G'day again from Cairns. The weather hasn't changed, which is a very good thing - apparently although this time of year is "out of season" for most of Australia, it's the best time to be in Cairns because in the Australian summer it's monsoon season. So we've enjoyed glorious sunshine pretty much every day so far.

Today we decided we'd stop being lazy and sunbathing by the pool or at the beach all day and actually go on one of the trips we've been talking about since we got here. Last night we booked the Skyrail and Scenic Train trip from Cairns to the village of Kuranda up in the mountains surrounding the city.

After an earlier than usual start (we had to be outside the hostel at 10am, not a time we usually see nowadays!) we took the tour bus from Cairns to the Skyrail station which is at the bottom of the rainforest-covered mountains about 10 minutes outside the city. From there we got straight on to the Skyrail (imagine a ski resort's lift, but going over the rainforest instead) - we got a pod to ourselves which was lucky. There were two stops on the way where you could do a rainforest boardwalk and look out over the gorge and the waterfalls.

Eventually we arrived in the Aboriginal village of Kuranda, which is quite touristy but there were some good markets selling everything from stuffed kangaroos and crocodiles to jewellery. We had a wander around and had lunch (we both had a Queensland burger, and weren't sure whether it was beef or croc - we're hoping the former), then at 2 o clock walked back to the Kuranda train station to catch the Scenic Train back to Cairns.

The train journey was beautiful, it's a big old steam train that runs all the way through the mountains and the rainforest, with a running commentary on all the things you can see through the windows. We also heard the history of how they built the train line all the way through the rainforest and the dam at Barron Falls, which is amazing. I do have photos, but unfortunately the hostel's computers don't have working USB ports, so they'll have to wait a week or so until I'm back in San Francisco.

It was an amazing day, and we're both pretty exhausted but really glad we did it. Next up, Green Island and the reef!

Lots of love x