Down Under Where?!

My parents are renowned for their lack of geographic knowledge. For example, when I was younger and living in Ohio, my dad told me I couldn’t go to Arkansas with my friend’s family because he didn’t want me driving all the way across the desert. Momentarily flummoxed, I soon realized he was mixing up Arkansas and Arizona. Once he learned we weren’t traveling across the country, he let me go.

More recently, when I told my mom I was going to New Mexico with my college’s Outdoor Club, she asked, “Is that in the United States?”

Around the same time, my brother Brian and his then-fiancé Lisa decided to honeymoon in Whistler, Canada, after their winter wedding. Naturally, my dad didn’t know where this was. I think the conversation went something like this:

Dad: Where’s Whistler?
Brian: It’s above Washington.
Dad: Washington!? I don’t want you flying around the capital, what with the terrorists and all.
Mom: No, Dave, Washington D. C. isn’t in the state of Washington!
Dad: Oh, it’s not? Then what state is it in?
Mom: (Brief pause) Huh, I don’t know!

Considering they still haven’t mastered their own country, I guess it’s asking a lot for them to be familiar with Australia. Still, my dad has provided some priceless gems since I decided to come here:

Dad: What countries border Australia?

Dad: So what language do they speak in Australia?
Jill: …English.
Dad: Oh. Because you know, in Germany, they speak German.
Jill: Yes, that’s true, they do.
Dad: Is Germany by Australia?
Jill: Dad!

Dad: The Sound of Music was on tv last night. That’s a beautiful country.
Jill: Oo, I love that movie.
Dad: Is that where you are?
Jill: No, Dad, that’s Austria!

After 8 months, though, I think they finally have it figured out. In case you're curious, I live in the upland rainforests near Cairns in a place called the Atherton Tablelands.

Over the past century, large portions of the rainforest on the Tablelands have been cleared for logging, agriculture, and settlement. As a result, the remaining rainforest is highly fragmented. There are several excellent local groups, comprised largely of dedicated and amiable senior citizens, involved in replanting rainforest trees and creating forested corridors to connect the remnant patches. They do amazing work; in the past 3 years alone, one group has planted over 40,000 rainforest trees. We volunteer with the groups once a week, and I always enjoy getting dirty, chatting with the locals, and contributing to the restoration effort.

Much of the rainforest in the area is listed under the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, meaning that the area has "outstanding universal value" due to its exceptional beauty, high diversity of plants and animals, and cultural significance. Prior to the World Heritage designation in 1988, the area was the subject of incredible controversy between conservationists and developers. Indeed, the first environmental protests where people chained themselves to trees and lay down in front of bulldozers happened just north of where I am! Pretty cool. Good thing they did, because this place is stunning (and it now brings in a rather hefty tourist revenue).