CAIT AROUND THE WORLD

March 25, 2023 — This morning I headed out on an excursion to the Noosa Everglades! This is one of the extras that I was able to book because I was no longer snorkelling, and I was really glad that I did because it allowed me to see one of the only two defined Everglades in the world. (Do you know where the other one is? Read to the end for the answer!)

I got up bright and early since the shuttle was at 7:45am. Shortly after six a.m., I was eating breakfast and really enjoying a coffee. At this hostel, they provided a free breakfast of toasts, spreads, and cereals, and free tea and coffee (with the milk as well as the sugar!). I’d had iced coffee in Brisbane a couple of times but it had been quite some time since I had a hot coffee, and longer still since I had instant coffee. I was instantly (see what I did there?) transported back to university when I drank instant coffee most every morning. It used to be one of the best parts of my day. So there I sat that morning, having an absolutely transcendent experience with my morning coffee, before getting my bag and meeting the shuttle at the pickup point just across the road from the hostel.

One of my dorm mates was also on this tour, so we actually headed over together. We were waiting at the stop when I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses. Since we were going to be canoeing five kilometres down the Everglades with the sun shining down the whole way, I figured I was definitely going to miss them if I didn’t run back and grab them. I had about fifteen minutes before the bus was due to show up and depart, so I raced back for them. The bus was there when I got back, but we didn’t leave for another ten minutes as we waited for more people and tried to find someone else.

Kim, my dorm mate, and I sat together on the ride, which was about forty-five minutes outside of Noosa. The tour was actually through the eco resort on the Everglades so we travelled all the way from Noosa to their extensive property within the protected area of the Everglades. It’s quite the operation and looks like a very cool place to stay if you have the means.

Our tour didn’t start until 9:00am, so we had a little time to sit, look around, and use the facilities before we were briefed on the day’s adventure, split into groups, and went on our way. We watched a canoeing safety video and then split into two boats. One boat mostly held people who had booked the tour themselves while the other was pretty much taken up by a school group.

We were put into the first boat, meaning that we left from the eco resort and travelled in the boat up to Fig Tree, the first stop on the tour. At this point, we got off the boat, pulled out the canoes, and piled into them, mostly in pairs, but with a couple groups of three, to paddle the five kilometres up to Harry’s Hut, where we would have our second stop of the day. On this next stop, there was morning tea waiting for us and we were also able to swim, so I’m kind of glad I was in this group because we had a lot of extra incentive!

It was a gorgeous trip down the river. So serene and so incredible to know that it is such a unique place on Earth. It was a major workout, too, though — my arms were dying! Kim and I were in the same boat and had a few good laughs about how long five kilometres felt.

Finally, we could see the boats we’d cruised up the first part of the river in and made our way to meet them. We pulled up, the guides tied us off, and we stepped out of the canoe and onto solid ground. We had morning tea which meant juice and some delicious muffins, then swam in the water for quite awhile. It was super refreshing — cold in some spots and warm in others, and the top layer of water was basically a bathtub. I spent a good portion of time lying on my back and letting the water lap at me. After we got out of the water, we saw the catfish that some people had been watching and pointing at — they’re absolutely massive and I’m so glad that I didn’t see them before I got in the water because I’m a bit squeamish about swimming with fish in lakes and having things touch me underwater that I can’t see.

Why is the water red? Tea tree oil! Remember me talking about the tea tree oil lake in Byron Bay? The Everglades also have tea tree oil trees (also known as Mallaluca trees) which secrète the oil into the lake and imbue it with some excellent rejuvenating properties.

We headed back for about 1:30pm and therefore had some time to sit and enjoy the eco resort because the buses back to Noosa didn’t depart until 3:00pm. Kim and I were both jonesing for cold drinks so we got frozen pina coladas at the bar. A couple of people came and sat down with us and one girl got a pizza that looked so good I couldn’t stop myself from purchasing one. (I got it to go and it lasted for two more meals; I was very proud of myself.)

I spent the afternoon when we got back to the hostel taking a shower and then just relaxing in the room. This hostel had super comfy mattresses — they were real ones, not the thin ones you usually encounter in hostel dorms — and I enjoyed lying there watching some TV. Later that night, I used the convection ovens in the kitchen to heat up my pizza. I also got a bag of chips and a Coke at the vending machine to round off my “pizza night.”

I called Mom and Dad later that night, then went to bed.

A rundown on Everglades…

As promised, here’s the answer to the question at the beginning of this post: where are the other recognized Everglades? Florida!

Yes, the Florida Everglades are the only other spot on Earth where the specific things that make up an everglade can be found (at least as far as we know).

Here’s a little bit more about the Everglades as told by our tour guide, who did a fantastic job piloting us up and down this unique ecosystem and who has lived in the Noosa Everglades his entire life. He’s also been to Florida and seen the Everglades there (and loved them!).

• Why do they call it an everglade anyway? I’m glad you asked! The word originates from the timber cutters who used to harvest the trees living in the everglades. “Ever” refers to the ever-flowing water which only flows downstream. Water is pushed into the Noosa system by the Pacific Ocean, while water is pushed into the Florida system by the Gulf of Mexico and part of the Atlantic Ocean. “Glades” refers to a small opening in the forest. Before the loggers came through, this area was a rainforest. The loggers came across a small opening in the rainforest, hence “glade.”
• What makes an everglade an everglade? As stated above, the water in an everglade only ever flows downstream. It is also fed by another body of water — the Pacific in Noosa’s case and the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic in Florida’s case. The glades are also made up completely of sand (which filters the salt out of the water so that the glade is entirely freshwater). Another major characteristic is that the system is completely self-sufficient. However, there is no one environment that makes up the ecosystem. An everglade may contain multiple environments within it. For example, there are swamp environments in the Noosa Everglades, but the everglades are not a swamp and that is not the only environment within it.
• Are there really only two everglades in the entire world? It’s pretty crazy to think that this can only happen in two places on the entire Earth, though it’s certainly not impossible. But our guide answered this question in this way, and so I’m addressing it here because I think it’s a great point: officially, yes, these are the only two everglades in the world. However, considering how vast and unexplored some areas still are, and how much diversity exists on our planet, it’s entirely plausible that another everglade exists in another part of the world, but we don’t know about it yet. That might be because no one has discovered it, or because the locals in the area don’t call it an everglade; they may have a different name for it altogether. So, are there really only two everglades in the entire world? Maybe.

If you ever find yourself in Noosa, I highly recommend checking out the Noosa Everglades, either through a little tour like I have, or by staying at the eco resort and really getting to experience the awesomeness of this piece of Earth.

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