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This weather is fantastic! I completely understand why all the Victorian and South Australian oldies evacuate their home states and migrate north for the winter... The last week has been superb, the days average around 24 - 26 degrees, and although early mornings and evenings are cooler, they're by no means cold. The sun has been out all day every day, with only the occasional cloud to dampen the spirits. Wonder how they're coping at home...?
We got up early again this morning, for our train ride back up to Kuranda. This will be our second visit to the village in the rainforest, but we're hoping that by going up on a long weekend, there'll be more market stalls happening, and more people around. The Kuranda Scenic Railway has been voted as one of the most scenic train trips in the world, and it certainly delivers on that front. It twists and winds its way up the side of the mountain range, through 15 tunnels, across numerous bridges, through rainforest and mountain gorges, climbing 1000 feet to Kuranda. It's a marvel of engineering, that took 1500 workers more than six years to build. The entire job was done with hand tools, picks and axes, including all the tunnels, and there were 23 deaths confirmed during this period, with the possibility of another 9 connected with the work. What's more, if you didn't bring your own tools, you couldn't get a job... Back in the good old days, before unions and OH&S came along and ruined the country... It's a 90 minute trip, in the same old style train carriages, but the steam engine has been replaced with two 1000hp diesel locomotives. It's very pretty, and worth the cost, but within the first 30 minutes, our two boys were bored of it and wanted to know how much longer it was going to take...
Kuranda train station, at the end of the line, is just beautiful. It's an old heritage listed station, but full of trees and gardens and heritage style. It certainly does a grand job of welcoming you to the village in the rainforest. It's a short, 10 minute walk up to the village, but there's regular free shuttle buses if you're feeling lazy. Because it's a weekend, and a long weekend, there were lots more people and much more activity than last time we were here. It's very colourful, and touristy, and arts and crafty, and all done in that alternate, hippy style. We wandered through the village and markets, shopping and admiring, but not really buying anything. It's full of stuff you'd like to have, but don't need enough to justify buying it... Know what I mean? You know when you say to yourself "That looks really nice, I like how they've done that..." but then you move on to the next thing, and you end up walking away without any purchases? We did that, nearly all day today...
We also went to Birdworld, which is a very large aviary with over 500 birds free flying through the enclosure. The birds were very accustomed to people though, and would happily fly down and land on your head or shoulder and have their pictures taken. Particularly if you had a bag of bird food, or were wearing earrings or shiny jewellery. It was very interactive, and we were able to pat them, and pick them up on our finger or hands, and we absolutely loved it. This was how 'Breakfast with the Birds' was 18 years ago when Jo and I first did it, which we were hoping to show the boys... There were some very large Macaws, and Black Cockatoos, with really big beaks there, and if they wanted your food, you just let them take it. I've never successfully argued with a massive parrot before, and today wasn't the best place to try and convince them of the value of sharing... It turns out though, that they really only wanted the bigger nuts, and were quite happy to let the other birds have the smaller seeds and fruit and vege pieces. There's quite a few photos of us with our new found feathered friends, and if you're ever in Kuranda, I'd strongly recommend Birdworld along with the Butterfly Sanctuary as being two of the 'must do's' with the kids.
After Birdworld, we had lunch in a nice local cafe, and wandered back to the station down the other side of the street. Again, we couldn't quite bring ourselves to commit to a purchase, and went to the Skyrail Station for our trip back down the mountain to Cairns. Skyrail is a gondola ride, 7.5km from Kuranda straight down to Cairns. It doesn't twist and turn like the train, it travels over the trees, in a direct line, up and over and down the other side of the mountain range. It gives absolutely sensational views in all directions. Completely unobstructed outlooks right across the mountain tops and out to sea, as far as you can see. It's an incredible trip, unless you're afraid of heights... Jo sat in her seat sweating and shivering, with her eyes clamped shut, the entire time. We resisted bouncing the gondola, or rocking it back and forth, as we knew she'd throw us overboard the instant it started. The boys would let her know when the gondola car was going to bounce over the next tower wheels, so she didn't have little freak out's all the way down, and there were interludes to relieve the tension, when we arrived at the two midway stops along the route. To break up the 7.5km trip, they've built two stations along the way, where you can get out and do a short rainforest walk. You don't have to, but the walks give you an appreciation for the forest you're gliding over the top of, from underneath or inside it. The boardwalks have a couple of lookouts for views over Barron Falls and the gorge, but nothing that can compare with the view from inside the gondola carriage. Nevertheless, the midway stations gave us a chance to get Jo's stress levels down a bit, and her hyperventilation under control, before the next leg of the journey. Before we knew it, we were back on ground level at the base of the mountain again, and able to return the prozac needle to the handbag...
Again today, we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the park's waterplay areas. The splash Zone for a while, and then the main pool. It really is a fantastic way for the boys to burn up the last of their energy, and makes it really easy to convince them to go to bed nice and early.
Finally, Jeremy has been eager to get back to the park all day today, and her name is Claire... She's here until Thursday, and she's here with her dad and little brother, and another family that's their friends. That's all we know, from a very brief conversation in the pool, because he's a bit shy trying to talk to her with her friend always around... But I've got to admire his determination and his maturity. He understands and accepts that nothing can come of it, because holidays are too brief, but he is interested in her, and he wanted to know her name. The way he sees it, he's got until Thursday to chat with her, and maybe become friends, and she did recognise him from the trip to the reef... That's got to count for something... Right?
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