Today was a full day of siteseeing with a company called Down Under Day Tours. We were picked up outside our hotel and brought to the Kuranda Railway Station to board a train that winds its way up the mountain range through 15 tunnels and over 40 bridges clinging to the rock face. There was commentary along the way that informed us about the history of the train and the construction of the rail line.
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| Our train car for the ride up the mountain |
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| Looking back through the train window as we passed a waterfall. |
There was a village at the top of the mountain called Kuranda that was filled with craft shops for the tourists. We opted to take a 3K walk of a loop along the river and into the rainforest.
To get down off the mountain, we boarded the Skyrail for a trip over the rainforest with two stops on the way to take short interpretative walks into the rainforest and snap more photos! It was fun to see the overview of the Cairns area as we traveled down the mountain on top of the trees.
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| View of Cairns area from the Skyrail |
Last stop of the day was at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Center at the base of the Skyrail. Through presentations we learned 40,000 years of aboriginal history and culture in 2.5 hours! Tjapukai is pronounced jeb-a-guy and it is the local tribe of the Kuranda area. The presentations were very good. We watched dances, had a chance to throw a boomarang (neither Terry nor I were successful in our attempt, but several people did a good job at making the boomarang fly and come back toward them. We also learned and had a chance to use a spear thrower. Bush tucker (food) was explained to us and also how to make music on a didgeridoo, a wind instrument made from a tree limb hollowed out.
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| Didgeridoo |
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| Showing how to make fire |
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| Terry getting ready to throw a boomarang |
It was a good day and we are now back at the hotel relaxing on our patio. Need to rest up this evening as tomorrow we snorkle on the Great Barrier Reef.
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