Rainforest Station

17 May
Cairns
Sunny and Mild (as usual!)
12310 steps (16 May)
6600(?) steps

Today we went over the mountain range to the edge of the Atherton Tablelands. We began by ascending the Great Dividing Range at the ocean's edge, using the Kuranda SkyRail, a system of cable cars that lifts you far above the World Heritage rainforest of Tropical North Queensland. The virtue of SkyRail is that it gives one a sense of the scope and depth of the ecosystem, with minimal intrusion. Of course, it's not the best of rides for anyone scared of heights.

There are two stops along the way, where you can quit your car and take a brief walking excursion. There are guides to explain what you see, as well as an interpretive centre. Along one of the walks, I had a very nice photo opportunity, and whipped out my camera, only to knock my pedometer off and into the raniforest, beyond my reach. Some archaeologist will dig this up thousands of years from now and wonder what it's doing there -- though I doubt that I'm the first to lose something off the boardwalk there, I still feel silly. Anyway, that's why there's a question mark on the number of steps above. I'll be estimating for teh rest of the trip.

SkyRail follows the Barron River and its gorge, a deep cleft cut into the mountains. There's also a railway that runs from Cairns all the to Kuranda that follows along this same gorge. The history of the railway is interesting; it includes episodes about the conflict between the whites and the Aboriginals, and revolves around the mining and clearcut timber industry that flourished during the late 1800s. The rainforest was much larger before then, but of course the growing nation needed its timber. It's pretty much the same story in the USA; there are areas that were forested that will never be again, both in the States and here in Queensland.

The mountain that they had to scale is significant. Putting in the cable cars was easy, compared to what went into laying the track for the railway. As the train ascends, it goes through many tunnels and trenches, all of which had to be dug, and still need maintenance. These days, the Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist line only, connecting the city of Cairns to the mountain village of Kuranda.

I've written about Kuranda in earlier journals, and will say little about it here, as we spent very little time there. Our bus picked us up at the top of the SkyRail, and took us along to Rainforest Station.

When the US was in Australia during WWII, they made use of DUKW -- I do not know what the letters stand for, but I believe everyone just calls them "ducks." Rainforest Station obtained a number of ducks that the US ARMY abandoned, and adapted them for use as tour vehicles in the rainforest. We boarded the ducks, and took a tour of the rainforest at the upper level, riding over a mountain lake, and seeing many of the tropical plants up close, as well as a few animals. No crocs, though; we were far above the salt water level.

Rainforest Station also employs many Aboriginal cultural instructors, who performed dances for us, showed us how to properly throw a boomerang, and demonstrated spear throwing. The guide we had for this was Aaron, a man in his forties (I suppose) who has been at Rainforest Station doing this for ten years. I recognized him as the same fellow who guided us last year, too. He's very funny and engaging, and I did have a chance to chat with him a little after the tour. It was nice, especially after that depressing conversation from the cruise. He's just a nice man whom it would be a pleasure to have as a buddy. We need to meet more folks like him during the course.

I should point out that the whole show is quite witty, and really with no edge to it. The dances are probably the sort of things parents might do to entertain children, but that's okay -- I get a chuckle from an Aboriginal story about fighting kangaroos, too.

We then had a very nice lunch. There were chopsticks available (many Japanese tourists) and I used them instead of a fork. I do wonder: why not use chopsticks all the time? I suppose it's a little weirdness on my part.

After lunch, we had a tour of their wildlife park. It's a gudied tour, and though the animals are similar to ones we've seen before, a knowledgable guide provides a depth to the exhibit that was lacking elsewhere. I think the students learned quite a lot.

After we returned, I walked down to the central city to find a bank. I pass out money to the students occasionally so that they can buy lunch, and I will do this tomorrow at the sugar museum. So, I needed to find a bank so that I'd have sufficient numbers of $10s and $5s. As I was walking along, a local 'character' starting walking with me, telling me his life story. He said he was feeling a lot better since he had taken his meds -- he was really quite nice, and helped me find the bank. I did find the empty shopping cart he was pushing a little strange, though.

Tomorrow, we go to Innisfail to find out about the sugar industry.