After my dive trip plans were canceled, I organised a day tour to Kuranda, a quaint little village in the mountains. I took the Kuranda Skyrail to get there, which used to be the longest in the world until they outdid it in somewhere I might remember the name of if I had been paying attention to the guide more closely. It was a little scary to be hanging from one littlebar attached to one cable so high above the rainforest canopy! At this point I chuckled to myself that I was meant to be recovering in bed, Never let it be said that a cold got the best of Michelle!

Oh, and an amazing coincidence happened on the way to the Skyrail – I ran into my French friend Maike from my Jillaroo course in June! We hadn’t met up since Glenn Innes, so imagine how lucky we were to run into each other all the way in Cairns, and on the same day tour . I joined up with her and her three girl mates (from Ireland) for the day of sightseeing.

Kuranda was cute and there was a lot of Aboriginal art and souveneir shops, plus beautiful jungle walks, however we only needed half a day to see everything. The only situation that you would a full day in Kuranda would be if you want to do all the local hikes.

The best part of the trip was the short train ride back on the Kuranda Scenic Train. Amazing views! We learned a lot about its history, which I’ll not bore you with, except that it wasn’t originally built as the tourist attraction it mainly is today. The relaxing rocking of the train, with the breeze from the open window and the countryside rolling by, was a perfect end to the day. The train even stopped for 10 minutes at the Barron Falls to let all the passengers get out, have a stretch and take pictures of the waterfall.

Stay tuned! Next stop, more of the Great Barrier Reef.