Wednesday, Steve and I were in for
quite a treat—koalas and exploring the rain forest! We took and
excursion up to Kuranda, which is a former hippie village in the
rainforest, just above Cairns. The bus was a bit late, but everything
seemed to be running late that morning, according to the bus drivers
(we had to change buses a time or two). We got dropped off at the
Skyrail station (like a ski lift, where you’re in a little closed
in car hanging from a cable), and up, up, up the mountains we went!
We got to see the rain forest from a
bird’s eye view before stopping at a boardwalk about a third of the
way up. We got out and went on a little nature walk with a guide who
explained about how the rain forest works. The rain forest us
actually a rough environment for the plants that seem to thrive
there. Plants, even trees, don’t live very long there. Rain forest
trees live around 120 years, if they are fortunate, where as trees in
other areas like the Redwood Forest in Northern California can be
literally THOUSANDS of years old! And actually, the only way to tell
how old a tree is there is to do carbon dating; you can’t cut it
through and see the rings because… there aren’t any! Trees don’t
grow at a regular rate there, and they don’t stop growing in the
wintertime like trees in temperate areas. I didn’t know that’s
how trees get their rings… they stop growing in the winter, and
when they start growing again, there’s a line between the growth
spots. Does that make sense? I think that’s how I understood our
guide to say it, anyway. And the roots don’t grow very deep. All
the nutrients are close to the surface, so the root systems are
spread out but don’t go very far down. Lots of trees look like the
roots are on the outside, and there are great big “buttress”
roots that are long and stick out from the tree to give it more
stability. It was fascinating. The only big surprise to me was that
we didn’t see many big, beautiful, vibrant flowers like I thought
we would.
Back onto the Skyrail! Over and across
the forest we flew. Eventually, we saw a beautiful, deep gorge with a
series of waterfalls leading to it. They’ve made a reservoir
further up to the water source, so the flow of water isn’t as
massive as it once was, but it’s still quite pretty. We got off at
one more stop where we could walk around the rain forest a bit more
and get some good views of the gorge. We saw a bird of some
sort—black with red and yellow around its face—and some very
beautiful plants, got a couple of good shots of the gorge, and piled
back into the Skyrail once more—next stop, Kuranda!
While it used to be a “hippie” town
way back when, it’s now a tourist village. Many artisans sell
beautiful things like jewelry, pottery, paintings, soaps,
woodworking, kangaroo fur items, and the like, but our primary
objective was to see the animals! Kuranda Koala Gardens is sort of a
small zoo. There are crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles to see
from a distance or behind glass, wallabies and kangaroos to pet and
feed, and of course, koalas to cuddle and hold! This was certainly a
highlight for me!
So, we got ourselves ticketed to enter
the Gardens and got a pass for me to hold a koala. Steve was more
interested in watching. =) Koalas are even more precious and lovable
in person than they are in pictures! There were four of them hanging
out in the trees just in front of the koala holding area; they’re
just so precious! We got lots of pictures, of course. When it was my
turn, the girls taking the koala holding pictures called me over and
showed me where to stand and how to hold the koala. When you hold the
koala there, the left arm curves against your stomach, and that’s
the koala’s seat. The right arm curves in front of you, just below
your chest, to support its back. One of the girls brought a female
Koala over to me and set her in my arms, and her claws dug right into
my shoulder! Ouch! But completely worthwhile! She was so sweet and
laid-back it seemed. I’m sure they’re used to this by now. I got
my picture with the koala with their camera, but I was surprised when
they told me Steve could use my camera to take pictures as well! And
even more surprised when the girl said Steve could come over with me
and the two of us could have our picture together with the koala,
too!
Day: Made.
We grabbed some wallaby food and headed
over to the petting area. So cute! One of the kinds of critters was
resting, but the kangaroos and wallabies (like small kangaroos) were
up and about, some laying on their sides, just waiting for people to
feed them. Oh, just precious.
Next stop, reptiles! So, the difference
between turtles and tortoises, I may have mentioned before, is that
turtles go in water and tortoises live only on land. There were a
couple of turtles in the habitat at Koala Gardens, many snakes, and
several lizards. There were also about 10 crocodiles in their own
place… I hope they aren’t good climbers!
Aaaand, lunchtime! All that koala
cuddling and overwhelming preciousness is enough to make a girl
famished. There’s a restaurant conveniently right at the top of the
Koala Gardens, so we found a seat and looked at a menu. I just about
had my heart set on some sort of barramundi fish, but at the last
moment, I saw there was a combination appetizer of crocodile, emu,
and kangaroo—yes, please! Crocodile is white meat, and the other
two are red meats. Emu was my favorite because it was very tender and
absolutely delicious! Steve got a HUGE barramundi burger. We were
both quite satisfied. When that was done, we set our sights on
souvenirs. We had another hour and a half or so before we had to
board the train, so we took our time to mosey that direction. Neither
of us got much.
When we made it back to the train, we
got our tickets and waited to board for “One of the most scenic
train rides in the world.” We had been looking forward to it, but
in all honesty, we were unimpressed. There were a few scenic views of
the water from up on the mountain, and one waterfall view, but we
wouldn’t recommend it. The Skyrail was much better.
Next stop, grocery store! I needed to
try out this thing called Vegemite. The train station is right next
to a mall with a grocery, so we searched, found it—it comes in a
jar like a spread, though I’d always heard people compare it to
spam—and walked back to our hotel. Too easy! Steve had already
bought some bread back in Sydney, so I figured then was as good a
time as any! I opened the jar to see what looked a lot like hot
fudge, but smelled a lot like a hot salty mess. Here we go! Steve
didn’t want any, but I grabbed a spoonful and spread it on the
bread. I took a picture, took a bite, and… UGH! I don’t think
I’ve ever had to truly stop eating something once I’d started,
but this was truly the exception. Quite the nastiness, that Vegemite!
I suppose if you like salty things, it might add something to your
life, but not I! I had to eat a big spoonful of apricot preserves to
get that taste out of my mouth!
And now… onward to the lagoon! For
those who want the beach experience without leaving the land, there’s
a lovely lagoon—saltwater, of course—just next to the Esplanade.
Steve and I took a dip, but the evening was growing quite cool. After
an hour or so, we started back to the hotel and stopped at The Coffee
Club (a chain of coffee shops in Australia) for hot chocolate (with
marshmallows for me!) and a cookie. What a full day! Holding koalas,
trying new things, walking to and from town. It was quite the big
day! We booked an excursion to Green Island the next day to take a
glass-bottom boat ride, and it was time for bed!
Tomorrow—a walk to the Cairns Botanic
Gardens and a couple of hours at Green Island!
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