Today was our last full day in Cairns so we decided to check out the rainforest and a little town called Kuranda that we had heard so much about. We also read that there were a few great nature walks in this area so we were game.
The road up to Kuranda wound through the rainforest and was very scenic. We stopped a few times at the lookouts and admired the views down on the city and out to the ocean. Driving a windy road on the opposite side of the car and road was a fun experience for Tim and a bit of a nail biting experience from the passenger seat! :) Once we arrived to Kuranda, we found the trailhead to the nature walk that took plus through the rainforest and eventually to a lookout to Barron Gorge. Barron Gorge is a series of waterfalls that were used at one point to power all of Cairns. They have since found other means for this but have maintained the falls within the rainforest as a point of interest. The view from the lookout was beautiful and the nature walk proved to be quite informative about the life and evolution of that particular rainforest.
After our walk, we headed back into town to walk around and check things out. Kuranda is the junction point for the sky rail and Kuranda railway. We opted to drive ourselves, so we didn't take a ride on either, but we did spend some time at the railway station taking photos for our train-fanatic nephews, Trevor and Gabo! We then walked around the town and picked up some goodies at the market for lunch.
We decided to go back to downtown Cairns once last time to see if we could catch a tour at a brewery, only to find that it was closed due to some flooding they had in their building. We were quite disappointed, but put it on our list of things to do when we return to Australia one day! After the brewery bust, we made a last beach visit to Halloway Beach. We parked the car and took note of the caution signs (stingers, ie jelly fish, and crocodiles) before heading out to the sand. We obviously decided not to swim but enjoyed a great walk along the sand. The beach reminded us a bit of the North Shore beaches of Oahu and it was sort of a trip to think that, all these miles away, we were still walking along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. We did notice that there are certain areas along the beach that are separated off by large nets and are deemed safe for swimming and even patrolled by life guards.
We headed back to the condo to pack up and enjoy our last night in Cairns with steak and a bottle of Australian red outside on the deck.
The first photo below is from the rainforest nature walk in Kuranda, the second one is from Halloway Beach and the third is from a few days before at the botanical gardens.
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