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Kuranda Rainforest

Part of the reason we came to Cairns to dive was the nearby rainforest we planned to visit during our no fly time interval. Melanie handled all the arrangements for this trip to the town of Kuranda.

We took the Skyrail up into the hills then took the Scenic Railway back. Along the way up on the Skyrail you get a very good view of the rainforest as you pass just over the treeline. We got a great view of how the vegetation changes dramatically as we changed elevation only a couple thousand feet. Kuranda is at an elevation of about 900m (approx. 2953 feet) so it's really not that high up. The Skyrail made a couple stops along the way including one change to a separate line. At the stops there are walking paths and guides to tell you about the jungle plant and animal life.
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Taking the Skyrail up to the rainforest.
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Lily enjoying the ride up.
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Lily and Melanie at one of the stops on the Skyrail.
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The rainforest is a World Heritage Area.
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Our guide tells us about these huge trees.
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Some info about these very tall trees.
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Basket Ferns growing on their host.
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Here is some info about the Basket Fern.
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Our guide showing us the vine that is used to make Rattan furniture.
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Melanie and Lily trying not to look too bored.
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Nice view from one of the lookout points.
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Another great view. You can make out where the Scenic Railway returns on the opposite hill.
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This waterfall is pretty small since the weather has been dry lately.
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Melanie noticed a photo shoot taking place at the top of the waterfall.
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Melanie thought the woman painted white was naked. I zoomed in and adjusted the camcorder as much as possible so you be the judge.
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Once we got to the town of Kuranda we found it's just a town with touristy stuff to do. There was some shopping in stores as well as a flea market type outdoor market. The highlight of the shopping was getting some Kangaroo, Emu and Crocodile Jerky. There was also a stand where a guy was blending frozen fruit into a delicious cold drink.

Also nearby was a Butterfly Sanctuary which was not included on our tour but we had time and visited anyway. The literature claimed it was the world's largest. That I don't know but it was nice. The inside of the tent-like structure was filled with jungle plants and thousands of local Australian butterflies.
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Welcome to Kuranda.
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Melanie's mom's cellphone worked here?
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Like mother like daughter.
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Lily shopping.
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Entrance to the Butterfly Sanctuary.
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Inside the tent are lush jungle plants with stone walkways where a guide tells you about the butterflies.
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Aw, c'mon, you're having a better time than that!
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That's better!
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I think the butterfly is just scared of the bracelet.
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Inside the building were hundreds of butterflies in display cases.
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Most of these were from outside of Australia.
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More huge colorful butterflies.
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Cool profile shot.
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A close-up of a caterpillar spinning a cacoon.
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And finally a picture of a dead one for Ling. She seems to prefer dead animals than live ones.
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The next stop on our itinerary was the Rainforestation Nature Park. This nature park was divided into three sections that you can visit in any order. The sections are a Koala and Wildlife Park, Rainforest Tour by Army Duck and Pamagirri Aboriginal Dancers & Dreamtime Walk.

The Wildlife Park was interesting as it had the usual Koalas but also had a large group of Wallabys where you can come right up to them and feed them. There were also some Saltwater Crocodiles, various lizards and some other native Australian animals.

The Rainforest Tour was a relaxing tour of some adjacent jungle by those Army Ducks from World War II that you see in other places such as Wisconsin Dells. I did find the seats to be rather uncomfortable but fortunately the trip was pretty short.

And finally we saw an Aboriginal culture exhibit. That involved a show by the Pamagirri Aboriginal Dancers then the Dreamtime Walk was actually the dancers taking us in smaller groups to learn to throw a boomerang, watch then throw spears then get a quick lesson on how didgeridoos are made and played.
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Going for a ride on the Army Ducks.
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More Koalas.
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Melanie and her mom holding a strange lizard.
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Which end is the front and the back?
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Another lizard.
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A pair of tree frogs.
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A Wombat asleep in it's hole.
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Information about the Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat.
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Later on I caught the Wombat awake. I think it looks like a hairy pig.
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Lily feeding a Wallaby.
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Melanie feeding one too.
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Isn't that one a bit too big to try to hop into mom's pouch?
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This huge Crocodile known as 'Jack the ripper' since he ate his last three girlfriends.
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It's a good idea to heed this warning as 'Jack' can jump 10ft out of the water.
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The band.
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One of the dancers holding a boomerang and a spear.
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Some of the dancers acting out a skit.
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The final dance involved embarrassing members of the audience on stage.
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We watched a demonstration of spear throwing.
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The inside of a didgeridoo gets hollowed out by termintes.
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Then we got a demonstration on how to play one.
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The bus then took us to the train station where we boarded the Scenic Railway to get back to Cairns. This train returns to Cairns on the other side of the canyon than the Skyrail so we took in a different view. Also unlike the Skyrail the Railway actually goes all the way to downtown Cairns where other buses met us to take us back to our hotel.

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All aboard.
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Here you can see much of the train at a scenic stop.
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A view of the waterfall from the other side of the canyon.
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Even though I slept much of the way back I did catch this breathtaking view of Cairns.
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Comments From People Like You!
Kuranda Rainforest : Palau & Australia 2000		Add a Comment add a comment
Peter North
08-May-2008 21:38
Some great shots and glad you enjoyed your visit to Kuranda. As a local  reident, it would be great to hear how you think your visit may have been improved and what you would like to have seen but missed out on - maybe expected but mssing on your visit?
Thanks for any thoughts/ideas.
Peter N.
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