Imagine

As our second morning in Kewarra started and we imagined what our day would be like, we read the Alison Lester book, “Imagine” that we had bought for Siena in Sydney. Imagine is a neat book because it asks you to imagine you are someplace and the next page opens up to that scene and lets you find all the animals or fish or dinosaurs in a picture of that place. One of the scenes is an Australian rainforest and we had spent the past few days finding the animals, birds and butterflies in the picture. As the day would progress this story would come to life.

Our resort was in a rainforest, but the idea of seeing a bigger rainforest was one of the reasons we choose this area of the Great Barrier Reef to visit. So on our second day in town we headed to Kuranda. Kuranda is a mountain village once inhabited by aboriginals. The village is more of a tourist destination these days and offers two amazing ways to visit the town and see the rainforest; The Kuranda Scenic Railway and the Skyrail. We did both; one going in and one coming back.

We started our day with a train ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The 120 year old rail line cuts through the rainforest, hugging the mountain side and twisting and turning through beautiful scenery. Once an important rail line for getting supplies over the mountain the train is a tourist line today. The trip is about an hour and half in length and is so scenic you are truly disappointed when it ends. With over 50 tunnels and hundreds of vistas and views, the train winds its way to the top of the mountain passing many waterfalls and Barron Gorge. Barron Gorge is a picturesque gorge that begins at Barron Falls. The waterfall is amazing when hurricanes pass through (we saw pictures) creating amazing rushing white water. But I kind of liked it in its everyday state which is a series of lovely waterfalls that drop softly into huge pools of water before cascading off the next ledge. The train stops at Barron Gorge, so you can get off and enjoy the sights and take some great pictures.

In what was an appropriate twist of fate, it rained in the rain forest. I guess that is what it is supposed to do, so we got to work our way around town dancing between the passing showers. After a nice German lunch (yep, there is a great wurst stand in Kuranda), we headed for the Skyrail and the 15 mile ride down that goes across the top of the canopy of the rainforest. Like a giant ski gondola, the Skyrail soars across the top of the trees (so high up you can’t see the ground) returning you to the bottom of the mountain. Given the weather the ride was even more exciting since you were in the clouds and fog at some points and as you looked out of the car it looked like the cable just ended. For Siena it was a great chance to take a nap. So as not to wake her Lisa and I relaxed with a nice cappuccino and a snack at the bottom station.

It was Father’s Day in Australia (nice bonus for me, two Father’s Days in one year). When we got back to the hotel we got to encounter a special parenting moment. While we were heading back to our room we came across a mama Wallaby and her baby. They were under our bungalow. The special parenting moment was watching the mama wallaby attend to her baby.  For the Aussies, wallabies are like rabbits, pretty much a non-event. For us and especially Siena they were a special experience. Siena kept talking to the wallabies and after they moved two doors down to a neighboring bungalow, Siena constantly wanted to visit them. The mama was bigger than Siena, we were only a few feet away from them and they weren’t too afraid. I think Siena sensed this a little and she always wanted to hold a hand while looking at the wallabies.

Some good planning and packing brought us all back to our room dry and warm for a relaxing evening as we prepared for our next special day.   Before bedtime we read Imagine and spent time imagining we were like fish in the ocean and learning about all the fish and seas creatures we would soon find on the Great Barrier Reef.