Day 4 Kuranda Skyrail and Rainforest Tour!

Outside by 7:20am, a bus picked us up and took us to the Kuranda Sky Rail. According to Fromer's, there are two things you must see if you are in Cairns: The Great Barrier Reef (check!) and The Rain Forest. We chose the Kuranda rain forest tour which was supposed to have a fun train ride through the mountains up to the Village and a (scary) sky rail ride back down the mountains. Due to a giant mudslide that happened the week before we got there, the train was closed. That left two options: 1.) cancel with a full refund 2.) take the Sky rail (a.k.a. cable car ride) both ways. We took option 2 which brings us back to the early morning bus ride and our stop at the Sky rail station.
Just to prove that I am a Super MOM!!! ;-) I want you all to know that not only do I have motion sickness and a mild suffocation phobia, I also have a bit a claustrophobia and a fear of heights. For the fun of my family, I swallowed the giant lump in my throat while my loving husband dragged me onto the cable car. Remember what I said in my last post about my kids being "a reward from God"? Well, this 45 minute, 8 km, thousands of feet into the sky cable car ride was, in my opinion, taking a risk with the lives of my entire family. To this John, the man without whom none of this would not have been possible, just laughed at me and said I was being ridiculous (I probably was...) The first picture you see is the souvenir shot of us in our cable car - turned out super I think!
Here's a snap of the view about 10 minutes into our ride....high, right? Don't worry, I didn't look down. I was so nervous that girls were actually singing me songs to make me feel better LOL.

















We had two stops along our 45 minute journey through the clouds. The first stop was a boardwalk "hike" through the rain forest canopy! It was beautiful, lush, refreshing, amazing! The tree you see below was estimated to be over 500 years old! We thought that even the bark looked ancient! The girls, especially Emma, enjoyed exploring the rain forest (just like Diego!) We had a really nice aboriginal tour guide and learned a lot about what makes the rain forest such a special place.










The ancient tree










My brave explorers

Our second stop took us to a spot overlooking the Barron Falls. This, again, is another time that we wish a regular camera to do justice to what we saw - magnificent!
















Our sky rail trip ended in Kuranda Village. A touristy shopping village with cheap trinkets, worth while souvenirs and very expensive jewelry. While we were there, we had a yummy piece of chocolate mud cake, played at the local park, walked the markets, watched master candy makers (and purchased some of their yummy rain forest candy), ate homemade fudge, and learned the finer points of the Australian opal. (side note: I also learned that Australia is famous for the very rare "Pink Diamond"....yes I saw one, yes is was beautiful, no I will never spend that much money to have one.) We ended the village tour with a small lunch at a local Irish Pub - all in all, a super fun day.



"I love rain forest candy!"


















"Wow, this is how you find an opal"
















Once more we entered the cable car ride to our "certain death" ....I have to admit, the girls just loved the sky rail. It's a memory that even my little Lily won't soon forget!

















We stopped to have a second look at the rain forest and to our delight - it was raining! You can't get much better than standing in the rain in a rain forest!! John and Emma grabbed and umbrella and took another boardwalk "hike". During their nice little walk Emma asked the following question:
"Daddy, how come they call it a rain forest?"................. :-)
Lily and Mommy watched the rain from a covered area and finished the fudge.











Taken from the rain forest stop - a sign to prove the journey's distance.
















Okay.....this was NOT FUN! It poured on our way over the mountain. We couldn't see a thing! Of course we made it back to ground safely and we did have another amazing experience. I think I'll leave the cable car rides alone for awhile - I've definitely had my fill. The girls and John however, can't wait to "go high up into the clouds" again.
















More Rain forest please!! click here http://armyofmoris.shutterfly.com/4635