Cairns

***Storyline:* *Home to home westward***

Still April

Cairns was not on my initial itinerary, but after talking to Gary, our Australian neighbor, we decided to squeeze it in for a few days and try to visit Daintree National Park and the Great Barrier Reef. I shortened our planned time in Brisbane and Adelaide, and here we had just enough time to take a day tour to Daintree and Port Douglas and another one to Kuranda.

If you remember Alex’s post on Brisbane, I had the flu with high fever. I hadn’t seen much of Brisbane when the time arrived to move on to Cairns. Not quite well yet, I had to make it through an early flight. And so:

Walk downhill to the Central train station – check

Train to the airport – so far so good

Survive the flight with only minor unwellness – check

It was raining in Cairns. We took an Uber to the hotel, and then I crashed. Not for long though. We had to find a place for lunch and explore the surroundings.

Our hotel was only two blocks away from the aquarium where we had lunch at an attached café/restaurant. After a short nap, we were into exploration mode. This time we made it to the Esplanade, where we walked through the food market and had light dinner at a Turkish restaurant. There are quite a few restaurants on the Esplanade and the waterfront promenade.

We had three full days here, but it was obvious that next day would be taken slowly. Although on the mend, I was far from attempting a long day tour to Cape Tribulation and Daintree. Next day was going to tell us if I could do more than a short walk on the streets, before entering a café or restaurant for a break. And so, we explored the city, stopping here and there to shelter from the intermittent rain.

We walked to the waterfront, had lunch at a nice place “Tha Fish” right on the water, while waiting for the sky to clear for our next walk. We enjoyed the seafood there – scallops for Alex and shrimp salad for me.

Then we walked up to the shopping mall and I managed to find two reasonably-priced dresses that fit. It was hot and it was going to get even hotter in the tropics later on our trip. So, I bought them. Walking on Grafton Street, I noticed many dress stores. Never seen so many and so beautiful dresses. Even in Mayer, a huge department store similar to The Bay in Canada, they had lovely dresses. To the point that Alex, who in general doesn’t care much about all this, noticed and acknowledged the variety in style and colour of the dresses. I found another dress on sale in the Boutique Fashion Store. So the day wasn’t a complete waste (Alex: that’s debatable, but Diana had been really unwell and I was trying to be supportive). Just not why we came all the way to Cairns.

Dresses aside, I wasn’t ready for a long day trip to Cape Tribulation and the Daintree National Park. And so this trip, the main reason we flew all the way to Cairns, fell off the list. We booked the Kuranda train and Skyrail trip for our last day. This way there was plenty of time for me to get back into the swing of things for a tour day.

We spent our penultimate day walking through the city; places we hadn’t covered before. We walked on a long walkway by the water, a promenade that parallels Esplanade, observing pelicans and other local birds, and of course taking tons of photos.

Someone we had talked to the previous day sent us to a restaurant “Dundee on the Waterfront” for crocodile and kangaroo dishes. We found the place, and really enjoyed the atmosphere, but found the crocodile and kangaroo out of our price range. We opted for lobster (the deal of the day) and a light salad complemented by a jug of sangria. Alex said he knew I was feeling better as soon as I suggested the sangria.

As on the previous days, the rain was on and off. So we would occasionally find a shelter and have a drink or so. We did the waterfront promenade also in the evening, observing the giant fruit bats, also called flying foxes as the local indigenous people informed us.

Cairns is small, and aside from enjoying the many restaurants with great seafood there isn’t much to do. It is a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Most of the activities are focused on the Reef, excursions to Daintree and of course the Kuranda train and Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. If you have no intention to do some of those activities it would probably be a waste of time going there. And for you beach goers, don’t even think of it. The shoreline is muddy, protected and off-limits.

On our last day we were picked up from the hotel and driven to the base of the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. There were two stops and we had time to walk around before taking the next gondola up.

The first stop was the Red Peak Rainforest Boardwalk for a short walk through the lush tropical rainforest. And of course, it was raining in the rainforest.

The second stop was in the Barron Gorge National Park, where the Barron Falls tumbled over the cliffs and rugged rocks. We took umbrellas that were available at the gondola station and walked to the platforms.

There was a break in the sky and the sun showed for a little while, just enough for a few photos. We really enjoyed both stops as well as our ride over the trees. On our way back from Kuranda we’d travel on the famous Kuranda Scenic Railway.

We spent a few hours in the small village, full of touristy shops, markets, cafés and restaurants. Had lunch at one of them – kangaroo and crocodile meat on the menu, at much better price than in Cairns. We finally tried both (it was one dish).

Then it was time to take the train. The Cairns-Kuranda Railway was constructed between 1886 and 1891. The original impulse for building it, as with many of the Australian railways, was mining. Barron Gorge was chosen without fully understanding its unstable geology.

This proved to be a costly decision with huge cost overruns and delays. As in other railways’ construction histories, quite a few lives were lost while building it. There were 15 hand-made tunnels and 37 bridges up he Macalister Range.

It is considered an engineering feat of tremendous magnitude. The railway line, initially used as a commuter service, is now used only as a tourist attraction. During WWII, Kuranda was one of Australia’s busiest train stations, handling freight for the troops posted to the Atherton Tablelands for rest and rehabilitation.

The Kuranda train station is charmingly pretty. We boarded one of the authentic timber carriages, some of which are over 90 years old.

It was a great experience with the train snaking through the Barron Gorge, mountain ranges, over numerous bridges, and many historic sites. We passed the Christmas Creek Bridge – one of the two bridges built using wrought iron trestles, the second being the Stoney Creek Bridge.

We had a stop to see the Barron Falls, this time from the other side. The views were spectacular and we were much closer to the falls.

The train slowed and then stopped over the curved Stoney Creek Bridge for us to take photos and marvel at the engineering. Can’t deny it, it is spectacular with falling waters rushing by the train windows.

Our last day in Cairns ended with an oyster dinner in Fridays fish & chip shop, in the center of Cairns, believe it or not. I was finally feeling well again, but it was time to say goodbye to Cairns and hello to Sydney.

Cairns