Can you believe it? We have had four New Years Eve celebrations! We boarded our plane to Cairns via Darwin and just as we took off it was New Year in Darwin, half an hour later it was New Year in Cairns and one hour later it was New Year in Singapore. Later that day we saw the New Year celebrations in London on the TV - we were all celebrated out!!
Having said that we decided to push the boat out a bit and went for a meal in a local up-market sea food restaurant (Barnacle Bill's) for the most delicious prawns and a fish call Baramundi, really something. We are very impressed with Cairns, the town is lovely, really wide boulevards, very little traffic, extremely friendly people and some incredible things to do. We decided to stay an extra day so approached the car hire company to see if we could collect the car a day later and drop it off a day later. We were expecting either an 'no' or 'it will cost you a rearrangement fee' and paper work in triplicate. The response was very different, 'no worries' said the chap, 'that is done'. We must have been embarrassingly profuse in our thanks as we backed out of the shop tugging our forelocks. It feels like that here.
You would think we had enough of train journeys but there is a short journey here through the jungle up into the hills to Kuranda. The train has old fashioned carriages where the air-conditioning is an open window. The journey is amazing, the track runs through undisturbed rain forest, across gorges and past an enormous waterfall called the Baron Falls where it stops to give a view. Much of the water is siphoned off for hydro-electric generation but what remains is massive and really impressive. Because the journey is uphill all the way the train trundles along at a speed which allows you to appreciate the scenery which is spectacular. I think of all the journeys we have done this has to be the most awe-inspiring both in its construction and in the scenery (and it was only a 90 minute trip).
The town of Karunda must be reliant on tourism as that is all there seems to be there. It is full of eateries and souvenir shops. We decided to go to a bird world which was super with loads of brightly coloured parrots flying free. One parrot took a real liking to this chaps ear and it wouldn't let go, I was delighted it wasn't me - I like birds at a distance but not sat on my shoulder.
There were several identified walks back to the station through the forest so we decided to take one of these across Jumrum Creek. It was just magical, the sound of the cicadas were like an electic buzz the whole time, the plants and trees were just as you would imagine, green, damp, tangled and all fighting for their share of the light. It was hot, steamy and very atmospheric.
The best was yet to come though. Our ticket was the train going up to Karunda and the Skyrail return. The Skyrail defies description. We had seen pictures but they do not do it justice. It takes 45 minutes from Karunda to finish down on the coastal plain and the carriages (pods? cars?) fly you across the rain forest above the canopy of the trees. At times we must have been at least 200 feet from the ground and the experience was breathtaking. There are two stops on the way, the first at Barron Falls where we took some amazing photos of the cascade and the second in the heart of the rain forest where there are some of the biggest trees, all seemed to have other plants growing along their trunks and branches as there is stiff competition for the available light. If you go to Cairns this is a 'must do' trip.
Today dawned for another wonderful day and a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkling. As I write this blog I can't believe it is me saying that we have done all these things - it seems unreal. Anyway, the trip today was fantastic. We took this huge passenger catamaran out to a floating platform, alongside which the ship moors and from there you board the floating platform but still have use of the boat facilities, it is clever how they do it. Our trip could have taken 200 people but there were only about 100 of us which I know sounds a lot but everything is so big it felt spacious. They provided all the necessary equipment including lycra suits which cover you from head to foot - believe me this is not a good look - there was an unspoken agreement between John and I that I wouldn't take a picture of him if he didn't take a picture of me. So, if you must you are going to have to rely on your imagination for a picture of this! The snorkling, however, was incredible, the colours of the corals just fantastic and the fish were so brightly coloured. There was one huge Wrasse which was incredibly friendly, at one point they threw some small fish into the water and this Wrasse mounted the snorkling platform to make sure he got his full share. We had a wonderful day and will be sorry to leave Cairns tomorrow.
We have had very strange weather whilst being away and this continues. You may have seen on the news that Queensland has been having dreadful floods south of here. Apparently an area of land the size of France and Germany together is flooded. Well, our next plan is to drive down the coast round to Adelaide. We have three weeks to do this, we will be sensible but it will be an interesting journey.
The blog will be continued as and when I have the chance - watch this space!
Having said that we decided to push the boat out a bit and went for a meal in a local up-market sea food restaurant (Barnacle Bill's) for the most delicious prawns and a fish call Baramundi, really something. We are very impressed with Cairns, the town is lovely, really wide boulevards, very little traffic, extremely friendly people and some incredible things to do. We decided to stay an extra day so approached the car hire company to see if we could collect the car a day later and drop it off a day later. We were expecting either an 'no' or 'it will cost you a rearrangement fee' and paper work in triplicate. The response was very different, 'no worries' said the chap, 'that is done'. We must have been embarrassingly profuse in our thanks as we backed out of the shop tugging our forelocks. It feels like that here.
You would think we had enough of train journeys but there is a short journey here through the jungle up into the hills to Kuranda. The train has old fashioned carriages where the air-conditioning is an open window. The journey is amazing, the track runs through undisturbed rain forest, across gorges and past an enormous waterfall called the Baron Falls where it stops to give a view. Much of the water is siphoned off for hydro-electric generation but what remains is massive and really impressive. Because the journey is uphill all the way the train trundles along at a speed which allows you to appreciate the scenery which is spectacular. I think of all the journeys we have done this has to be the most awe-inspiring both in its construction and in the scenery (and it was only a 90 minute trip).The town of Karunda must be reliant on tourism as that is all there seems to be there. It is full of eateries and souvenir shops. We decided to go to a bird world which was super with loads of brightly coloured parrots flying free. One parrot took a real liking to this chaps ear and it wouldn't let go, I was delighted it wasn't me - I like birds at a distance but not sat on my shoulder.
There were several identified walks back to the station through the forest so we decided to take one of these across Jumrum Creek. It was just magical, the sound of the cicadas were like an electic buzz the whole time, the plants and trees were just as you would imagine, green, damp, tangled and all fighting for their share of the light. It was hot, steamy and very atmospheric.
The best was yet to come though. Our ticket was the train going up to Karunda and the Skyrail return. The Skyrail defies description. We had seen pictures but they do not do it justice. It takes 45 minutes from Karunda to finish down on the coastal plain and the carriages (pods? cars?) fly you across the rain forest above the canopy of the trees. At times we must have been at least 200 feet from the ground and the experience was breathtaking. There are two stops on the way, the first at Barron Falls where we took some amazing photos of the cascade and the second in the heart of the rain forest where there are some of the biggest trees, all seemed to have other plants growing along their trunks and branches as there is stiff competition for the available light. If you go to Cairns this is a 'must do' trip.Today dawned for another wonderful day and a trip out to the Great Barrier Reef for snorkling. As I write this blog I can't believe it is me saying that we have done all these things - it seems unreal. Anyway, the trip today was fantastic. We took this huge passenger catamaran out to a floating platform, alongside which the ship moors and from there you board the floating platform but still have use of the boat facilities, it is clever how they do it. Our trip could have taken 200 people but there were only about 100 of us which I know sounds a lot but everything is so big it felt spacious. They provided all the necessary equipment including lycra suits which cover you from head to foot - believe me this is not a good look - there was an unspoken agreement between John and I that I wouldn't take a picture of him if he didn't take a picture of me. So, if you must you are going to have to rely on your imagination for a picture of this! The snorkling, however, was incredible, the colours of the corals just fantastic and the fish were so brightly coloured. There was one huge Wrasse which was incredibly friendly, at one point they threw some small fish into the water and this Wrasse mounted the snorkling platform to make sure he got his full share. We had a wonderful day and will be sorry to leave Cairns tomorrow.
We have had very strange weather whilst being away and this continues. You may have seen on the news that Queensland has been having dreadful floods south of here. Apparently an area of land the size of France and Germany together is flooded. Well, our next plan is to drive down the coast round to Adelaide. We have three weeks to do this, we will be sensible but it will be an interesting journey.
The blog will be continued as and when I have the chance - watch this space!
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