You are talking me out of my cherished dream of an Australian nature safari.
Oh, I hope not. The Atherton Tablelands near Cairns in Queensland is exactly where you want to go. The Barron Gorge and the antique railroad which takes you there are one of the few places that are larger in real life than their reputation. However you must be careful: ordinary looking shrubs which will put you in the hospital for six months, if you survive, tiny box jellies and blue-ring octopus will kill you, very painfully, and not the least crocodiles waiting in ambush to chomp you in half. I was there two years ago, and was turned away at a park entrance because one had eaten a poor woman the day before and they they were still collecting her pieces.