A Train, a Duck and a Gondola or 10000 Steps in Kuranda

Today I joined a tour to Kuranda. My BFFTD’s (best friend for the day) Ken and Sally from Iowa, and I boarded the bus and realized quickly that as we had booked our tours within minutes of each other, we were joined at the hips for every assigned seat, tour time, etc. Fortunately, they were really a lot of fun to hang out with (doubly fortunate as we are on the same barrier reef snorkeling tour tomorrow).

First on the agenda was the 25 minute bus tour of all the hotels in Cairns as we picked up our fellow passengers. After this, the fun began. First, we took the Kuranda Scenic Railway up the mountain. This seemed like a great idea right up to the moment I boarded the train and realized that I had a rear facing seat. Fortunately, there were some empty seats in our car and once we got moving Ken, Sally and I quickly found seats facing the right direction. It was well worth giving up my window seat in order to face forward! The train ride took about 90 minutes and wound up the mountain over some amazing gorges and by some spectacular waterfalls. Here are some of the shots from the train:

After spending some time shopping in the village of Kuranda, it was time to visit the RainForeStation Nature Park. We started by visiting the animals. We saw the Australian standards – the kangaroo, the koala, a wombat, some lizards, dingoes and crocodiles. We got the chance to pet everything except the wombat, dingo and crocs. Here are the photos of my new animal friends:

Next up was the Amphibian Army Duck Tour through the rain forest. If you have ever taken the tour in Boston, these are the same vehicles. We started out on land, checking out many, many, many different types of trees which I obligingly took pictures of and can no longer remember, and then headed into the water for views of more trees. Here are the pictures from the duck tour:

After viewing some aboriginal dancing, it was time to make our way back to Cairns via the Skyrail, a 45 minute gondola ride over the rainforest canopy. I got an entire Gondola to myself cause the guy asked me how many in my party and I said one, as I usually do, figuring that he would then fill up the six seater Gondola with Ken and Sally and the family of three behind them. Apparently it was a slow day on the gondola though as he shut the door behind me. It was a very peaceful ride and I got to take all the pictures from every angle that I wanted to! Here are some of those shots:

Finally, we were back in Cairns. For dinner I decided to grab a sandwich and have a little picnic at the beach. Here are some shots of that along with a couple of other random photos: