Well unlike other Ross moment we arrived at the skyrail on time, in fact a little before time. I hold Katie responsible for all the pre packing ad organising so that arranging showers and breakfast was all we needed to do.
Now Stu isn't that great with heights and to say that the cable car style ride was a little out of his comfort zone was right on the mark. For some reason if there was white stuff everywhere it seems to be a little lower to the ground!
We scooted up to the first station, Red peak station and had a fantastic passionate 20 minute talk by one of the rangers, Paul about the plant battles that occur in the rainforest, really brought the place alive. All of us, boys included, were blown away by how things really workin a rainforest environment.
Paul talk pictures !
Back onto the gondola and we descend somewhat into Barron falls, a massive gorge with Barron river plunging some 280 odd metres in a series of steps into deep pools. It was only a trickle of it former self today but during the rainy season it would be quite a sight to behold.
(Insert Barron falls pictures)
We descended in Kuranda crossing the mighty Barron river as the last stop. We then took the short walk to the town centre trough a myriad of shops, cafes and food stalls. Felt very over the top and touristy, kinda like we were trapped there . Even struggled to find a seat unless we didn't have to by something .. But we made it to the towns central park and munched on Katie delicious egg and bacon pie that she had cooked in the camp kitchen the night before.
Popped into the information centre and as per usual the staff were more than helpful finding answers to or five questions. Now we really Griff or Andy to ask them but as least we have the information now!
We were scheduled to catch to train back at 2pm so after a quick treat of I creams for desert we head back to the train station.
Not sure what to expect with the train apart from going back down hill we wee absolutely god smacked with the engineering feet that was undertaken between 1887 and 1891 to connect Kunadra and Cairns. Carved into an incredibly steep gorge walls, the train climbs 320 odd metres over a 21 km stretch. The scenery was simply stunning, thinking about how they pulled off the effort given the shear steepness of the terrain and the conditions it is certainly impressive. In my view (stu ) better than the gondola rides :)
We rocked back at camp around 4:30 after a quick stop to bunnings for some essentials (say no more ). With the next phase of the trip ie he dirt we thought that we should really take the opportunity to hold she things back in a storage unit for the month we areaway
No comments:
Post a Comment