The Wet Tropics of Queensland

On our second day in Cairns, we headed inland to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the wet tropics. Instead of opting for a touring through the rainforest, we took one OVER the rainforest on the Skyrail.

This 7.5 km stretch of cable cars takes you over the tree tops, passing Barron Falls, and stopping at two stations in the forest along the way. The final stop is the small village of Kuranda, where we wandered around and explored the sites (and shops) for a few hours. It had a great small town feel with lots of local artisans and small food shops (we enjoyed German sausages and French crepes). And we found a lovely hand-etched wood platter that will grace our future home one day.

Ani and I on the Skyrail

Barron Falls

Town of Kuranda

At about 4pm, the entire village became silent as all of the daytrippers (including us), may their way back down by cable car or by train. We opted for the latter on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, which was constructed to transport goods inland and provide passengers access to the North Queensland coast.

Ani at the train station in Kuranda

Views of the valley and the ocean from the train

And finally, a fabulous shot of the bay from our hotel room at the Shangri-La...makes you want to be on vacation every day, doesn't it?

Next Stop: Melbourne

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

Ani arrived in Sydney on a Thursday night and the following day, we promptly headed off to explore another part of the country. We decided that even a brief trip to Australia would not be complete without a visit to the Great Barrier Reef, so we decided to fly into Cairns (which is really pronounced Cans and is incredibly hard for me to say). We stayed in the well-placed Shangri-La, right on the marina.

On the first night, we enjoyed a tasty dinner of mussels at a nearby hotel, but decided to retire early and rest up for our early morning snorkeling adventure.

Around 8am we headed off to the marina and joined our group with Silverswift. Everyone that we encountered talked about what a great day it was for the boat ride and snorkeling and I began to think that this was their canned speech for everyone. But on the boat, someone confirmed that it was in fact a great day. There were low winds and high visibility, which was certain to make for a smooth ride (about half of the people on the boat usually get seasick) and a wonderful snorkeling experience.

Silverswift allows you to either snorkel or dive, and they also offer an introductory dive option. We settled for a day of snorkeling and figured we would save the diving for a future trip when we have more time to get certified and enjoy our newfound skills.

We have some pretty amazing photos of our underwater adventures, thanks to the onboard underwater photographer who dives along with the group (and of course, sells her photso at the end). But since we opted not to rent an underwater camera, it proved a wise investment to help us remember the day.

We returned to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. In the evening, we decided to check out a small Greek restaurant, called Fetta's Greek Restaurant, that Ani had spotted when we were arriving the night before. It looked like small, cute place with 4 tables outside and about the same number inside. But upon venturing inside, we discovered that it was much larger than expected and it was packed with fellow tourists.

The food was wonderful. We had a king crab special and a lamb kebab, and the atmosphere was even better. Towards the end of our meal, we were entertained by a dancer accompanied by the sound of breaking dishes throughout the restaurant. The night proved to be an unexpected highlight of our trip.

There's more to come on our Australian adventure...including a visit to the nearby rainforests.