Railways, Rainforests and Reefs

After 1900 kms and 3.5 days of driving we finally arrived in Cairns -- the main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. The city itself is not all that spectacular. It is very touristy and kinda dingy, but in all fairness it is just a hub for what just lies beyond the city in both the mountains and the Coral Sea.

Our first full day in Cairns was a trip into the southernmost part of the Daintree rainforest, a World Heritage Listed Site.  The railway followed a winding twisting path along the coast, up through the mountains, past gorgeous waterfalls and to the tourist town of Kuranda. The rail line was built to get supplies to miners in the mountains, and get the tin down to the coast for trade. In the late 1800s, 2.3 million metres of earthworks were moved, 15 tunnels were dug, 93 curves creeped around mountains, dozens of bridges spanned valleys and rivers and 75 kilometres of track were laid to do just that. The views were spectacular and so was the company. We were entertained by two young boys, their cousin and grandmother for the entire 2 hour journey. They thought Dad was funny and were thrilled to meet some Canadians. One even dared Dad to give him his hat so that he could throw it out the window.

We arrived in the tourist driven town of Kuranda.  When we arrived we immediately went down to the riverbank and went on a river cruise. We were the only passengers and our captain was hilarious.  He gave us a very informative tour of the Barron river and the rainforest that surrounds it. The rainforest is world heritage listed because it is the home to some very unique flora and fauna as well as preserves various stages of evolutionary history. We saw freshwater turtles and crocodiles and glimpsed some Ulysses butterflies as they flew high above in the tree tops.

A freshie (freshwater croc) near the bank of the river

 After our personal river cruise, we made our way to the main street of Kuranda. Every shop on the street was full of cheap souvenirs. At the end of the main street though, there was a Butterfly Sanctuary. It is the home of Ulysses and Cairns Birdwings, two of the biggest butterflies in the world. They are absolutely gorgeous.  They flutter around a giant greenhouse and confound the people who are trying to take their picture. The people at the Butterfly Sanctuary actually breed them. The butterflies mate in the greenhouse, then lay their eggs where they are collected and put in a special area. Once the caterpillars are hatched, they are moved once again and well fed so they can become healthy pupae. Once they emerge from the chrysalis they are put into the greenhouse to mate again. The circle of life.

Ulysses butterfly

After leaving the Butterfly Sanctuary we made our way back to the train station to catch our ride home, but we weren't catching a train. The ride home would be provided by one of the longest gondolas in the world. The Skyrail travels 7.5 km through and above the rainforest. Unfortunately we were unable to spot the elusive Cassowary or tree kangaroos. We did get more spectactular views of Barron River Falls (which we saw on the train) and a God's eye view of the rainforest. This was so much better than the train ride, even though on our second car, the door didn't seem to be closed  all the way.  I let mom and dad sit near the door.  Daughter Of The Year Award to me for sure.

Gliding above the trees

Next stop was home to get ready for our fun-filled celebration of Dad's 65th birthday out on the Great Barrier Reef.

Dad's birthday started with a winding,  early morning drive along the Coral Sea Coast to Port Douglas. We checked in with our Reef Cruise and soon boarded the catamaran for our 1.5 hour journey to Agincourt Reef. It is located right at the edge of the reef, or as they would say on Nemo, at the drop-off.

The catamaran docks at a pontoon where they have platforms to go diving and snorkelling. There are also multiple picnic tables so you can relax in comfort between dives. As soon as the boat docked, I was off to get my beautiful lycra suit. This suit protects you from the dangerous stingers that make their way to the Queensland coast in the summer. It makes everyone look hot and also prevents those nasty tans one can get. I was in a big rush because I had signed up for an intro scuba dive, a first for me. With shaky knees I made my way to the dive area to get suited up for my inaugral dive. After getting tanks and regulators situated, it was time to enter the water. We started with baby steps -- just sticking our faces in the water and breathing. I was starting to wonder how I was going to last an hour breathing through just a regulator. I was scared that I would just want to get rid of it at some point and just spit it out.

Before we were allowed to really go on our dive, we had to pass two tests. Test #1 - remove water from inside the mask without taking off the mask. I passed with flying colors by pressing right in between my eyes, plugging my nose and blowing. Simple as. Test #2 - replace regulator with the auxiliary regulator. This one was a little scarier, but I again passed with flying colors and was ready to go. We 'climbed' down some ropes and we there on the sea floor ready to find some sea life. Unfortunately there are no pictures as they would like the new divers to concentrate on breathing and not dying.

We started by finding some anenomes and within the anenomes were three clownfish, just like Nemo.  They were very concerned as they had some eggs to protect. We then made our way to a giant clam. I put my hand in and it scared me s---less. I came pretty close to having to do test #2 in real life. Next stop on our tour a lion fish hiding under the pontoon. That was really cool. There was also a giant cod that followed me around for a while. He was giant and a little scary. I wish I could have stayed down there forever, but it was time to meet back up with my parents so we could do a little snorkelling.

Before mom and dad got in the water, they wanted to see what they would see while in a mini-submersible. We saw a couple turtles, lots of species of fish that I couldn't hope to name and Dad swears that he saw a couple of reef sharks. I missed those, so I'm not sure whether to believe him or not.

Mom and Dad then got situated with prescription masks, some snorkels and fins and we were off. They had a great time. I think mom could have e stayed out there forever just watching the fish and this is a woman who hates to get wet.  I guess we just need to get her to the tropics where the water is warm. We could spy some giant clams, parrot fish, angel fish, butterfly fish and many more. Unfortunately there were no turtles or sharks spotted on this trip. This was a little disappointing. Far too soon the horn was blaring and the lifeguards were screaming at us to get out of the water. Dad thought there was a shark a la Jaws, but really, they didn't want to leave anyone behind. It was the signal to get out.

We packed up and got back on the catamaran for the ride home. To celebrate Dad's birthday we went to the Tin Shed (the local service club) where Dad had the best ribs he's ever had (or so he claims). If nothing else, this endeared Port Douglas to him. We all wished we could have stayed there longer as the beaches were beautiful and it seemed like a very laid back and beautiful place to stay compared to Cairns. Unfortunately it was back to Cairns to start our journey back to catch our flight in Brisbane 5 days later.

The new senior citizen and his much younger wife.