Day 60: Cairns : Rain Forests, Waterfalls, Glass Windows and Lagoons

Today, we were lucky enough to revisit Cairns, one of our favourite places in the country. We spent five days here back in 2018, and that wasn't enough. It was a wet, humid, and drizzly day, so while most of the boat went out to the Great Barrier Reef (which we hit in 2018), we went up into the Daintree Rainforest. If you only have a few hours, one of the best ways to see everything is to take the Skyrail. That's an extensive gondola system that rides over the top of the rainforest and ends up in the picturesque town of Kuranda. More on all of that later.

Let's start with the usual history lesson. The Aboriginal Yidinji people lived peacefully in the area for tens of thousands of years. Captain Cook "discovered" Cairns in 1770, and the area was known to sailors until 1870 as Trinity Bay. Explorers occasionally dropped by because of the ready availability of fresh water, but no attempt at settlement was made until 1872. A violent confrontation occurred between fishermen and locals about using a water well. The area was then christened Battle Camp. A few years on, a more significant settlement was formed to support a local gold rush/find. The town was then named Cairns in honour of the Governor, who never set foot in the place, as he was also, strangely, the Governor of Trinidad and died there a year later. A railway was built in 1886, and the current port was started in 1906. Much like Townsville (see yesterday), WW2 proved to be a boon to the town as it was used as a staging base for Pacific operations. After the war, the tourism business kicked in, with the Great Barrier Reef, the Rainforest, and the Tablelands providing three diverse ecosystems.


So we ventured inland and visited part of the Daintree Rainforest. We started with the Skyrail, a small gondola traversing the rainforest. It has two intermediate station stops and an excellent view from way up high. The first stop allows you to stroll along a wooden boardwalk with plants and trees all around you. It was eerie moving through the forest in the rain. One strange effect was that it highlighted all the spider webs - particularly the massive webs of the golden orb spider (non-poisonous). 



Stop #2 was at the Barron Falls. Even though there was a lot of rain and most around, you still got an idea of the massive size of the falls, especially as there has been a lot of rain over the past month. The falls are 400 feet tall, with a 350-foot straight drop. There is also a transparent section of the viewing platform to look straight down. 




I also loved the artwork on the paths between the various viewing areas. Each section has indentations of ferns and animal prints—very cool! 












The next stop was Kuranda, a small town that seems dedicated to separating tourists from their cash. It does, however, have a koala sanctuary and a butterfly exhibit. The butterfly exhibit was a lot of fun (too long of a wait for koalas), and many butterflies will happily fly around you and land on your head and arms. There is also a "fairy house" for the larvae. That's at the bottom of this post.


Finally, we paused in the town of Cairns on the way back to the boat. One spectacular stop was Saint Monicas Cathedral. It has 24 painted glass windows that depict a view of Creation based on the Book of Genesis. The colours are quite impressive, and the art is a mix of conceptual and spiritual. The "view" has a distinctly Australia outlook - as there are kangaroos and other native animals in a few of the later windows. I took a few shots that you can see below. For more see: https://cairns.catholic.org.au/about/st-monicas-cathedral/cathedral-windows/creation-windows

Next up is Cookstown - where Captain Cook was forced to seek refuge after he ran the Endeavour up against one of the reefs. 

A/ Fairy House at Butterfly Sanctuary
B/ Entrance to The Cairns Lagoon (Shoreside)
C/ The Flying Fish
D/ Selfie - Barrons Falls
F/ 3 of the CReation Windows:












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