Cape York - Port Douglas - 10th June

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Hi all, what a great day today has been. It is one of the highlights of the trip. It was a full day. First we drove an hour to a small country train station called Freshwater Station. It reminded me of the Puffing Billy station. The carriages were old and rattly. Had a diesel though. The Train took us up to the top of a part of the great Dividing Range to a place called Kuranda. We had lunch there and went to all of the markets and stalls etc. it was full on. It reminded me of a less yuppy version of Port Douglas. Anyhow was nice to see. A little rain mixed in made it interesting. It was certainly colder than the Cape. On the way back we went down using a cable car called Skyrail. Well this was the best. I have never been over the top of one of the oldest rain forests in the world and certainly can see how dense the bush is here. No chance of any bush fires here. Everything is so green and lush. Anyhow Tracey was terrified of the Skyrail. It was so funny to stand up in the car and watch her get more terrified. It was a great experience and one that everyone should do. Anyhow got to the bottom of the Skyrail in one piece and waited for a bus transfer back to our car at Freshwater station. Back home at about 5 am. Now getting the cars ready for the trip back tomorrow. We are planning to drive a different way home. Our first stop will be Emerald which is 1,060km from Port Douglas. I am doing push ups today to get ready for the trip hahahaha. Tonight we are going to Port Douglas town and getting a pizza. The last night up North. By the way, Xavier is fishing on the wharf at Port Douglas already. We will meet him there a little later.

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Photos

Freshwater Station
Freshwater station in a suburb of Cairns. Only about 12 km from Cairns. It was a little bit drizzly.

Waiting for the Train
I was disappointed it wasn't Puffing Billy.

The start of the train ride
Shows cane fields at the bottom of the mountains. We went up about 300 plus km. it took over an hour and a half to get up that hill

Inside the Train
Just relaxing and enjoying the views from the old carriage dating back to the early 1900,s. The station was commissioned in 1915

Waterfall
This was one of the waterfalls we passed. The track has 55 bridges, 15 hand carved tunnels and 98 curves. It seemed like we were going around and around and around.

Pretend water skiing
Given there are crocodiles everywhere you do not see anyone surfing or water skying.The only water sport is fishing. Therefore this space has been put together to simulate water skying. There are cables that pull the skiers around. No need for boats. How funny is that.

View from the cable car
Obviously there had to be water droplets on the window. It needed to rain while we were moving. Still enjoyable. Had my poncho and used it this time.