Cairns, Australia Sunday, March 10
Cairns, Australia 8:00am-6:00pm
Cairns...Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and lush rainforests. It is a small city with a population of under 200,000, with tourism being one of their main attractions. They also grow sugar cane, tropical fruits, and now boasts the world's first tropical fruit wine region.
We have already been out to the Great Barrier Reef so this time we decided to check out the rain forest. Besides.....it was still raining when we arrived in port, and was predicted to continue all day, so what the heck. And since it was Sunday, we didn't want to wander around another city center like we did yesterday. We booked a 6 hr tour through the ship to take the historic Kuranda scenic railway up to Kuranda, spend a couple of hours in Kuranda and then take the Skyrail Rain Forest Cableway in a gondola traveling high above the rainforest canopy back down. We were hoping that it was going to be a little cooler in the mountains than in the city.
We left on the tour bus about 9:00am, driving through the city to the train station...about a 1/2 hr. drive. We then boarded a very authentic old wooden train for the 21 mile trek through the Barron Gorge and up the mountain to the village of Kuranda. With long bench seats and open windows, I could tell that this was going to be a 1 1/2 hr adventure....most likely with some body stiffness involved when we get off at the end. We started off slowly heading uphill through the lush green gorges, past waterfalls, over 37 bridges and through 15 tunnels. It really was pretty, and cooler......it was still about 80 degrees, but better than 90 down below in the city. Most of the faraway sights were blocked by clouds and fog, which was a little disappointing, but it was still beautiful. Arriving in Kuranda we loosened our muscles and stiff joints with a 10 minute walk to the village from the train station. 3 full blocks filled with boutiques, native Aboriginal art, crafts, and cafes, we had about 1 1/2 hours to explore before we were to board the gondola down to the bottom. We were not hungry so we decided to shop. There were some beautiful pieces of native art and crafts, along with the local eats. We love to buy local honey, so we found some of that and a few other trinkets. To tell you the truth...I thought this would be a village filled with the local Aboriginal people selling their wares. We saw a few, but they were mostly on the street playing the didgeridoo for money. Kind of sad really...
Between drenching rain showers, we walked down to the Skyway Cableway, which was right next to the railway station just in time to get our tickets from our guide and board. I was a little nervous about floating so high over the forest in a small pod connected to a cable, but I sure wasn't going to get back on that train going down. We hopped in the gondola and settled in for a 45 minute ride over the rain forest canopy....about a 5 mile ride. It wasn't air conditioned, but there were vents in the bottom below the seats where air came through and small open windows on the sides which kept the pod quite cool. These also allowed you the hear things in the forest. It was so quiet that you could hear the birds and cicadas. But of course, I also thought I could hear all of the creepy-crawly poisonous things that I knew were slithering on the forest floor. The forest was dense and you could not always see the bottom...but I knew they were there....just waiting. My vivid imagination was a little out of control today. There was one stop about halfway where we could get off and walk through the forest, but by that time it was so foggy and rainy we wouldn't be able to see a thing, so we stayed on. Braving the highest point on the ride (1,788 ft above the forest floor) we were slowly on our way to the bottom of the forest and the end. I really did enjoy it. We still had an hour before the bus left for the ship, and since our guide was still up at the top making sure everyone in our group got down, we decided to find a nosh realizing we were hungry. The gift shop only had a small coffee shop, so we asked if there was anything within a short walking distance to get a bite. Next door was a native Aboriginal museum with a restaurant so off we went. We ordered fish and chips made with the local barramundi fish, which was by far the best we have had, and the museum had the best native arts and crafts that we have seen anywhere. Of course we bought some things and spent a nice quiet hr. away from the Skyway gift shop and our fellow passengers, which I am sure were complaining about one thing or another. Sometimes the best things happen randomly.
We boarded the bus back to the ship and the guide informed us that we still had some time, so she was going to give us a scenic ride through the city on our way back. We saw fruit bats hanging from trees in the city and the downtown area, and drove along the beach.. It was a good tour and we had a great time. Back to the ship and sail-away.
Cairns...Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and lush rainforests. It is a small city with a population of under 200,000, with tourism being one of their main attractions. They also grow sugar cane, tropical fruits, and now boasts the world's first tropical fruit wine region.
We have already been out to the Great Barrier Reef so this time we decided to check out the rain forest. Besides.....it was still raining when we arrived in port, and was predicted to continue all day, so what the heck. And since it was Sunday, we didn't want to wander around another city center like we did yesterday. We booked a 6 hr tour through the ship to take the historic Kuranda scenic railway up to Kuranda, spend a couple of hours in Kuranda and then take the Skyrail Rain Forest Cableway in a gondola traveling high above the rainforest canopy back down. We were hoping that it was going to be a little cooler in the mountains than in the city.
We left on the tour bus about 9:00am, driving through the city to the train station...about a 1/2 hr. drive. We then boarded a very authentic old wooden train for the 21 mile trek through the Barron Gorge and up the mountain to the village of Kuranda. With long bench seats and open windows, I could tell that this was going to be a 1 1/2 hr adventure....most likely with some body stiffness involved when we get off at the end. We started off slowly heading uphill through the lush green gorges, past waterfalls, over 37 bridges and through 15 tunnels. It really was pretty, and cooler......it was still about 80 degrees, but better than 90 down below in the city. Most of the faraway sights were blocked by clouds and fog, which was a little disappointing, but it was still beautiful. Arriving in Kuranda we loosened our muscles and stiff joints with a 10 minute walk to the village from the train station. 3 full blocks filled with boutiques, native Aboriginal art, crafts, and cafes, we had about 1 1/2 hours to explore before we were to board the gondola down to the bottom. We were not hungry so we decided to shop. There were some beautiful pieces of native art and crafts, along with the local eats. We love to buy local honey, so we found some of that and a few other trinkets. To tell you the truth...I thought this would be a village filled with the local Aboriginal people selling their wares. We saw a few, but they were mostly on the street playing the didgeridoo for money. Kind of sad really...
Between drenching rain showers, we walked down to the Skyway Cableway, which was right next to the railway station just in time to get our tickets from our guide and board. I was a little nervous about floating so high over the forest in a small pod connected to a cable, but I sure wasn't going to get back on that train going down. We hopped in the gondola and settled in for a 45 minute ride over the rain forest canopy....about a 5 mile ride. It wasn't air conditioned, but there were vents in the bottom below the seats where air came through and small open windows on the sides which kept the pod quite cool. These also allowed you the hear things in the forest. It was so quiet that you could hear the birds and cicadas. But of course, I also thought I could hear all of the creepy-crawly poisonous things that I knew were slithering on the forest floor. The forest was dense and you could not always see the bottom...but I knew they were there....just waiting. My vivid imagination was a little out of control today. There was one stop about halfway where we could get off and walk through the forest, but by that time it was so foggy and rainy we wouldn't be able to see a thing, so we stayed on. Braving the highest point on the ride (1,788 ft above the forest floor) we were slowly on our way to the bottom of the forest and the end. I really did enjoy it. We still had an hour before the bus left for the ship, and since our guide was still up at the top making sure everyone in our group got down, we decided to find a nosh realizing we were hungry. The gift shop only had a small coffee shop, so we asked if there was anything within a short walking distance to get a bite. Next door was a native Aboriginal museum with a restaurant so off we went. We ordered fish and chips made with the local barramundi fish, which was by far the best we have had, and the museum had the best native arts and crafts that we have seen anywhere. Of course we bought some things and spent a nice quiet hr. away from the Skyway gift shop and our fellow passengers, which I am sure were complaining about one thing or another. Sometimes the best things happen randomly.
We boarded the bus back to the ship and the guide informed us that we still had some time, so she was going to give us a scenic ride through the city on our way back. We saw fruit bats hanging from trees in the city and the downtown area, and drove along the beach.. It was a good tour and we had a great time. Back to the ship and sail-away.
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| Train crossing over the many bridges |
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| Hello! |
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| A very wet Kuranda |
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| Time to shop |
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| One of a few waterfalls |
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| we are really high, but just wait until we get to the top of that mountain ahead.... |
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| made it to the end....and yes, the background is fake. |
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