Cairns Day 2

Today dawned with a cool but very acceptable morning.

We left e caravan park around 0815 and drove to the Skyrail Caravonica Terminal. On arrival there, we parked the Mazda and walked to the ticket office to pick up our pre-booked tickets and associated information.

At the terminal we were able to have a look around the shop and also we managed to have our first cappuccino for the morning.

About 0915, we boarded the Skyrail Gondola for our ride from the coastal plain up to the first station, Redpeak. It is a majestical ride up the steep slope. We traveled over a large variety of foliage with most of it being rainforest. On arrival we joined a ranger who gave a large group of visitors a great briefing on the  forest that we were now in. He really made it very informative and with some humour.

We again boarded the Gondola to travel to the next station, Barron Falls. We walked around here taking in the magnificent views of the Barron Falls and reading about the construction of the power station that is run from banked up water near the top of the Barron Falls.

Kauri Pine

Barron Gorge

Again, we boarded the Gondola to take the relatively short ride to the village of Kuranda. At Kuranda we wandered around the markets. There a many stalls and shops to peruse however, there are numerous stalls that have items that are seen at markets everywhere. Prue bought a very nice book from the Peter Jarver Gallery. He was one of the world's finest landscape photographers.  His work of award-winning skyscapes and Australian landscapes in both panorama and classic formats are truly mind blowing.

As we wandered around we came across our friends, Len and Sandra, who had driven up from Cairns. We bumped them several times and the final time was later in the afternoon before we rejoined the trip to Skyrail Caravonica Terminal. We all had a coffee and a good chat.

Sky rail

Finally, we wandered down to the Kuranda Scenic Railway Station. We were greeted by our attendant  who guided us into the Gold Class carriage. There were about 20 people in this class and we all enjoyed our trip down assisted by lovely nibbles and drinks. The scenery was no less spectacular than the Skyrail trip earlier in the day. It is loaded with history of its construction and use. We sat opposite  a lovely couple from New Zealand, Andrew and Sue. They originally came from the UK. We did enjoy their company.

Finally, we arrived at Freshwater Station and we left the train and boarded a bus to take us back to the Mazda. Then it was back to the Caravan Park returning by a different route than our trip in the morning. We passed the Cairns International Airport and then various shopping or industrial areas. It was another great day.