest trees and plants.

Cabbage tree palm, "Australia's most widespread southerly palm"

It was nice to see plants labeled that we recognize but never knew the name, such as the cabbage tree palm.  We've seen these on many trips to the coast but I never knew the name before.  There is a cabbage tree palm at Sea Acres that is over 100 years old!

Boardwalk above the forest floor

Another strangling fig

Strangling fig life cycle

Since it was still the middle of winter (first day of August), it was a bit chilly under the canopy: about 60F/15C, a bit too cool for the t-shirts we'd been wearing out in the sun.  It'd be really nice in the summer to get out of the hot sun and under the cool shade of the trees.  The boardwalk is not entirely shaded, however, so we lingered in the sunny spots to warm up a few times.

The man at the Rainforest Centre said we'd be lucky if we saw any wildlife and we didn't have any expectations (though wallabies and pademelons don't hibernate so I'm not entirely sure why it'd be that much less likely to encounter anything.)  We did see a few birds (though we heard more than we saw) and of course a brush turkey.  I was hoping the cool weather would mean we'd see a snake sunning itself, as the diamond-backed pythons are supposed to be a common sight.  I'd like to see a snake (from a distance, of course.)

Cunjevoi, though I'll probably remember it better as Elephant Ears

A massive strangling fig tree fell in 2013, clearing sunlight
for new trees to grow.

An elkhorn fern, a type of epiphyte in the crook of a tree

(Just a friendly reminder that Australian nature doesn't like you.)