A Village In A Tropical Rainforest

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Geo: -16.9254, 145.775

Early this morning we caught a bus to Palm Cove. It's a small resort area on the Coral Sea about 50 minutes north of Cairns. It was a beautiful waterside location to stop and have breakfast. We took a walk along the waterfront here on their promenade. The water was rather rough with loud crashing waves. We didn't see anyone in the water but there were warning signs posted about stingrays and crocodiles in the area so to beware. The boardwalk area was several blocks long and had it's share of walkers, joggers, and coffee drinkers. The streets were lined with hotel resorts and an occasional restaurant. We even came across their RV park which was filled with people on holiday.

Kuranda, the village in the tropical rainforest , was our next destination. We hopped on another bus to continue our journey. Another option to reach Kuranda from Cairns is a trip by cable car or train. The cable car is down for repair for 3 weeks and the train didn't work for us since we were going to Palm Cove first. The road to Kuranda was created along a mountain side and had many switchback winding turns. It's in the middle of the world Heritage rainforest on a mountain about 1,000 feet above Cairns. It's the traditional home of the Djabugay People who maintained settlement because of water and abundance of bush foods. The Kuranda lifestyle prompted a hippy invasion in the 1960's and became a base for their vibrant arts and crafts.

Kuranda has a network of many rainforest walks. We chose the Jungle walk which passes through a regenerated forest. The surrounding area had many fern and palms. The temperature and humidity were quite high.

We wandered through the village in the rainforest and viewed the many market stalls with locally made arts and crafts. There was aboriginal art, Australian hats, didgeridoos, hand made crocodile belts, clothing, pearls, opals, jewelry, soaps, kangaroo products and many other souvenirs. There were butterfly and bird sanctuaries as well. There was a zoo with a live collection of spiders and scorpions which we easily declined! Of course there were several food options available along with superb Australian wines and beers.

When we had seen all that the village had to offer we caught a bus to carry us back to Cairns. After a brief stop at our hotel we walked the Esplanade selecting a German restaurant for dinner. We chose a Bavarian meat dish with steamed vegetables and potatoes with onions. Our drink choices were German lager and raspberry lemonade. After strolling around the Esplanade for a while we had a chocolate shake and a hot fudge sundae. Again today we enjoyed the experiences, surroundings, and food in Cairns and the surrounding villages.

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Comments

[Amy]

Wow. You are not going to want to come home! What a fabulous trip