Cairns Tropical Rainforest

Boarding the Skyrail

Tropical Rainforest Boardwalk

What do you think Sandy?

Waterfall from Train

Tropical Butterfly in the Wild

Pool Competition

At 10am a shuttle picked us up at our hotel and dropped us at the Skyrail for a 50 minute enclosed 4 seater chairlift ride up the mountain to Kuranda. After 20 minutes of tranquil riding above the tree canopy we embarked at a stop where we walked along the boardwalk amongst the tropical rainforest and viewed the gushing Barron Falls; a waterfall that provides 60 megawatts of electricity. Back on the ride for another 30 minutes and we reached our mountain top destination of Kuranda. We were very fortunate with the weather - although overcast, the rain stayed away. Joe Bill had his eye on a Drizabone (oil slicker coat) which is the traditional Australian cattleman's outerwear for wet weather gear. At this stage I broke away and spent time in the butterfly enclosure while Sandy, Joe Bill & Murray visited an authentic aboriginal art gallery. We all met up again in time to catch the train, and I noticed Joe Bill had a big smile on his face, a slimmer billfold and he was carrying a large brown bag - yep, he had bought his Drizabone! Thanks for helping boost the Australian economy - we promise to come to America in March and reciprocate!

For the ride back instead of taking the skyrail we took the skytrain. It was a very scenic 90 minute ride down the mountain - through tunnels, past waterfalls and amongst the tropical undergrowth. As we got further down the mountain we could see Cairns nestled in the valley with the ocean behind it and a mountain to the south. Rolling grey clouds looked ominous, and sure enough, just as we started out to walk a few blocks to dinner, the rain came bucketing down. Fortunately we were only one building from our hotel, so we returned, got in our hire car and drove to dinner instead. Just as well as the directions we were given were way out, and we would have been walking for hours in the wrong direction and never have found the place. Once in the car, we stopped a local and refined the directions, and arrived at the Cock & Bull Tavern that proved to be a very popular dining spot. After our meal Murray & Joe Bill had 2 games of Pool and they won a game each.