Jim's perspective,
Cairns is a very touristy city with a busy tourist quarter, a few dodgy parts of town, beautiful Botanical Gardens and spectacular surrounding mountains and rainforest. It is the type of place we have not yet come across on our trip with full on tourism and its associated trappings. We stayed three days, two at the beautiful Crystal Cascades Caravan Park, had a good time and then moved south.
Paperbarks in the Botanical Gardens
Crystal Creek from the bike path
Kurt photographed Australias biggest moth at the van park
Today we
took a scenic railway tour from Cairns to Kuranda, an hour’s ride up a mountain
range,
My family
rode in carriage 4. The ride was made up
of a
series of turns and bridges, along with
15 tunnels of various sizes. During which we had numerous views,
photo
opportunities and a station stop at Baron falls.
The track
was in fact built nigh more than a hundred years ago, it’s purpose to send
supplies for the thriving mining industry
in the Atherton tablelands. After an eventful wet season the tracks
going round the mountain range were destroyed by fierce flooding.
The idea
came up that they could build tracks up on the mountain, therefore ascending
the flood level entirely. The year 1886 was a year of grim work, as men pushed to finish the railway, one of the
highest
of hardships
was that every worker had to supply himself with the equipment ( shovels,
pickaxes for instance).
After
numerous casualties such as cave ins, unknowen diseases and other tragic
accidents ,they finished the track.
The
completion of the track meant the creation of the village of Kuranda on the
range
Today the
line is a world heritage site and a common way up to Kuranda, the carriages are
the original ones,
though they
have diesel engines with indigenous art work to power the train. And the
company have a deal with skyrail.
Speaking of
Skyrail, that’s what we took home,
We spent a
few hours going down the range in a cable car, there were a two stops along the
way, the first one with a lookout of Baron falls, but what the stop really
meant was that you got out, stretched your
legs, go for a walk and join the rediculously huge line to get back on. At the
second stop dad
happened to
run into Hamish McGregor an ex-student from St Joe’s who was
working at
skyrail. Above all every one enjoyed the trip
and as
always I hope to come back some day.
Mum was
surprised of how quiet it was in the cabs.
By Jordy
Morcom
On the train to Kuranda
Stoney Creek Falls
The Butterfly Sanctuary
By Kurt Morcom
After taking the train to Kuranda we went to the
Australian Butterfly sanctuary. The
butterfly's liked the air at the perfect temperature and humidity. When we walked in I noticed many butterfly's, and a stream and a few tubs with
nectar, I saw some eggs being laid near by.
The staff collect the eggs and breed them into butterfly's in a seprate laboratory.
The Ulysses butterfly is the fastest and it therefore
lives for the shortest amount of time - the faster a butterfly flies the more
it wears out it's wings which it cannot repair, and it dies. The slower moving butterflies live for up to
10 months because they don't damage their wings as quickly. The Ulysses
butterfly lives for only about 14 days.
It is a beautiful bright blue with grey to black outline. The underside of the Ulysses is dark grey -
which is what you see when it folds it's wings together to feed.
It is all most impossible to take a photo of the Ulysses.
Will found a unknown caterpillar outside, it had bright
red and yellow stripes and moved very quickly.
We tried to see what sort of butterfly it would turn into, but couldn't
see any caterpillars like it.
I wish I could come back asI had a great day.
At the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, Kuranda
A Cairns Something
Very hard to catch, they move around so much they only live 16 days.
Others can live for months.
Will's Caterpillar
The Kuranda Candy Shop
Descending on the Skyrail
Barron Falls Station Lookout
Descending on Cairns
Will loved this track.
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