Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands Part II

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We love this place and there is so much to see and do.  Hard choices had to be made and often depended on cost and fears.  For instance we didn't do the Kuranda Train nor the Skyrail and yet I was sure I wanted to do both.  To save this post from being 2 feet long I asked David to summarise our days and I would do the photos.  This is not an easy task as he took about 200 a day - 400 in some places !!!  You are welcome round for coffee when we get home to see them all.  Anyway here goes.

Day 1

Rested, sat in the sun and cooked us not food.  After doing the laundry.

Day 2

Trip into Cairns and took a walk along the beach; wondering why all the locals are playing in the wonderful kids water parks and not in the sea; stupid me - as the salt water crocodile will eat you!  As we have been told again and again.



More chores - washed the car in Cairns.  Then up to Kuranda Butterfly house and the markets.  Yes there are a few in such a small town, just don't get there before 10am or after 3pm as nothing opens till the train from Cairns arrives. 



The blue Ulyses butterfly is Northern Qld's most unique butterfly species, so we were pleased to see one, especially as people staying on our campsite spent an hour there in the morning and didn't see one.  Our campsite is one of the prettiest I have seen and when you think it is on the side of  a mountain in a rainforest - hats off to Wendy who runs it.  The cockatoo "Bug-a-lugs" has a rare feather/skin disease.


Day 3

We cannot express how much we enjoyed today.  It started in the "Crystal Cavern" in Atherton.  It has been so cleverly done and makes you appreciate what it would be like exploring caves.  Trying to just chose 6 photos is impossible so I will do 12 and a video of the solar system.





Then on to Herberton's Heritage Village with a steam train ride.  When coming I cannot recommend enough that you try and arrive when the train is running.  We were just lucky.  We had 4 hours at the village but realised we needed to come back to finish it as it shut at 4pm.  Fortunately your ticket is valid for 3 days.




Finally a childhood dream realised viewing Duckbill Platypus in the wild.  What an amazing end to a day.  They are so hard to catch on camera as it is dusk under a bridge so light is terrible.  2 videos which show them after 15 secs or so.



Day 4

Rest day - I did laundry.  This time cooked bolognaise and pasta.  Karen caught up on the Blogg with a little help from me.   Some photos Karen liked from around the Tablelands - she loves Jacaranda trees.

Day 5

Left Kuranda with a heavy heart we love the Tabletop region.  However one last stop back at Herberton's Heritage Village as the ticket on Saturday had a three day return option.  We really enjoyed what we saw on Saturday so a trip back on the route to South Mission Beach seamed obvious especially as it meant we could drive more roads across the Tabletop region rather than the Bruce Highway.  My preferred way of seeing the landscape - not a cable car in sight!! 

Our friends who told us about the Duckbilled Platypus also mentioned the Cassowary and the most likely spot to see some of these fantastic land birds was Etty Bay.  No luck there or in the rest of our drive through the rainforest on our way to South Mission Beach.  



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