Cairns

Cairns - Monday and Tuesday, July 10 & 11

Monday morning we awoke early. We had to return the rental car to the airport, which was an hour south, by 1:00. Gavin also *really* wanted to see Mossman Gorge, which was 20 minutes north, since we had missed on our way back from Daintree. Ewan and I were indifferent, but we humored him. We ate an early breakfast, packed up our things quickly, and were on our way. 

We arrived at the Mossman Gorge visitors center and purchased tickets for the shuttle bus (though it's not far to the trailhead, they don't allow cars up there because it's a very narrow and winding road that also passes through an aboriginal village that they prefer people not disturb. We hopped on the bus, and five minutes later reached the trailhead. Once again we found ourselves in the midst of lush, rainforest greenery, on a boardwalk that led us to some lovely views of the Mossman river. 

The first overlook was a peaceful swimming hole accented with large, smooth boulders. We continued along the trail and other lookout points offering other view of the rock river rapids, and even over a very wobbly suspension bridge. Given we were short on time, we didn't stay long, and we're soon back on our way south to Cairns. 

We found the airport easily, returned our car, and caught a taxi to our home for the next two nights: the Shangri-La hotel. Our room wasn't quite ready, so we ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and by the time we were done, we were able to check in. The hotel was situated right on the marina with a lovely view of the boats with a lush, green mountain across the water. 

We were tired from our early morning, so we each took a little nap, then you'll never guess what we did next! That's right. Headed to the pool. Our little water bug made friends with a group of siblings from Sydney who amused themselves playing race games and Red Light Green Light until it was time to head out for dinner. I had consulted Trip Advisor, and made a reservation at Vivaldi's, which was a short walk from our hotel. I had been intrigued by the kangaroo loin entree I had seen when browsing the menu online, and figured, why not try it? After all, when in Oz... It was quite tasty, especially when paired with a juicy Barossa Valley Shiraz, recommended by our friendly, knowledgeable, French waiter. 

The next morning we prepared for our next excursion, a trip to Kuranda via the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, which I had booked the day before. This was supposed to be one of the highlight attractions in the area. We waited in the hotel lobby for our shuttle, which picked us up just after 10:00 and took us to the Skyrail station. 

The Skyrail is a nearly 5-mile long cableway climbing the steep mountains above Barron Gorge National Park to the village of Kuranda. As we ascended, we enjoyed fantastic coastal views of Cairns behind us, as we snapped photos and shot time lapse videos of our ride. 

There were two stations along the way. The first was Red Peak, about 15 minutes up from the base. There we chose to skip the walk along the boardwalk, since we'd already seen our fair share of rainforest boardwalks at this point. We hopped into the queue for the next segment of the ride. The cable cars came along every 40 seconds or so, so we didn't have to wait too long. The next stop was Barron Falls, which was definitely worth having a look at the spectacular 800 foot high waterfall cascading down the face of the mountain. 

There were a couple of different vantage points, at one of which Ewan made a small, reptilian friend who was also enjoying the view. 

Finally we boarded a cable car for the last leg of our aerial journey up to Kuranda, just ten minutes away. 

The town was a tropical, touristy stretch of cafes, ice creameries, and shops selling everything from kangaroo hides to didgeridoos to opals and cheesy t-shirts to Crocodile Dundee hats. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch, poked around a few shops, purchased a few souvenirs, and then it was time to head back to catch our train, the Kuranda Scenic Railway, which was scheduled to depart at 2:00. 

We boarded 10 minutes before departure, and found our seats easily. The ride back down the mountain was long, but very scenic and interesting, as the voyage was narrated with facts and tidbits about the history of the building of the railroad, as it was quite an incredible engineering feat. There was one stop along this journey, once again at Barron Falls, but this time our vantage point was from the opposite side of the gorge. The light wasn't ideal for photos, but it was still a gorgeous view. 

The train slowly chugged its way down the mountain, through many tunnels, over multiple bridges and through turn after turn until we disembarked at the Freshwater station and found our coach to transfer back to our hotel. With our hotel being one of the last stops, we opted to get off the bus early and walk back along the esplanade. We encountered a large, waterfront playground where we stopped for a while to let Ewan climb around on an extensive rope structure. He even convinced me to join him.

Gavin wanted to walk back to the hotel along the esplanade, but I wanted to walk back along the street parallel, just a block down, so we decided to split up. 

I was looking for the trees our bus driver had pointed out earlier in the morning where a whole colony of huge fruit bats made their home. We couldn't believe how many there were when we passed it in the morning, but standing right below them I was absolutely fascinated by these nocturnal creatures that were just starting to stir as it was late afternoon. Hundreds and hundreds of them hung from these two banyan trees on the corner of the street in the middle of the city. I was one of several curious tourists, craning our necks upwards to get a better look and trying to take photos of these adorable creatures, each hanging upside down holding on by a single foot, leathery wings wrapped tightly around their furry, round bodies. 

Continuing on, I stopped to peruse the uninspired Cairns Night Market, though couldn't resist the temptation of a bubble tea. I had texted Gavin to tell him where to find the bats so he and Ewan could check them out as well, and I took their bubble tea orders. I waited for them to catch up to me, then we walked back to our hotel where we rested for an hour before dinner. 

We dined at "Tha Fish," another Trip Advisor approved establishment, which was right on the water, conveniently located on the pier below our hotel. Once again we enjoyed delicious, fresh food with friendly service. We've been so impressed and pleased with the food here! One more great day in the Australian tropics, before heading south to Brisbane.