Australian Vacation - Day 6
Cairns
A bit of a mixed day. Woke up to the sounds of many critters and birds filling the air. Had a nice free European style breakfast courtesy of our Swiss hosts. Asked about some nature walks we could do. They recommended we take an hour long hike starting right on the property. There’s a stream that runs right along part of the property, so the first step was getting across that stream. For that, they’ve installed what’s called a Flying Fox. Basically a chair on a rope that can be pulled across.
Once across, we quickly realized how poorly marked the trail was. With so few guests at the resort, it’s not like the trail gets trampled on very much. They had set up markers in the trees to keep your bearings, but the actual trail itself was easily lost if you didn’t pay close attention. With no idea what to expect when it came to wildlife, it was a bit unnerving to have to walk through tall grass in the jungle without knowing what might lie below. 25 minutes into the walk, we came up on a fallen tree, and just as we were stepping over it, two huge snakes were waiting for us on the other side in some sort of mating process. Well, suffice it to say, that quickly curtailed our need to walk any further, and we high tailed it back to the resort.
I wish I could say that was the worst part of the day, but unfortunately, back on the resort, there was another incident involving a wallaby, some sort of angry insect, and me elbowing Andrea in the forehead. Yes, I know, I’m ashamed. Poor girl had a headache all day and a bump on her forehead thanks to me. But it seems to be getting better quickly.
But nevertheless, we tried to make the most of the day, and had a train/gondola ride booked through the rainforest. The railway was built in the late 19th century and runs gently down the slope of the mountain range. The whole thing was really well done and offered some spectacular views on Cairns, the mountains and the rainforest. Once at the bottom, we took a gondola ride back up to our car atop the forest canopy. Each ride was pretty unique and distinct and worth the high cost of admission.
After getting back, we lounged around waiting for dinner, chatted some more with our hosts about snakes and other wildlife, and eventually enjoyed another fantastic meal. This resort really is the full wildlife experience, for better or worse.
We will be on the reef for the next 2 days so there may be less updates.
