Queensland

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Spent the last three weeks house and dog sitting in Kuranda, a beautiful little village in the middle of the tropical rainforest. All mod cons even wi fi, so luxurious compared to my abodes for the last few months. My three little charges are balls of fluff and bundles of fun, gorgeous. The house sits on it's own surrounded by the forest and the wildlife is incredible. I have seen so much wildlife and most of it with no camera at hand lol! A huge monitor lizard, strolling up the garden, the Ulysses butterfly to name but two. I was so excited about seeing the monitor ! There's also been warnings on the TV about snakes (pythons) coming into the gardens but I haven't seen any yet. They are tempted in with the chance of an easy meal (the dogs) Seen plenty of spiders though, some big scary ones too lol! The wolf spider, eight pairs of eyes, black and brown and hairy! He's living next to the compost bin to catch his prey. The garden is beautiful, full of fruit and vegetables, and it's been good to get back into it and i've been pottering away, so enjoyable.

There is so much to do and see around the area too, very big tourist area. Cairns is only twenty Seven kilometres away and one of the days I went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef at Green island. It was amazing, so many fish and turtles too, water was crystal clear and so blue. The coral was stunning,so many different types, saw a couple of huge clams too. I was really pleased at how well the pictures turned out. The down side was that the beach was quite crowded, a very popular destination. The facilities were very good though, showers, toilets and lockers right next to the beach. Lots of little places to eat too.

Kuranda village itself is gorgeous and hosts a butterfly sanctuary, a venom zoo, a bat rescue and a koala rescue, very picturesque. Lots of little market stalls and shops and plenty of eateries. There is also a scenic railway that runs from Cairns and a cable car too. At the top of the forest there is the spectacular Barron Falls Gorge although not much water flowing through it at the moment. I didn't take the cable car just walked to it, doing a circuit leaving from the village through a jungle walk, creek walk and then up to the falls. It was so beautiful, lots of little plaques telling you all about the aboriginal tribes who lived in the area and how it became to be developed. A very beautiful area. The time here has passed so quickly too, Nine months passed and most of the wandering over, now back in Perth at Debra's and feel as if I've only been gone a few weeks. I'll be here for three months and at the moment just chilling and enjoying seeing the weans again and getting ready for Debra's wedding in November . I'm also waiting on word back from a wildlife sanctuary not far from here regarding some volunteer work too so it won't all be recreation but will keep you all posted.

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Photos

Abi,Digby And Gheko

View of Cairns from Kuranda

Palm Cove

View of the rainforest from the house

The large ferns at the top of the tree are where the pythons hang out to sun themselves.

Bandicoot. This cheeky chap was dozing in the sun in the garden, just sat and looked at me not bothering to move.

Comments

[Carol]

Beautiful, just stunning. What an amazing place to live. My cousin stays somewhere around the Cairns region but I am not sure where.