Brisbane and Cairns

Oceania » Australia » Queensland
February 20th 2014

Published: February 20th 2014

BRISBANE, Queensland - 31°

Brisbane will be remembered for its wonderful wide river, well used and very scenic. From our mooring at Portside Wharf we boarded a City Cat (high speed catamarans - $ 6 single) at nearby Bretts Wharf for a trip into town which took 50 minutes and got off at South Bank, walking around the lagoons (Streets Beach) admiring the trees and birds and watching people bathing from the artificial beach. It was hot and humid and we felt a little tired so had a fish lunch at the Centre for Performing Arts by the big wheel, walked past the main Theatre where David Suchet was appearing and then walked over Victoria Bridge into the main town centre. We saw the imposing Treasury building (now a hotel) and continued along Queen St., Edward St., and Charlotte St. with beautifully maintained old buildings as well as modern designer shops. This city appears agreeable to live in largely because the River Brisbane meanders pleasantly and majestically delivering its inhabitants to shopping malls, art centres, restaurants and suburbs in an enviable manner.





CAIRS, North Queensland - 30°

We were then in the Coral Sea and disembarked at Martin Jetty to travel to Kuranda by Skyrail giving us magnificent views over the rain forest. The rugged mountain scenery, deep ravines and tumbling waterfalls were a feast to the eye after parched towns in the South. It rains heavily in this forest area so the grass is green and the lush flora is magnificent. I have never seen a laburnum as high as I have seen here. We made two stops from the Skyrail to admire the views and take photographs of Barron Gorge National Park and loved every minute of the 7,5 kms journey.

Kuranda “the village in the rainforest” is mainly geared towards tourism and features a Butterfly sanctuary, a heritage market with aboriginal art, a venom zoo (for snake lovers!), a Birdworld and many more attractions as well as being a great centre for rainforest walkers.

Kuranda station is Heritage listed, was completed in 1905 and is surrounded by tropical gardens. From here we boarded the scenic railway, travelling on a narrow gauge, for our return trip to Freshwater. The distance between Kuranda and Cairs is 37 kms. This amazing railway line is a monument to the hundreds of men engaged in its construction and to those who lost their lives. Its construction started in 1887 primarily to facilitate gold mining in the area. The 1720 class locomotives are adorned in the colours of the Budi Dji painting. Aboriginal artist George Riley depicted Budi Dji as a Carpet Snake said to have carved out the Barron Gorge.

We had opted not to attempt the Great Barrier Reef as the seas can be rough travelling to the viewing site for two hours each way by cat but those who did had a great and memorable day. However, our day will leave very positive memories too.

4 days at see to reach Darwin.

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