Thursday March 8
Pand at ‘em early this morning. We left the resort around 8:00 am for thr 45 minute drive to Cairns, where we took the Skyrail gondola over the rainforest to the village of Kuranda (tourist trap – aborigine style). The ride was spectacular, though – accomplished in three segments with things to stop and look at at each of the two stops. The whole ride takes about 40 minutes. Exactly like a ski gondola in design, it sails over the tree tops of the rainforest = so high above the forest and so dense the forest that you can’t see the ground. ‘what we did see were fernd growing out of dirt that had been blown into the tree limbs, cockatoos gliding above the treetops and perches on them, and butterflies the size of tea saucers. At one stop, we took a walk to a lookout and saw Barron;s Falls. I know htat in the rainy season they are a thundering cascade but we were impressed today, too.
Just as we neared the bottom in Cairns again, it started to rain, the first rain we have seen on the trip (except for a little when we were on the ship) For the most part it was just a shower with occasional bursts of downpour.
Next door to the Skyrail station was a Cable Ski park. Don saw water skiers and there was no way we weren’t going to have a look. So off we went. What this is (we have never heard of it before) is a good sized pond, rigged with a cable system that rings the lake. The cable pulls waterskiers in and oval around the pond. Well …… Don was all over this!! He was in his bathing suit and life jacket before I could say “Are you sure?” He did a pass on regular skis easily and then came out and put on a slalom ski. After two circuits on that, he came out again and wanted to try the wave board – which he had never done before - like a snowboard on water. Did I mention……. if you fall down, you have to swim to shore and walk back to get back on – no pick up boat !!! Don actually got up and off on the board easily three times but fell in each time before he got to the get-out point. SO he did a LOT of walking. He tried it three times and really had a ball. When he got up on the board on the first try and took off, the kid who was running the mechanism (about 20), turned to me and said, “He’s got some skills !” No kidding ! He has no idea ….
We stopped for a rest and a bottle of water and watched some hot doggers for a while. Then headed for back to the hotel. We were planning to go to Mossman Gorge later today but the weather is not great and the place won’t br fun in the rain. SO I decided to get caught up on the journals and get them posted.
Tonight dinner in Port Douglas and tomorrow a 4 WD tour of Daintree National Forest, Cape Tribulation, and Cooktown – a long day.
Pand at ‘em early this morning. We left the resort around 8:00 am for thr 45 minute drive to Cairns, where we took the Skyrail gondola over the rainforest to the village of Kuranda (tourist trap – aborigine style). The ride was spectacular, though – accomplished in three segments with things to stop and look at at each of the two stops. The whole ride takes about 40 minutes. Exactly like a ski gondola in design, it sails over the tree tops of the rainforest = so high above the forest and so dense the forest that you can’t see the ground. ‘what we did see were fernd growing out of dirt that had been blown into the tree limbs, cockatoos gliding above the treetops and perches on them, and butterflies the size of tea saucers. At one stop, we took a walk to a lookout and saw Barron;s Falls. I know htat in the rainy season they are a thundering cascade but we were impressed today, too.
Just as we neared the bottom in Cairns again, it started to rain, the first rain we have seen on the trip (except for a little when we were on the ship) For the most part it was just a shower with occasional bursts of downpour.
Next door to the Skyrail station was a Cable Ski park. Don saw water skiers and there was no way we weren’t going to have a look. So off we went. What this is (we have never heard of it before) is a good sized pond, rigged with a cable system that rings the lake. The cable pulls waterskiers in and oval around the pond. Well …… Don was all over this!! He was in his bathing suit and life jacket before I could say “Are you sure?” He did a pass on regular skis easily and then came out and put on a slalom ski. After two circuits on that, he came out again and wanted to try the wave board – which he had never done before - like a snowboard on water. Did I mention……. if you fall down, you have to swim to shore and walk back to get back on – no pick up boat !!! Don actually got up and off on the board easily three times but fell in each time before he got to the get-out point. SO he did a LOT of walking. He tried it three times and really had a ball. When he got up on the board on the first try and took off, the kid who was running the mechanism (about 20), turned to me and said, “He’s got some skills !” No kidding ! He has no idea ….
We stopped for a rest and a bottle of water and watched some hot doggers for a while. Then headed for back to the hotel. We were planning to go to Mossman Gorge later today but the weather is not great and the place won’t br fun in the rain. SO I decided to get caught up on the journals and get them posted.
Tonight dinner in Port Douglas and tomorrow a 4 WD tour of Daintree National Forest, Cape Tribulation, and Cooktown – a long day.
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