We booked tours for the Kuranda Sky-Rail, Whale Watching and Reef Viewing.
The Kuranda Rail Trip took us on a winding climb to the top of the Barron River Gorge. The one and three quarter hour trip provided great views of the gorge and waterfall. The train stops at a lookout for a photo opportunity of the waterfall.
The railway was constructed between 1882 and 1891, mostly by hand and many lives were lost during the construction of the 15 tunnels and 37 bridges.
We spent several hours at Kuranda, lunch, shops, markets and a beautiful butterfly enclosure. A bird aviary and several art and craft outlets can also be viewed in the township. It was then time for us to board the Skyway cable car for the return trip to Cairns. This is a spectacular trip high above the rainforest in the Barron Gorge below. Two stations along the way provide the opportunity to alight from the cable car and wander around the boardwalks to view the flora, fauna and waterfall.
The Skyway was constructed in 1994-95 and was built in an environmental way to have no impact on the heritage listed wet tropic rainforest below.
Crystal Cascades, approximately eight kilometres from Cairns was a great area for a picnic lunch and if the weather was hot enough, a swim in the picturesque waterhole. A large monitor, a snake, many birds and pretty butterflies entertained us for several hours.
Our whale watching trip finally paid off for us when we sighted approximately seven whales. One whale approached our boat and provided a great photo opportunity when it performed a full breach. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the boat for a photo.
The reef tour took us to the outer reef where we connected with a large pontoon for a five hour stay. The weather was disappointing, with cloud, a few spots of rain and a cool breeze. Some people braved the elements and went diving and snorkelling but when we saw how cold they were, even with wet suits on, we decided that the glass bottomed boat and the semi-submersible boat were more suitable for us.
The coral was beautiful, but because of the cloud cover the colours weren’t as bright as they might have been on a sunny day. We saw many brightly coloured fish, some sharks and turtles and enjoyed a lovely lunch.
Another day was filled with a trip to the Atherton Tablelands. We made a round trip by winding our way up the Gillies Highway to Yungaburra, stopping along the way to view the magnificent Cathedral Fig Tree then Lake Barrine. At Yungaburra we visited the Curtain Fig Tree, which like the Cathedral Tree is an incredibly large parasitic tree which eventually takes over its host plant by smothering it with its large root system.
The platypus viewing area was surprising because although it was midday we saw a large platypus playing around in the water.
After lunch we continued through the very fertile farmland to Atherton, Talga and Mareeba before completing the round trip back to Cairns.
