I hate gondolas. Anything enclosed and high up can give me panic attacks; and while I'm ok on planes now, I'm still really not ok on gondolas - the last one we went on, up Mount Etna in Sicily, was awful. So today, I chose drugs (the prescription Valium I have for flying). And by the time we reached the bottom of the lift, I was feeling pretty good. (Our driver: Phil from Norwich, who came here 50 years ago aged 20 with some mates from the building site, when they saw an advert to emigrate to Australia for £10. None of them went home.)
The gondola had three stages, with two walkways through the rainforest to explore in between. Kevin and Jemima loved gliding just above the leaves, spotting butterflies and fruit on the trees; I mainly looked fixedly straight ahead, up the mountain - I wasn't freaking out thanks to the drugs, but I can't say I enjoyed the experience much. But all three of us got to the top, which was the aim.
It's a slightly strange place, Kuranda. They get you there, and then the goal seems to be to imprison you in a very small area filled with "heritage stalls" and tourist attractions until it's time to go home. But we had a pleasant few hours: lunch, with huge water dragon lizards waiting like dogs at our feet for fallen scraps (a crouton from my salad got munched very happily); and then trips to the three nature attractions: the butterfly house, bird world, and Australian animals.
The butterflies: beautiful, we always love a butterfly house, and this was a good one with a great lab section where you could see gigantic caterpillars and chrysalises (notable, too, because it was as hot and humid outside as inside). Birdworld: surprisingly good, because of the amazing colours of the birds, and how close you could get to them; plus the enormous ostrich-sized cassowary, the only one in an enclosure (you could see the dinosaur in him - both Jemima and I backed away as he approached the fence...). But today, the highlight of the experience was the Australian animals. Sunbathing crocodiles: ok; a baby wombat: pretty good. Feeding a wallaby with a joey in its pouch: great. But the koalas? Oh my. I have always loved koalas - who wouldn't, they are adorable living teddy bears; and long secretly wanted to hold one. And we did! Jemima was too small (they're happy because they think you're a tree when you're holding them apparently, and she would only be a shrub); but she stood next to me, stroking its thick soft fur with a look of joy. Kevin even had a go. (Fun fact: the koalas are unionised. By law, they can only work 30 minutes a day, and three days out of every four.) Another ambition achieved.
And then it was time for the train home. From a very pretty, plant-filled Edwardian-looking station, sitting in old wooden carriages, we slowly chuffed our way down the mountainside, along the Barron Gorge, past the spectacular Barron Falls, and then through the Cairns suburbs back into the city. A short drive, a quick final dinner on the Esplanade, and home. Our next motorhoming adventure starts tomorrow!
PS you may have noticed the number of photos has decreased dramatically. Unless the wifi is great, it just takes too long to upload photos (ten minutes for two photos sometimes, which is very boring). So if I can, I will, but I probably won't be able to. Also, frequency of posts may now decrease - every few days rather than every day (it's nice for us to have an evening without blogging sometimes!). Sorry for the service reduction...
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