kuranda

Today is split-up day, as I am going to the rainforest town of Kuranda, and Naomi is going to the Great Barrier Reef. First, I get to Zone D bus stop and have a long time waiting around with an American high school charter group. Then, John's Kuranda Bus picks me up, and we have a windy, scenic drive up the mountains.

Kuranda is lovely. It is a tiny town that sells a lot of stuff related to being a tourist in the middle of the Wet Tropics Rainforest. There are cafes, souvenier apparel stores, places where you can get animal magnets, and an old fashioned candy shop. This is where I buy stuff, obviously. As a city, Kuranda is a bit boring, but it is where you have to start. The interesting stuff is all around.

I take a walk on the Jum-Jum trail, several kilometers that wind through palm trees and eucalypts and jungle creepers and all sorts of greenery that look very juicy. There are some pokey plants and some red berries and the faint tinkle of water. It is nice to be in a forest after so much beach.

I take a detour to Barron Falls, because after all, this forest is World Heritage listed and I need to get out into it. I am walking on an empty road in the rainforest. There are houses along the road, and cars drive past intermittently, but other than that, it is still and silent. It is overwhelmingly green and lush. It reminds me of driving through the Andes on the back of the soda truck.

Barron Falls is not amazing in itself, but there is more jungle walk once I arrive, and some cool lookout points, and plaques with educational information about the flora and fauna. It is nice to be by myself, and to set my own pace. When I'm done with the falls, I walk back to the Jum-Jum walk and this time head past the river. It is so serene. There are tall, leafy trees, the path is flat, the weather is warm, the sun shines on the river making a perfect reflection. I forget that I am a city girl and revel in the nature.

The Sky-Rail is actually the reason I came to Kuranda, and it does not dissapoint. We are suspended in little green compartments high above the rainforest canopy. I am enthralled with the miles and miles of green mountains that I forget to look down at the treetops. The Sky-Rail moves very slowly, but each section of the ride ends too soon. I love being up high in the sky. At the two stopping stations, I learn about certain trees and animals which inhabit them, but I've forgotten all that now. All I can remember is feeling on top of the world, looking out at endless mountains covered in rainforest.

I had an hour to kill between landing and my scheduled bus back to town, so I snuck into the Tjapukai Cultural Center. Well, there was a back gate that was clearly not intended for visitors but it was open, and there was no one collecting admission there, and when I walked through no one stopped me. I saw a turtle swimming with an eel in a river, an Aboriginal boomerang throwing demonstration, and a painfully bad holographic Aboriginal creation myth movie. I really wanted to see the traditional village, but I had missed that part of the tour and felt too guilty to sneak back again and take a look.

At Tropic Days, Naomi and the roommates had all pooled their food on the picnic tables outside. I joined them for dinner and then internetted late into the night on my netbook. Naomi was very kind to take back some of my crap to California, so now my backpack is noticeably lighter. Number one thing to go were the snorkling goggles that Naomi convinced me I needed to bring and which I did not use ONCE.

Australian thing of the day: Sun-dried tomato dip belonging to our German/Austrian roommates which was SOOOOOOOOOO DELICIOUS and I do believe I ate half of the container. No one else was much interested in it.