A single tree, but what a tree. The Curtain Fig near Yungaburra, on the Atherton Tablelands of tropical north Queensland, is a strangler fig that started life as a seed dropped by a bird high in the canopy of another tree. Its roots grew down to the ground, wrapping and eventually killing the host, which then fell against a neighbour, leaving the fig at an angle. The roots kept dropping down from the tilted trunk, creating a hanging curtain of aerial roots that reaches the forest floor. A boardwalk lets you walk around it, and it is one of the most photographed trees in Australia.
The tree is part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1988, which protects one of the oldest continuously surviving rainforests on Earth. Patches of rainforest survive on the tablelands among farmland, and they are home to tree kangaroos, possums, cassowaries and a huge variety of birds. The forest around the Curtain Fig is a remnant of the original mabi forest, a rare type of rainforest that grows on rich volcanic soils.
Getting here from Cairns means climbing one of the great motorcycle roads of Queensland: the Gillies Range Road from Gordonvale up to the tablelands, which packs a couple of hundred bends into a short, steep climb through rainforest. It is tight, technical and popular, with plenty of police attention, and the surface can be slippery when wet, which in the tropics is often. The Kuranda Range to the north and the Palmerston Highway to the south are alternative routes onto the tablelands.
Yungaburra, just under two kilometres away, is a charming small town with heritage buildings, cafés and a creek where you can sometimes see platypus in the early morning or late afternoon. Atherton, ten kilometres away, has fuel, supermarkets and workshops. The tablelands are cooler than the coast, thanks to the altitude, and the weather is generally pleasant, though the wet season from December to March brings heavy rain.
Drive on the left, remember that wildlife is most active at dawn and dusk, and give cassowaries a wide berth: they are large, powerful birds and can be dangerous if provoked.