Scenic Trip to Kuranda

Wednesday, Dec 16

We woke up around 7:45 today, had some cereal for breakfast, then headed out for our bus pickup to Kuranda. It was a little rainy and very cloudy, but we didn't care. We weren't too sure what to think about the whole trip that lay ahead of us, but I knew that I was REALLY looking forward to the Kuranda Scenic Railway trip that would bring us back down the mountain into Cairns. Our first leg of the trip, up to Kuranda, was via a gondola ride, "SkyRail", over the rainforest. The gondola made two stops along the way, each offering a walk through the rainforest! Dave and I both couldn't stop talking about the amazing views offered and the experience of walking IN the rainforest. The temperature and climate within was so completely different than that of Cairns below. The whole experience was amazing, and I hope you all can experience something like it!

After about an hour and a half, we made our way into Kuranda. It was a quaint little village, looked like maybe 200 people lived there, and consisted of one main street that was lined with shops. Although it has turned into a tourist trap, it was still very interesting. We made our way down to the end of the main street to find Koala Gardens, a small zoo that had koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, fresh water crocs and some reptiles. Dave got a picture of himself holding Chibby the koala and I got to pet her too. She was very cute and very soft. We then moved on and fed some very lathargic kangaroos, probably because of all the grain that everyone was feeding them..

Since it was a little after lunch, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in a neat little restaurant with a porch that overlooked the rainforest, then headed to the historic Kuranda Rail Station for our train ride back down to Cairns through the Barron Gorge!

The train ride was spectacular. It crossed in front of waterfalls, passed along cliffs and went through 15 tunnels on the trip down from the village through the rainforest. It also poured on and off the whole trip down. At one point, one of the conductors on the train came by and laughed and said "Well, I guess we're in the rainy season".

Once back in Cairns, we headed to the Didjeridoo shop where Dave, after another 20 minutes of looking around in the shop, finally picked out his didjeridoo and bought it. We then went and grabbed some pizza, and watched as it poured the hardest I think I've ever seen. It sure did seem like we'd hit the rainy season in the north!

When we got back to the hostel, we began packing our bags and getting ready for our early departure tomorrow morning, when we're off to Sydney!