The platforms provide the perfect vantage point for this pocket of tropical rainforest in Cape Tribulation because - let's be honest here - you won't see much beyond a blur of green as you sail through the trees like Tarzan after a triple macchiato. In my case, the resemblance was more akin to a sack of potatoes being launched by catapult.
Jungle Adventures Cape Trib claims to have the only flying fox in the world where the guides control the course, leaving guests to fly hands-free and, er, care-free.
A system of pulleys enables the guides to control the speed with which someone sails between the platforms. But the surfers have to do some work themselves - chiefly, launching themselves off a mini-ramp so they're just dangling in the air for the briefest of moments before the guides, and physics, start propelling them onwards.
Those moments, for me, were the most knee-buckling; when against all instinct, you propel yourself off the platform into virtual oblivion. The heart stops beating for that tiniest instance when you continue to fall until the harness steps in to neutralise gravity's pull. Not helping the state of mind was the clunk as the back of the harness strikes the steel ramp on the way to mid-air suspension, prompting thoughts of, "Oh my god, did it just fall off?"
If nothing else, the experience brings home the truth that control is an illusion. This was after all, really no different to travelling on a gondola or ski lift, albeit at a somewhat less leisurely speed.
Lucky then that the guides were there to inform, entertain and distract the less than intrepid.
The merry tone of the whole experience was set from the get-go when we received the safety talk as we were kitted out in the - it must be said - rather musty-smelling harnesses. Safety helmets were a must, and scrawled on each were names like George Bush, Barbie, or in my case, King Kong - which also saved the guides the hassle of having to remember a dozen or so names.
Pity then the poor soul who gets Spider Pig, like one woman in our group did.
She had the joy of the guides instructing her to "just let go of that harness, Spider Pig" and "launch yourself off that, Spider Pig". The guides themselves are young, fit; a hotchpotch of humanity from all over the world, all passionate about working in their playground in the trees.
And you'd understand why, once you wiped away thoughts of being transformed into a jam-like consistency over a patch of 135 million year old rainforest floor.
True to its name, this pocket of biodiversity was experiencing one of its regular deluges, all that surfeit moisture giving the rainforest an ethereal, mid-afternoon cloaked-in-mist quality.
Spanning an area approximately 1200sq km, the Daintree is home to the highest number of rare or endangered plant and animal species anywhere in the world. It contains a third of Australia's frog, marsupial and reptile species, and 65 per cent of its bats and butterflies. A fifth of the country's bird species also make the rainforest home. All that in an area that takes up just 0.2 per cent of the lucky country's land mass.
All that fauna is admittedly quite hard to spot when you're whizzing through the treetops, but a lucky few have been known to spy upon cassowaries tramping through the forest floor below.
A more sedate option to get acquainted with the wildlife would be to foot it. Some locals offer guided rainforest walks through their own property, ranging from two-hour to half day and night walks. Our jungle surfing guide spoke of one lucky group which only a week earlier had witnessed the sight of one of the area's many crocodiles seizing an unsuspecting boar drinking at the water's edge.
Self-guided walks are also available. These can range from the easy, like the 400m-long Kulki Boardwalk, to the seriously demented like the Mt Sorrow Ridge Walk. Walkers keen on the latter are advised to allow eight hours return, to carry plenty of water, to set off early - and to tell someone of their plans. People have become lost on this walk and never found.
We weren't up to tackling Mt Sorrow, so settled instead on an easy walk up to the Kulki Lookout, where you can witness lush rainforest give way to the shimmery seas of the Great Barrier Reef.
Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely languid walk on nearby Cape Tribulation Beach.
The sky was pale grey, pregnant with the promise of rain, but the sea breeze was a gentle tug on the fronds of the many coconut trees that line the beach. Tiny little crabs scuttled about, creating intricate swirling patterns on the beach, the only other life form that was clearly on the go.
Had I died that day in the Daintree, I couldn't think of a last look more beautiful.
Errol Kiong travelled to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest courtesy of MAD (Managing Australian Destinations) North Queensland.
GETTING THERE: Visitors can fly direct to Cairns and either self-drive or take a coach transfer. Cape Tribulation is about 2 1/2 hours north of Cairns. A coach service also operates from Port Douglas, an hour north of Cairns. The trip requires crossing the Daintree River by car ferry, which operates between 6am and midnight daily.
WHERE TO STAY: The area hosts a range of accommodation - budget, backpacker, camp site, B&B, farmstay, self-contained unit, motel and luxury resort. Visitors can also base themselves in Port Douglas, a 90-minute drive away.
Cape Tribulation Resort & Spa: Situated in between the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef, this is a four-star resort amid wild surrounds. All the units offer private rainforest views with easy access to white-sand Coconut Beach. The complex reef systems extend to Mackay and Undine reefs, only 45 minutes offshore.
www.capetribulationresort.com.au
WHAT TO DO: Jungle Adventures Cape Trib has been guiding visitors through its private patch of wilderness since 1995, although jungle surfing is a relatively new addition. The canopy tours are $85 per person. www.junglesurfing.com.au
