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

Margate and the Shell Grotto

Along the coast from where our parents live is the Kentish seaside town of Margate.  Made not quite famous by those cockney knees up singers Chas'n'Dave, Margate is one of those towns that used to be the place to go, with its Victorian Royal Sea Bathing Hospital from 1706, but that now has seen better days.  I have some family in the area, so remember going there as a child.
 

Unlike most of the coastline here, it does have sand rather than pebbles, which always helps to draw in those looking for a bit of UK beach time, and it still has the children's swing boats which I remember being somewhat bigger than it turns out they actually are.

Of course the real draw of Margate for me was Dreamland.  Tame by today's standards, Dreamland was the place to go for fairground rides.  It's Scenic Railway ride was quite basic really, but as one of the first wooden roller coasters built in 1920 and possibly the only remaining ride that has no brakes on the track and so still needs a brake man to ride on the train, it is now a grade 2 listed site.  There is a project to reopen it as a heritage fairground, but that seems some way off yet.

Like many of these seaside towns, Margate lost some of its appeal when people started to head further afield to be sure of some sun with their sea and sand.  It got a bit down at heel, with shops closing up and a reputation of being a bit of a trouble spot.  They are working on that now, but again there is some way to go.
 

 

Retro shops have started popping up close to the seafront, and Mary Portas has chosen it as one of the towns where she will help rejuvenate the high street.  It even has its own art gallery now, the Turner Contemporary, perhaps in part at least because that Tracey Emin hails from round here.

 

But we visited Margate on this occasion to check out one of its older attractions - The Shell Grotto.  No one really knows who built this underground grotto, when or why, but it was discovered underneath someone's house back in 1835 and opened to the public three years later.

 

Venturing under the cellars of this very normal looking property in the back streets of Margate, you find a passage that goes around in a circle, and then along a short corridor to a little chamber.  It is only 104 foot long in total, but all along the route, the walls are covered in shell mosaics.  Whoever put them there must have had incredible patience as there are around 4.6 million shells stuck to these walls.

They are put on in a panel design, with each panel having a different central pattern.  With some of them it is fairly clear what they depict, such as fleur de lis, a tree, or flowers; others require a little more imagination.  Someone at some stage has had a go at interpreting the panels, coming up with skeletons, phalluses, turtles, canoes, and gods amongst other things.  We could see how they got to some of them, but struggled with a few.

 

So what was this place?  One suggestion is that the end chamber was a chapel, and that this was some kind of secret place of worship.  Another idea is that this was a smugglers passage, though that seems a bit unlikely as it is quite a way inland, has no apparent connection into other passages, and you would think that the smugglers would have little need of such elaborate decoration!

 

Personally, I think my mum might be on to something with her theory that someone had a relative with a mental illness and an artistic leaning, perhaps a form of autism.  Being that the done thing back then was to lock such people away in institutions, they may instead have hidden them down in the cellars and given them barrow loads of shells to keep them occupied.

 

Whoever did it, and whatever their reasons, it is certainly very impressive.  It has become rather dirty over time, largely due to the use of oil/gas lamps to light it up years ago, but that doesn't really matter.  It is quite nice though that they have created a replica panel using the same type of shells to show what the colours would have looked like originally.

It is not somewhere that anyone is likely to travel that far to see, but it is worth a visit if you are in the area.  And there is a very friendly cat in the shop and tearooms upstairs.

Since drafting this blogpost, it has been reported that Margate has made the Rough Guide top ten 'must see' worldwide destinations for 2013, alongside places like Dubrovnic.  Much as I can see that Margate is working to improve itself, I had to laugh.  I do think that Margate has something to offer, but there is still a long way to go before I would actively recommend it as a 'world destination', let alone a 'must see'.  Quite honestly if I turned up in Margate on that basis, I would feel pretty let down.  I'm not saying don't visit it, but let's be realistic about what it has to offer please!  It does rather put me off trusting a recommendation from Rough Guide in the future.