NEWS # 058
Hi everyone!
Sunday morning and the alarm goes off at 0930. Today, we're off on Dougie's Champagne Train. The hostel next door arranges a free train, from
the hostel, to the outskirts of the town, to view crocodiles and then back
into the centre of town. It also provides copious amounts of free Bucks Fizz,
made from very acceptable Hardy's sparkling wine, to ease us along the
journey.
Unfortunately, we see no crocs but have a great time anyway and spend the
afternoon at the local market and the bars, spread out along the waterfront.
Whilst in the market, we see a guy, completely covered in gold paint and
clothes, desperately trying to stand very still. We endeavour to make him
laugh and have a great time in the process.
After a late afternoon swim, we head back to the hostel for a few beers and
crash out late.
Monday 2nd and I say goodbye to Lucy and the crew and head for Cairns. I
decide to call into Hartley's Crocodile Farm, on the way. The place is run
as a commercial farm and supplies meat and leather to a huge market. I'm not
sure if I approve and one of the guides tells me he'd much rather see all
the crocs back in the wild too. Apart from their farm crocs, they have a
wildlife park, which holds some huge, four metre plus, animals. I take a
boat trip and see them. I also see Koalas,
Cassowaries and some very venomous snakes.
After lunch, I head towards Cairns and get some filler and paint for my car.
I arrive at my hostel for the next few nights, Tropic Days, and chill out.
The next day I spend many hours fixing my car. I have to remove my whole
windscreen wiper assemblies and find that the water drainage channel beneath
them, has completely rotted away. Apparently, this is a very common problem
and I have a huge hole to fill. I use some garden hose and polyester body
filler to great effect and seem to have cured the problem. The next rains
will test my abilities. I also have to fix many holes in the roof and the
body filler comes in handy again. Eventually I'm done and the car is
waterproof again.
I go to the Woolshed, a local bar, for dinner. It costs me the princely sum
of 4.50 dollars, about two pounds, and is excellent. I hit the sack early.
The next day, I'm up early as I've a full day ahead. I'm picked up at 0750,
for a trip to Kuranda, on the Skyrail. The bus takes about an hour and we
pick up several people on the way. The Skyrail Terminal is about ten miles
from Cairns. Skyrail is a cablecar system that takes people over the
rainforest to the village of Kuranda, in the mountains.
It runs for several kilometres and takes about an hour and a half, stopping
at two intermediate stations, on the way. I share a gondola with a Spanish
girl, Paula and we have a great day together. At each stop in the
rainforest, there are walkways above the forest floor and we learn about the
trees of the forest. As we travel, I am reminded of the scene at the
begining of the film, The Piano, where the camera pans over the forest in
much the same way. I am amazed by the huge diversity of life present. We
stop, overlooking the Barron Falls but they are a trickle these days,
except in full flood as most of the water is used for hydroelectricity.
Eventually, we arrive in Kuranda station and set off towards the village. It
has a massive selection of shops, all selling locally made goods, from
digeridoos, to crocodile skin hats. The variation in cost and quality is
incredible and I keep my hands firmly in my pockets in an effort to not
spend any more money!
We head to the bat house, which has about fifty bats in residence, all
rescued from barbed wire, road accidents and the like. They are all flying
foxes and huge. Each seems to have it's own personality and many of them
choose to stay around the bat house, even when they have been released. I
particuarly like the spectacled flying foxes. We head off on several forest
walks and have lunch by the river.
Later in the afternoon, we head for the railway station and catch the train
back to Cairns. The journey back is fantastic and the track clings to the
side of the Gorge, passing many waterfalls on the way. I decide that I'll
come back in the rainy season next time.
It took many years and lives to build the railway and it passes through
numerous tunnels and around hairpin bends as it drops out of the mountains.
Eventually, we arrive back in Cairns. Paula and I agree to meet up later and
together with the crew from the hostel, we have a great night out.
Seeya,
Halesy
