Getting to Cairns from Melbourne was not a problem....plenty of choice of flights and at a very reasonable price considering the fact that it is a 3+ hour flight! Amazingly Cairns, pronounced by those who know, with a silent 'R', is 2000 kms absolutely due north of Melbourne.... a straight line on the flight navigation on board!
Views from the plane showed a spectacularly empty countryside..... perhaps some straight roads in the bush/outback...no habitation obvious!
However there was also a spectacular change to very green once one got close to Cairns...
plenty of water here...in fact landing was a little like ending up in a wet marsh!
One day trip was to take an old train up a mountain to an old mining town... Kuranda.
The views going up were great....
This had the advantage of allowing us to visit a koala reserve. This was of interest as Queensland is the only Australian state which allows one to hold a koala. They are very cute.
The town not so much!
The descent was in gondolas on Skyrail, perched over an unending rainforest.... no evidence of bushfires here!
We were able to stop at various points to check out the views and to be told about the trees and how
they have adapted over the centuries..... this one was over 500 years old!
Our next trip was why we were all in the area.....as well as everyone else.
A trip to the Great Barrier Reef! So 2 hours in a catamaran took us out to Michaelmas Cay to explore.
Despite the doom and gloom news reports that the reef was dead or dying... that is apparently not so! Because the water had overheated the coral had changed for a few years and looked as though it was dying... however once again nature adapted its growth and it now looks as though it is returning to a healthy state!
Giant clams!
There were also some fish! This shoal of fish was apparently unexpected......
Views from the plane showed a spectacularly empty countryside..... perhaps some straight roads in the bush/outback...no habitation obvious!
This had the advantage of allowing us to visit a koala reserve. This was of interest as Queensland is the only Australian state which allows one to hold a koala. They are very cute.
The town not so much!
The descent was in gondolas on Skyrail, perched over an unending rainforest.... no evidence of bushfires here!
We were able to stop at various points to check out the views and to be told about the trees and how
they have adapted over the centuries..... this one was over 500 years old!
Our next trip was why we were all in the area.....as well as everyone else.
A trip to the Great Barrier Reef! So 2 hours in a catamaran took us out to Michaelmas Cay to explore.
Despite the doom and gloom news reports that the reef was dead or dying... that is apparently not so! Because the water had overheated the coral had changed for a few years and looked as though it was dying... however once again nature adapted its growth and it now looks as though it is returning to a healthy state!
So glad you are having an amazing time. Hurrah, for Barrier Reef and love the Koalas. Thanks for the wonderful pictures.
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