Early start for our trip to Kuranda, the morning was damp and overcast. In fact, rather similar to our driver. We were treated to his views on British politics and a detailed description of his motorbike which we were keeping him from riding!
The Kuranda Scenic Railway station was like a step back in time, lined with carriages and reminiscent of Victorian stations back home. The train trundled in on time and…… no pleasant aroma of steam!! At the helm was a diesel electric locomotive that wouldnt win any environmental awards. John was disappointed to say the least,
having been subjected to visiting many Welsh narrow gauge railways as a child , this wasn’t what was expected.
It remained wet and cloudy journey through the rain forest up to Kuranda, with just the occasional break in the cloud to see some of the stunning views across the Barron River. The railway was built to assist towns which were struggling with the gold rush but is now just a tourist attraction. By the time we reached Kuranda, the sun had worked it’s way through the clouds, yippee. Kim and Matt don’t get up early to spend a day in the rain.
We spent an interesting couple of hours, wandering around the markets in Kuranda trying the local Mango wine and liquorice flavoured ice cream which tasted as bad as it looked, before catching the sky rail cable car back. We had been advised by one local to make sure that we came back down using the Sky Rail partly because of the views, but also because over an hour of screeching brakes on the train tends to produce headaches of gigantic proportions. We were so glad the weather had cleared as we were treated to some fantastic views across the rainforest and the ocean beyond
We returned to our tree house to be greeted by our first serious incident of the holiday….. No Teabags!! Yes, we had survived flying on Friday the 13th, but no teabags is very serious. Luckily we have an international athlete with us who, seeing the look of panic on Kim’s face, sprinted to the shop. Choosing which type of teabag proved too much for him and he returned with salt and vinegar crisps instead. He is now an International Athlete with a limp……
braysabroad 