Cairns - Kuranda, and cuddling a Koala

Skyrail to Kuranda

Cairns may be almost all about the Great Barrier Reef, but not quite. We didn't make it to the Daintree rainforest in the very north, or the bounteous Atherton Tablelands, but we did get out to Kuranda.

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

We took the Skyrail cable car out, gliding over the tops of the huge cycads and rainforest trees. We stopped off at Red Peak Station, and took a wander through the rainforest, and we paused at the Barron Falls Station  to get a view of the gorge and waterfalls.

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

Skyrail to Kuranda

Kuranda

But our destination was Kuranda, which is a village whose residents are largely artisans who were attracted to the setting, and decided to make this their home, making their goods and selling them at the arts and crafts markets.

As visitor numbers increased, the village is perhaps a little more touristy than is once was, but it does still retain a nice feel to it, despite that.

It was pleasant to stroll around the shops and stalls, and there are some nice things available, including a few of the edible goodies from the tablelands, like a multitude of macadamia nuts, and locally made ice creams.

We had a nice lunch at the creperie too.

Kangaroo Scrotum products, Kuranda

The main market has some interesting stalls, with some First Nations People selling, what they assured us were, authentic boomerangs, paintings and didgeridoos. But of course that stall that most caught Nic's interest, was the one selling items made from kangaroo. I wouldn't have minded if it was the little hide wallets that he wanted, but I had to draw the line at buying a kangaroo scrotum corkscrew.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Anyhow, interesting as the shopping was, that wasn't our main purpose in coming to Kuranda. We wanted to visit the Koala Gardens, where you can hold a koala bear.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

We briefly distracted ourselves with the freshwater crocodiles and lizards first. It amused us to see a wild lizard from the surrounding rainforest popping in to take a look at those in the enclosure.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

But we were soon over at the koalas, and being introduced to the female that we were going to be holding. She seemed pretty content - they swap them over regularly so that they don't get fed up with it - and was quite happy to take up position as we pretended to be a tree perch.

She was heavier than I'd expected, and whilst they do still seem quite cute and cuddly, you really wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of those claws.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

After looking at the rest of the koalas, and unfortunately not being able to catch a glimpse of the little baby one, we continued over to the kangaroo and wallaby walk through area, with a handful of pellets to feed to them. Some were completely disinterested, so we left them alone, but we soon had a couple who fancied something to eat.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Up close, it is easy to see how powerful these creatures are. The kangaroos'  hind legs and tails are solid, and incredibly strong. I certainly would not want to get kicked by even one of the little ones.

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Kuranda Koala Gardens

Instead of going back on the Skyrail, we had decided to take the Scenic Railway, which was built between 1887 and 1891, as a supply route for the gold rush.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

The two locomotives, (1720 class, for anyone interested,) date from 1966 and 1970, and are decorated with images of the Buda-Dji, the carpet snake that aboriginal Dreamtime stories say carved out the Barron Gorge.

The carriages are from the early 1900s.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

We had treated ourselves to gold class, so we had lovely comfortable seats in a beautiful carriage, and were treated to drinks and nibbles during the journey back. We did stop off at the Barron Falls for a closer look, and we crossed the Stoney Creek Falls iron lattice bridge, built in the 1890s.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

It was a nice way to travel back.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Parana

From Rosario we took the bus to Parana.  It isn't particularly a destination in itself, but it is a convenient stopping point on the route we were taking through to Paraguay.  We had planned a couple of stops on the way to avoid having to take the longer bus journeys.  We also figured that it is good to see a few 'normal' towns along the way.
At the hostel they helpfully swapped our second floor room for a first floor one to help with my back, which was nice of them.  We rested a while, and then set off to find somewhere to get a late lunch.  I still couldn't walk too far, so we wandered around one of the main squares, finding a couple of places that were closed and the ubiquitous MacDonalds.

The square itself was quite nice, with a few nice buildings and couple of good sculptures, one of which was a tree trunk that had been carved into a male and a female body.

Then we tried the other big square, thinking that must be where the food is, only to find a closed bar and a garage cafe. Not quite that desperate yet, we had a brief rest on a bench in the square, and then circled round to a place from the guide book that we thought would be open.  It wasn't.

 Getting hungry by now we went back to the main square to try a place that we'd seen that seemed to be open and have some food, albeit rather limited.  Failing that we might have to break our own rule and use the MacDonalds!

When we got back to the main square, the MacDonalds was in fact shut - probably for the best, but one of the other places had opened.  Nic was very relieved as he was now claiming to be famished, and I was very relieved as my back was in some pain, and I had no wish to be walking around for any longer.

The next day, while I tried to get myself mobile enough to move, Nic went back to a square that we had passed the day before.  He had instructions from me to get pictures of the little shrine and the fireman's monument, which I wanted a closer look at, and he also found a strange and unexplained little house.

We spared my back and took a cab down to the waterfront with the intention of having lunch there.  Of course once again, everywhere was closed.  We walked around for a while, avoiding the 'Malvinas' memorial where various military types were gathering for a ceremony to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the sinking of the Belgrano, as we figured we may not be especially welcome at that.

Eventually, we found a place that was open and had what was by now a very late lunch overlooking the river front. Again, not a whole lot of sightseeing done, but we covered the main squares and the waterfront, and there wasn't actually much else to see.