Whilst Rocky was still in at the Dealer's, we were still in a holding pattern within a short radius of Cairns. Thankfully this didn't affect us too much as we had a rendezvous with some friends from Sydney that had been put in place months before.
In fact Nic and Dave, along with their beautiful two year old daughter had shared the start of our adventure in Tassie, and we were very much looking forward to catching up with them. This time though they would not be hiring a camper trailer. Instead of sleeping under the stars, they had chosen their Port Douglas Resort by the stars - and whilst we were camped down the road at one of the local caravan parks, we might have snuck in to enjoy some of the good life for a couple of days.
With a relaxing catch up being the main priority, we still managed to visit a couple of the most popular tourist attractions in the Cairns region. In fact we had been looking forward to visiting these attractions for quite a while now, and I am pleased to say they did not disappoint.
Kuranda Scenic Railway and Sky Rail
We booked in for a train ride up the Kuranda Scenic Railway from Freshwater Station to Kuranda, with a return trip on the Sky Rail cable car. This railway opened up Cairns to the tablelands when it was commissioned in 1891 - invigorating the small town of Cairns and allowing it to grow into a major centre.
The rail line was a major engineering challenge, its climb to Kuranda comprising of 37 bridges and 15 hard carved tunnels up the Barron Valley. Some five thousand workers toiled to build the railway at its peak, but today we enjoyed riding in tastefully restored carriages past abandoned sidings that in their day had not just tent cities, but in some cases hotels and even breweries!
Just before we pulled out of the station, I realised I had lost my mobile phone. I feared I would never see it again, but with a suggestion from our technologically savvy friends, we were able to use a find-my-phone app, and realise I had left it at the station. Benjamin, our carriage host couldn't do enough for us, and telephoned the station - and eventually they found the phone, and made sure it was transferred to the Sky Rail terminus where I picked it up that afternoon. The service of the team was completely above and beyond what I expected - a full credit to the team.
At the top of the hill is the touristy town of Kuranda. We wandered about the markets for a bit. Full of the usual touristy attractions, art galleries and handicraft stalls, we poked around for a bit, before having lunch in a grassy spot near the local supermarket. Our relaxed picnic over, the girls decided to do a bit of shopping whilst Dave and I took the kids for an ice-cream.
Our ride back down the range was on the Sky Rail cable car - and this ride was simply breathtaking. Some of the spans we seemed to traverse were massive, but the trees often provided a false sense of security with their canopy often not far below the cable car. The occasional glimpse of the ground far far below the canopy revealed that we were indeed a long way from the ground - but it was great to get a birds eye view of the rainforest. We all loved it.
We stopped off and checked out the Rainforest Interpretive Centre on the way back - and the we loved the interactive displays. It was a nice simple little building with plenty for the kids to see and do. After that we were back on the cable car for the descent from the range to Cairns - marking the end of a fantastic day all round.
Low Isles - Great Barrier Reef
Having spent most of my professional career avoiding reefs, it was time for us to get up close to a part of the largest one of all. The Great Barrier Reef is one of Cairns' main tourist attractions, and whilst it isn't as accessible as Ningaloo Reef (which is often just off the beach), it is one of the most visited reefs in the world.
Captain Cook didn't spare much in his journal for these islands, describing one as a low island and the other as a woody island. He had other problems on his mind - as his main problems were just about to begin at Cape Tribulation just to the north.
A lighthouse was built here to ensure shipping in the Inner Reef Passage was warned of the danger of the reefs, eventually automated in the 1993. These days a caretake lives on the island - but the real significance of these islands was in something that happened here in 1928.
In 1928 a team of the worlds best scientests from the Royal Society spent 12 months studying the reef here, providing a bench mark study on the Great Barrier Reef. Their study has become a point of reference allowing climate change and sea level variation to be studied. But of course that was all irrelevant to the little people who wanted to go snorkelling on the reef.
The snorkelling was fantastic - and we saw plenty of fish, sharks, clams, corals and turtles. I took heaps of photos, but sadly I will never get a job at National Geographic.
We thoroughly enjoyed our day on the reef. I think that was in no small part due to the fact our chosen boat had only 50 passengers onboard for the day. It could carry up to 150 passengers, and apparently on the previous three days had been fully booked.
Hello Port Douglas
Mossman Gorge
Farewell Port Douglas
We decided the following day to stay local, and we headed to nearby Mossman Gorge. There is a new interpretive centre meaning you now have to walk 3km to the old carpark, or you can take a shuttle bus. We chose the shuttle bus - and in no time at all found ourselves in the beautiful gorge.
The stunning clear waters reminded us of the Kimberely - and looked really inviting. I offered to go back and get the bathers from the car - but after checking the water temperature, the boys decided it was too cold for them. We enjoyed a short walk through the rainforest, pleased to see that our bus fare had also contributed to infrastructure improvement in the gorge.
Sadly that night we bade farewell to Nic and Dave and delightful Isobel. We loved their company, and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with them on their short sojurn to Port Douglas. We parted knowing it wouldn't be long until we would see them again.
On the road back to Cairns, we stopped at the popular hang-gliding spot, Rex's Lookout. This vantage point overlooks the Captain Cook Highway and is well worth a few moments to stretch your legs.
We stopped a night in Cairns with my brother and his delightful family, enjoying our last night of their hospitality in a while also. They really had been wonderful opening up their house to us when we needed it, and we really appreciated their generosity. Living so far away makes reunions like this precious and we hope it isn't too long until we see each other again.
The following morning we headed back up to the Atherton Tablelands to catch up with Jo's brother. Chris and his wife Shelly have a block of land overlooking Queensland's highest peak, Mount Bartle Frere. They have built a weekender on the block - and we were looking forward to catching up with them for a few days but they had a surprise in stall for us.
Chris met us at the block, but Shelly was out visiting a friend... or so he said. When Shelly returned she also brought Jo's parents - a completely unexpected pleasure. In a manner similar to my parents coup at Waterloo Station earlier in the year, Mama and Pa had flown up to Cairns and joined us at Chris and Shelly's block.
It was a wonderful family reunion, and we enjoyed a fantastic evening catching up on news - as we sat and watched the moon rise over Mount Bartle Frere. It was simply delightful, enhanced by the fact that shortly after moon-rise we witnessed the eclipse and the stunningly beautiful Blood Moon.
It was a wonderful evening, and we were looking forward to a few days with Jo's family. There was only one thing still missing - and we could only hope beyond hope that that too would be restored to us soon.
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