Take to the Skies

Yorkeys Knob, Queensland, Australia
Thursday, January 16, 2014

It is strange, but when you set yourself the task of doing nothing, it can be remarkably difficult to achieve. Both Peter and I have really struggled to settle in to this final R&R period. We gave up today and had the day out. It seemed much more normal to be up early and watching the clock so as not to be late. Our scenic train left Freshwater Station to wind its way through the mountains to Kuranda, a village in the rainforest. The line was constructed over 120 years ago under extreme conditions, bearing in mind that every inch had to be hand dug and secured. There was no such thing as heavy duty machinery in those days. It was and is a tremendous feat of engineering. Supplying the burgeoning gold mining industry was the incentive. Two 1720 class locomotives are needed to haul the train up the track, which rises over 1000 mtrs to the village. They are beautifully adorned in the vibrant Buda Dji colours. The painting, created by a local Aboriginal artist George Rilet, portrays the the legend of Buda-Dji, the carpet snake, said to have carved out the Barron Gorge. The man charged with the task of building the railway was one John Robb. He employed over 1500 men, who had to live in tents and provide their own tools. The climate alone would have made this an arduous task and many died due to accidents and disease. The journey up to Kuranda takes two hours and the scenery is awe inspiring. As the train climbs, the rainforest sets in in all it's beauty. The tapestry of greens have to be seen to be believed. It is so varied, with its top tree canopy, middle level of lower trees, particularly tree ferns (Dickinsonia) and climbers, plus the lower ground cover plants that tend to be large leaved and a darker green colour. We travelled through rugged coastal mountains, steep ravines, the mighty Barron Gorge and falls, that are over 260 metres tall. This is the Barron Gorge National Park, established in 1940. It is a part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area, also known as The Daintree, which is the oldest continually surviving Tropical Rainforest region on earth.
We arrived at Kuranda in time for an early lunch and to be honest should have headed back down at that point. The village is totally given over to commercial interest and most of it pretty tacky at that. There were a couple of very interesting Aboriginal Galleries and street art, but otherwise it was hard sell all the way. Fed up with it all, we headed for the butterfly sanctuary and tropical bird aviary. You can wander around both attractions with the creatures in (technical) free flight around you. The cassowary had the sense of it. The poor thing was slumped in the corner of his pen with his back to the visitors, looking to all intents and purposes
as if he was fed up and had taken the hump.
The journey down to the coast was by Skyrail. It is a 7.5 kms cableway through the rainforest and one travels by a glass bottomed gondola. There are stunning panoramic views all around and of course straight down, that gives one a rarely seen birds eye view of the rainforest from above. There are two stations where one can get out and walk through the forest on interpretive trails. It is hot and steamy, punctuated by bird calls and quite different in feel from the New Zealand rainforest that we had seen earlier in our trip. New Zealand's is much more attractive, but The Australian version has a grandeur it is difficult to ignore. This was undoubtedly the highlight of the day (sorry Peter T!). We have another trip planned to the Daintree next week, but we will certainly never forget floating mere metres above the tree tops of the oldest rainforest in the world.Read more