Blogs from Kuranda, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 2

After about thirty-six hours of being awake, including a manic twelve hours in the humidity of Hong Kong, the arrivals process and also the time difference of nine hours 9 hours we were completely exhausted and glad to just collapse into bed in the air-conditioned rainforest house. That evening we ventured into Cairns to do a bit of shopping but that was all we were fit for. We woke the next day, still tired but determined to spend our day well. We went into the city and found a church, Cairns Baptist Church, where we worshiped. We got into the city too late for the first service and too early for the second. To fill the time we went to Rusty's Market. This market, which happens every weekend, is amazing. More than half of it is ... read more

Our plan for the day was an excursion to Kuranda, and everyone was happy that we didn’t need to hit the road until 9am. (Actually, some still found this a bit early). John and Sonia were up early enough to head to the beach boardwalk in search of a take-out breakfast which was well-received back at the hotel by Lauren and Andrew. A short drive brought us to Freshwater Station, where we boarded vintage train cars for the rail journey to Kuranda. The steep and winding train route through the hills and through river gorges was built over a hundred years ago and is still considered an impressive feat of engineering. Today it’s a tourist attraction, but the two-hour (very slow moving) train journey gave some great views as we wound our way through many twists ... read more

Wwoofing; tips and tricks. The difficulty of the first wwoof. Wwoofing’s not always as easy as it sounds. You’re a stranger in a strange land and on someone else’s property. I know it was tough for me on occasion anyway. Be sure of this though: whenever you feel like you don’t belong or are out of place or missing home remember that just because you are a backpacker, that doesn’t mean you should have to put up with being taken advantage of, or settle for conditions that are less than adequate. Of course, choosing the right place is often the hardest part, and if you get it right, you shouldn’t have to worry about any of the above. Communicating with your host before you commit is a good idea to make sure you know what you’re ... read more

So pick up at the hotel at 8.20 for a 9.50 train. The downside of these tours is the number of pickups you are dragged around and unfortunately our hotel was right at the end of the resort by the harbour. Our trip involved going up to Kuranda (an outback village) on the train and a return on the sky rail, a cable car. So we started with the train. The track was built in the 19th century in response to the gold rush need to get supplies through the rainforest. It is an amazing feat of engineering. 15 tunnels dug by hand as well as a lot of bridges (I remember 44, Ian thinks it's 52). 1500 migrants worked on the line during the x years to build. It took 2 years just to dig ... read more

Decided to spend the last day of my stay in Cairns at Kuranda. The first stop was the aboriginal village of Djapukai where we were entertained by dancers acting out stories from dreamtime, their story telling history which is sacred to them. This was followed by a dance theatres and music, which included making fire from rubbing sticks. Afterwards we had a talk on herbal medicines which are still used today although some of the fruits and berries are toxic until treated. That was really interesting. We were showed how spears and shields were used in the past and now for hunting. Following on we swerve showed how to throw spears and boomerangs. I tried the boomerang throwing and first couple of throws were rubbish but the third one came spinning back to me. Result!! After ... read more