Cairns was one of our favorite places when we visited Australia four year ago. Unfortunately, our tour into the rainforest was canceled on Wednesday because not enough people had signed up for such a strenuous excursion on an amphibious Army Duck that included a Dreamtime Walk and native dancers. On Wednesday night, the tour to the Great Barrier Reef was canceled because of the weather. We know that we are near a cyclone but we feel sorry for the passengers who wanted to take the cruise to the reef. It is the only thing that astronauts can see from outer space--they really cannot see the Great Wall of China--and visiting this natural wonder is a once in a lifetime experience.
At breakfast, Ken encountered Mary and Ed, from Cruise Critic and the Build a Boat Contest, who suggested that we do something together. The four of us ran into our next door neighbors, Doris and Claude, who are table mates of Mary and Ed, and the six of us took off for the Visitor's Center. There we saw Heidi and Dave, from Las Vegas, who also are Mary and Ed's table mates, and we became one, big, happy family for the day so that we could get the group rate for the Skyrail Rainforest Cable to and the Kuranda Scenic Railway from the rainforest to the village of Kuranda. Our guide Steve told us to take the skyrail first because it was to get much windier later in the day. He also suggested that we take our time between stops in the rainforest so we could explore the flora and the fauna. According to Steve, Kuranda was a hippie-type village in the rain forest where we could shop and then play with the snakes, koalas and kangaroos. At 1:30 p.m., we were to walk to the train station to board the Kuranda Scenic Railway. More than 1,500 workers lost their lives while building the railway, which was started in 1886 to connect the coast to the tablelands.
Of course, everyone knows what happens when you plan. The travel brochure stated that "the aerial gondolas soar over the forest canopy and the Kuranda Range offering views of the mountains, Cairns and the Coral Sea" or that's what they normally do but Thursday was not a normal day. We arrived at the the skyrail station to be told that there were mechanical difficulties, and we should look around the souvenir shop. Then the skyrail staff suggested that we take the skyrail to the first stop because the problems should be resolved within one-half hour. The ride up the mountains above the rain forest was breathtaking. We watched as palm trees gave way to pine trees. At the first stop, the nature guide gave us a tour and introduced us the wait-awhile plant that catches people and doesn't let them go and is used for rattan furniture; the Kairi Pine that grows 50 meters in height, can live 1,000 years, provides valuable timber, and has a smooth trunk that sheds bark to clean itself so nothing can usually grow on it; the basket ferns that are epiphytes that attach themselves to trees but do not harm their hosts; the orchids that flower in August and September; big spiders that build humongous webs; and the Southern Cassowary, the biggest bird in the rain forests that is known as the gardener of the rainforest because it eats fruits and poops seeds.
When we got back to the station, we were sure that the mechanical problem would have been resolved. How gullible were we? The guides kept saying that it would only be 10 more minutes. Heidi befriended a group of young men tourists from Busan, South Korea, where we will be on March 30, and Carl, one of the park employees, assured us that the repairs were almost finished because the repairmen were not working as hard. (Is that really a good sign?) At 12:30 p.m., we finally boarded a gondola to Kuranda. Our visit was limited to window shopping in the stores on the main street. Doris really wanted to have her picture taken with a koala. The gatekeeper at the zoo took pity on them after our experience with mechanical difficulties and let her and Claude sneak into to see the koalas without paying the entrance fee and have their picture taken for only $15.00.
We had to catch the 2 p.m. train because it took an hour and one-half to travel back to Cairns and the ship left before the 4 p.m. train would arrive. The railroad goes over 40 bridges and 15 tunnels, making it one of the most dramatic train rides in the world and Australia's answer to the Orient Express. We think we liked the train ride even more than we enjoyed the gondola ride over the rainforests. At one point, we viewed this amazing waterfall on the left side of the train before going over a bridge. We wondered what happened to the waterfall after we went through a tunnel on the other side of the bridge when the waterfall appeared upclose and personal on the right side of the train. Ken took some great photographs.
The train arrived in downtown Cairns 15 minutes late but no one seemed concerned. It's the tropics, mate! We had time to shop in the downtown area and even got to go to some of the stores in the Night Markets that opened at 4:30 p.m. before getting on our ship for another beautiful sail away.
Everyone we talked with seemed to have a good time in Cairns. Lauren and Craig returned to the ship after their trip to Ayers Rocks. They said it rained every day but they really enjoyed themselves. The Red Center has so had so much rain during Australia's summer that they are now calling it the Green Center.
No comments:
Post a Comment