Trip to Kuranda

We took a trip to Kuranda to see two important aspects of Australia….the rainforest and aboriginal culture.
We started out at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park where we learned about bush foods and medicines historically used by the Aboriginals, heard some of their dreamtime legend which explains the creation of the world as they believed it, enjoyed some traditional ceremonial dance and music including my favourite…the didgeridoo, a haunting wind instrument. Steve gave the didgeridoo a try and although he was able to get a sound out of it, I wouldn’t exactly call it music.
We also had an opportunity to try boomerang and spear throwing. When the aboriginals demonstrated the boomerangs, they came right back to where they were standing. When we gave it a try, most people’s boomerangs just went out on a curve but didn’t come back. One of my boomerangs actually returned to within 15 feet of where I was standing. I guess they didn’t really think we would get ours to come back or they would have equipped us with a helmet.
We then took a gondola trip over the top of Barron Gorge National Park where we could view the rainforest from above the canopy. Half way up the mountain,, the sky rail touched down on the floor of the rain forest where we enjoyed a guided tour with a rainforest ranger who showed us some of the way the plants fight for survival under the dense canopy. The sky rail also stopped at Barron Falls where we enjoyed stunning views of the Barron River, Gorge and Falls. The gondola trip terminated in the small town of Kuranda which is a centre for Aboriginal Artists.
On our return, we took the scenic railway which wound its way down the mountainside through the rainforest eventually arriving at Freshwater Station just outside of Cairns.
In the next day or two, (depending on weather, of course), we will be heading out to the Great Barrier Reef for a while to so some snorkeling and fishing. We will start working our way North along the reefs and expect to have infrequent access to the internet for blog updates until we reach Darwin at the end of July.
In the meantime, we will try to keep our position report up to date which we are able to do through our SSB. Just click on “Where are we?” to find our latest position.